Ocean Storytime

              

I love sharks, and by extension, I love the ocean. Of course, I had to do an ocean story time. Here are my picks:

• Shark Vs. Train by Chris Barton       
• The Pout Pout Fish in the Big Big Dark by Debora Diesen  
• Dear FIsh by Chris Gall       
• Smiley Shark by Ruth Galloway              
• The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Will Grace and Ken Geist
• Counting in the Ocean by Rebecca Rissman       
• I’m a Shark by Bob Shea                 
• I’m The Biggest Thing in the Ocean by Kevin Sherry            
• The Sea Serpent and Me by Dashka Slater           

So, obviously, I don’t read every single one of these titles in every single story time, but we always need extra options. My favorites for a story time are I’m the Biggest Thing in the Ocean, Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark, and Dear Fish. Kevin Sherry has another ocean book, I’m the Best Artist in the Ocean, which I also love. I like Three Little Fish because it’s based on a story most kids are familiar with, and it makes their predictions about what will happen next more fun. Dear Fish is beautiful and the story is unique. It works best with smaller groups, because there’s a lot to look at on every page.
                            

I have to mention Shark Vs. Train because it is so clever and funny. The only drawback is, many of the illustrations and dialogue are more free-form. So, there’s not a complete sentence, sitting at the bottom of the page—there’s little captions throughout the page. A lot of the story is told through pictures—so for a story time, I would suggest this for smaller groups or one-on-one time.

Songs and finger plays were really fun. There are a lot of ocean-themed parodies out there. I like these:

Did You Ever See A Fishy? (Tune: Did You Ever See A Lassie?)
Did you ever see a fishy,
A fishy, a fishy?
Did you ever see a fishy
Swim this way and that?
Swim this way and that way
And that way and this way?
Did you ever see a fishy
Swim this way and that?
repeat the song replacing “swim” with other verbs such as: slide, swish, and splash.

I’m a Little Fish (Tune: I’m a Little Teapot)
I’m a little fish in the ocean so blue,
There are so many things that I can do,
I can swim around with my tail and fin.
The water’s fine-just jump right in.

Five Little Fishes
Five little fishes swimming in a pool.(wiggle five fingers, move arm)
The first fish said, “This pool is cool!” (Shiver and hug yourself)
The second fish said, “This pool is deep.” (Use a low voice)
The third fish said, “I want to sleep.” (yawn and stretch)
The fourth fish said, “I spy a ship.” (hand shading eyes)
Fishing boat comes, line goes kersplash! (throw in line)
Away the five little fishies dash. (fingers “swim” away quickly)

Octopus
Slippery fish, slippery fish; Sliding through the water
Slippery fish, slippery fish; Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh. no! It’s been eaten by …
Octopus, Octopus; Squiggling in the water
Octopus, octopus; Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh. No! It’s been eaten by a …
Tuna fish, tuna fish; Flashing through the water
Tuna fish, tuna fish; Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh. No! It’s been eaten by a …
Great White Shark, great white shark, Lurking in the water
Great white shark, great white shark; Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
Oh. No! It’s been eaten by a …
Humungous Whale, humungous whale; Spouting in the water
Humungous whale, humungous whale; Gulp, Gulp, Gulp!
BURP! Pardon Me! I ate too many fishes

Baby Shark
Baby shark ch,ch, ch, ch, ch
Baby shark ch,ch, ch, ch, ch
Mommy shark ch, ch, ch, ch, ch
Mommy shark ch, ch, ch, ch, ch
Daddy shark ch, ch, ch, ch, ch
Daddy shark ch, ch, ch, ch, ch
Grandpa shark ch, ch, ch, ch, ch
Grandpa shark ch, ch, ch, ch, ch
Grandma shark ch, ch, ch, ch, ch
Grandma shark ch, ch, ch, ch, ch
Tuna swimming ch, ch, ch, ch, ch
Tuna swimming ch, ch, ch, ch, ch
Sharks are coming ch, ch, ch, ch, ch
Sharks are coming ch, ch, ch, ch, ch
SHARK ATTACK

I worried the kids might be afraid of sharks, but they seemed to really enjoy it. Luckily we’re really landlocked, so the fear of sharks is probably on level with fear of big bad wolves.

For our activity, my plan was to microwave a bar of Ivory Soap. It’s supposed to create a foamy cloud (instructions here). It was a cool idea, and I’d do it again in a smaller setting. But the ‘cloud’ was really hot when I took it out of the microwave (I know, duh, but a soap burn is something I never thought I’d have). Once it cooled, it was really flaky, and made a huge, waxy mess. It would have taken maybe 20 bars to make enough for the kids. We do the craft right after the stories, so it would have been impossible for me to quickly nuke 20 bars of soap while the kids waited around. I’ve read that you can mix the soap with shaving cream, and it will hold better. I’m going to try some fake snow recipes soon—we’ll see how that turns out.

Another great, less-messy ocean craft: We have a fish shaped die cut. Cut the shapes from thick paper (a paper plate, a manilla folder), and let the kids glue squares of colored tissue paper to it to create scales.