Children will learn about the beach and its inhabitants - go on an imaginary field trip in the winter to cure the winter blahs.

Materials:

• Book - At the Beach with Dad
• Book - Curious George Goes to the Beach
• Ziploc bag for each child
• sand
• shaving cream
• blue food coloring
• seashells
• small plastic sea animals - I find these at the dollars stores--huge bags of them

Plan:

Read At the Beach with Dad. Talk about what things they saw at the beach and what they did. Tell the children we are going to explore what kinds of things they think they might see at the beach, where are the beaches, etc. This is great for Internet exploration.

Then, allow the children to create their own beach to take home.

1. Pour enough sand to cover the bottom of the Ziploc bag.
2. Add seashells (make sure they have no sharp edges), and beach inhabitants.
3. Squirt some shaving cream into the bag.
4. Add a few drops of blue food coloring to the bag.
5. Close and squeeze around. This will mix the shaving cream and food coloring to create foamy waves. You can double bag the creations or tape the top shut for more durability.

This also uses the senses. Touch the sand, smell the shaving cream, etc. We close by reading Curious George Goes to the Beach. I also let the kids bring their sunglasses, beach towels, etc.

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