Sunny Seashells Preschool Style

 
Simon loving his conch shells. His favorite, though, are moon snail shells.

Literature

Here are the books I read to Simon during our shell unit. For Simon, the focus was on animal homes & shells (not just seashells).

Are You a Snail? by Judy Allen
Jenny’s Surprise Summer by Eugenie 
A House for Hermit Crab by Eric Carle
What Lives in a Shell? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld

Craft ~ Ocean in a Bottle
This is super easy (and cheap!) to do.

You need: 
water, a plastic bottle, baby oil, blue food coloring, glue, and shells (I found some fun crafting shells at Hobby Lobby)

Fill the bottle 1/2 full with water. Add baby oil (we probably used 3/4 cup). Drop in small shells. 

Add some food coloring (just 1-2 drops or the color will be too dark).

Add some glue around the top edges and screw the lid on.

After the lid dries, give your bottle a shake, shake, shake! Hold it on its side, and you’ll see waves, foam, and bubbles–irresistible for any preschooler!

Lapbook

His lapbook is based on What Lives in a Shell? by Kathleen Weidner Zoehfeld. You can download the lapbook templates & instructions.

Completed Lapbook

Left Side
/sh/ accordion open

Seashells t-book open

Middle of lapbook with a few of the books open

Right side 
decorated snail

Animals Living in Shells hotdog book open

Simon also had fun playing our shell matching game, baking & decorating cupcakes, helping paint our tablecloth, and learning the names of shells. You can read more about his adventure (and his big brother’s adventure, too!) in this post.