Create an Ocean World

We introduce our ocean friends with a jellyfish song and tentacle dance with tentacle costumes. Then we work together to build a little ocean environment. Children scoop in different elements that make up an ocean environment, from water, to sand, to plants, rocks shells and marine creatures . Learning outcomes: sensory awareness of different textures in the ocean, sink versus float, social interaction working together, ocean-related vocabulary. Mandarin Words: 水母 (shuǐ mǔ) – jellyfish, 魚 (yú) – fish, 漂浮 (piāofú) – float, 沉 (chén) – sink, 海洋 (hǎiyáng) – ocean, 海底 (hǎidǐ) – seafloor Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deShX9BMuRE

Rubber Ducks are Counting on You!

Time for the classic rubber duckies! We talk about big and small, then count the mother duck and her five ducklings. We will sing the song 五隻小鴨子 (Five Little Ducks) with piano accompaniment. After playing with the ducks on our ocean pond, we head over to the sandpit to practice the numbers from last week (一 and 二) and introduce 大 and 小 (big and small) Mandarin Words: 一 (yī) – one, 二 (èr) – two, 三 (sān) – three, 四 (sì) – four, 五 (wǔ) – five, 小 (xiǎo) – small, 大 (dà) – big, 鴨 (yā) – duck Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QuDlk7Zjvc

Castles in the Sand

Each child will have the chance to build their own sandcastle, complete with decorations such as seashells, leaves and rocks. We will offer moulds or the children can create their own designs. We learn about what kind of shapes will stand, and what might not, and have fun with safe sand. Mandarin Words: 石 (shí) – rock, 玩 (wán) – play, 沙 (shā) – sand, 家" (jiā) – home, 做 (zuò) – to make/do Song: 一起玩沙子, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_zimbesEiQ

Visit a Live Pond Ecosystem

What lives in our ponds? We revisit our little ocean so the children can scoop out their favourite fish. This encourages motor control and helps us understand volumes and explore different types of creatures that live in the ocean! We then explore a live pond with real fish, turtles, and plants. Mandarin Words: (numerous repeated) 鱼 (yú) – fish, 鸟 (niǎo) – bird 草 (cǎo) – grass 树 (shù) – tree, 叶 (yè) – leaf 石 (shí) – stone or rock 水 (shuǐ) – water 泥 (ní) – mud, 花 (huā) – flower Song: 小池, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQuO7vR-3J8

Ways of Water

Water is a liquid, which means it can change shape, just like when we scooped the water from the mini ocean into the cup. What happens when we spin water around? What happens to the things floating in the water when it moves? Today we look at whirlpools and vortexes, and discover the exciting world of fluid dynamics!

Mandarin Words: 河 (hé) – river, 风 (fēng) – wind, 中间 (zhōngjiān) – middle, center, 快 (kuài) – fast, 不游 (yóu) – do not swim