Beach Vacation Activities

Who packs for a week long beach trip and puts together a bag of learning activities? Me, of course!
I gave myself two hours tonight to pull together as many beachy themed ideas that would be easy to pack for our trip. Once we return, I'll likely keep all these goodies packed up together to be used again next year. (Or borrowed by my local friends!)

{General supplies you'll need: scissors, pencils, dry erase markers, paper, tape, and glue.}


Beach Themed Concentration Cards - I printed these from this link. My son loves to cut and make his own games so just the prep work will keep him busy! Then he can play the game with his cousins who are joining us on the trip.

Beach Themed Pattern Sheet - This is very simple but thought it would be good for review of patterns. Find it at this link.

Ocean Themed Math pages can be found here. My son has always loved doing worksheets. Now that we use a Crayola dry erase activity center I can print the sheets and save them for future use! Plus using the dry erase markers is just cool...at least to a 5 year old!


Shark Teeth Addition - we've been using this great math mat since HeidiSongs posted it last winter. (Check this link and scroll down to #5!) Instead of using pattern blocks I am packing some real shark teeth to use. We will use a dice to see how many shark teeth to put on the bottom of the shark mouth. A second dice roll will tell how many shark teeth go on top. Then he will write the math sentence with the answer on the bottom of the page. (i.e. 3 + 4 = 7)
Heidi also posted a worksheet to extend this activity. I also like her idea about having the child draw their own addition sentence. {If you don't follow her blog you are missing out!}


Actual Size by Steve Jenkins --- also need: tape measure, masking tape
This book has many different animals in it, but the activity I am going to do focuses on the great white shark. The book explains that it's teeth are 4 inches and it's body is 21 feet.
* Using masking tape create a line in the yard that measures 21 feet. Then take turns lying down on the tape to see how many of each person's body fits into the shark. (i.e. It would take almost 4 mommies to be as long as a great white shark.)
* I'll also pack some linking cubes and have my son find things that are 4 inches long in the house.


Tangrams - a new favorite activity at our house. I searched online for "free tangram printables" and found lots of choices. My favorites are at http://tangrams.ca/inner/pdftans.htm  I find printing the puzzles on one side and the solutions on the reverse works the best for us. As a surprise I also bought my son the book, Three Pigs, One Wold, and Seven Magic Shapes.

Beach Story Mats - We have been doing a lot of addition this summer but I want to start working on subtraction. I printed a couple of beach themed math mats from this link. Then using little plastic crabs, octopus, and starfish we will make up some stories about the animals and write the subtraction sentences.
Of course the mat I printed is a sandy shore and my literal & compassionate son will be concerned that the octopus would die out of the water! Guess the story could be about the octopus swimming back to the ocean.


Shell Collection: How is it that I own no books about shells? That is outrageous...I will need to research bookstores at the Cape!
At least I do have a small collection of shells. I will take that and a few magnifying glasses for some shell investigations.

Beach Sensory Box - my sweet two year old is still putting everything in her mouth so I will have to think of some fun non-choking hazards for her to explore. I'll have to put some thought into this and post my final product later!
I like the ideas at http://www.notimeforflashcards.com/2010/05/beach-sensory-tub.html 

Sink the Boat - Each person will make their own boat out of aluminum foil. Then we will float them in the bath tub. We'll test out how many coins you can your boat to hold before it sinks.

Nature Hunt - if I had more time I would make a beach theme scavenger hunt sheet but I found a great free printable one here! (Go over and spend lots of time at www.deceptivelyeducational.blogspot.com - she has great ideas!)

Color Word Roll - another project I've printed from Deceptively Educational is the Crayola Color Word Roll that uses a box of 24 crayons. Read all about it here. It's not beach themed but I think my son will love this activity!


Salt Water experiments - I'm running out of time and now I'm thinking of all the great science learning that could happen at the beach. I know my son would love to do some salt experiments. Hmmm....don't I have a book about that. Yes! Science- Just Add Salt by Sandra Markle  (Guess I'll be reading up on that too!)


And all good vacations need lots of books to read during down times, nap times, and in between times. Here's what I found on our shelves that seemed like fun reads for the beach...I'm sure I'll stash even more in my bags as I pack though.

Read Aloud books:
If You Find a Rock by Peggy Christian
It Could Still Be a Rock by Allan Fowler
The Best Vacation Ever by S. Murphy (collecting data)
One is a Snail, Ten is a Crab by April Sayre (counting feet book)
Five Little Sharks Swimming in the Sea by S. Metzger
Somewhere in the Ocean by J. Ward
The Shark Who Was Afraid of Everything by B. James
Commotion in the Ocean by G. Andreae
Ten Little Fish by Audrey Wood
Shark Trouble by S. Lloyd
Fish Eyes by Lois Ehlert
Fly High, Fly Guy! by Tedd Arnold (about a road trip & getting lost)



So that's the end of a very long post. I spent two and 1/2 hours on planning this but I know that it's time well invested! Forgive my typos, Blogger's spell check isn't working tonight. And I've already exceeded my self-impossed my 2 hour time limit and I'm ready for bed! :)