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Welcome to our “Awesome & Amazing Sharks Week” – an at home week filled with days of relaxed learning and fun activities all themed to the oh-so-cool, sometimes scary, always awesome sharks!!!
For this day, we turned our attention to a gentle giant, the whale shark! Read on to check out a fun filled day of learning, reading, crafts, and activities all on these largest fish in the sea!
A TYPICAL DAY
All kids are different and you can definitely vary your day with whatever works for you 🙂 Our relaxed & learning fun day kicks off with an introduction to the day’s theme. Then, we move onto videos and themed activities (reading, writing – or story telling – time, crafts, food crafts/snacks, and games or experiments). Feel free to pick and choose whatever works for you 🙂
INTRO
Whale sharks have become quite popular especially with the appearance of an adorable supporting whale shark character in the popular Finding Dory movie! So, we just had to have a day dedicated to this wonderful creature! If you’re looking for some quick facts, these sites are great for introductions:
- Whale Sharks by National Geographic Kids
- Whale Shark by Kids Britannica
- Top 5 facts about whale sharks by WWF-UK
WHAT TO WATCH
We find that mixing in a short video themed to our day is a great way to add some learning fun! We try to pick informative videos OR mix in a cartoon favorite (where they don’t even realize they’re learning). Below are some of the videos we picked from for the day:
- All About Whale Sharks for Children: Whale Shark video for Kids by Free School (6m)
- Whale Sharks – The Gentle Giants of the Sea by Next Generation Science (4m)
- The Amazing Biology of: The Whale Shark by Nature’s Wonderverse (14m)
- Wait… so is that a WHALE or a SHARK? | Leo the Wildlife Ranger Spinoff S5E03 by Mediacorp okto (8m)
- Octonauts: The Decorator Crab / Whale Shark S1E7
- Finding Dory
FOOD CRAFTS / SNACKS
What’s more fun than taking a break and having a simple snack??? Including the snack in your theme of the day! We find that our kiddos are more than happy to eat the snacks they create especially when they can arrange them into fun shapes and scenes!
For our snack of the day, we wanted to demonstrate how a whale shark eats: Ocean Generation has a short video on How do whale sharks eat? Since whale sharks are filter feeders, we simulated that by making some mac and cheese & filtering it out through the strainer. Otherwise, you could get a head start on dinner and make some pasta 🙂
READING
It’s no secret that reading is an important part of learning, which is why we pick out a handful of books that are fun and filled with some learning tidbits. For our older ones, we have them fill out some worksheets (or let them create some of their own comics) to describe what they read and/or learned! These are a few we picked from for the day:
- Great White Shark Adventure by Fabien Cousteau
- Sharks (A Day in the Life): What Do Great Whites, Hammerheads, and Whale Sharks Get Up To All Day? by Carlee Jackson
WRITING & WRITING PROMPTS
Just like reading, writing is a great way to keep kids learning by both encouraging their creativity and thought process as well as helping them practice their motor skills and penmanship.
If you’ve got a little one, have them trace words related to the theme: SHARKS, FISH, WHALE SHARK
If you’ve got older children, have them write a sentence or two up to a page or two (depending on their age). Encourage them to be creative AND give reasons for why they made certain choices. This was our writing prompt of the day (and we offered up some examples as well) but definitely pick something your kiddo might be interested in writing about!
- A whale shark is actually not a shark. Do you think it is a good name for this shark? If not, what would you call it?
- If you had a pet or friend whale shark, what would you name it?
CREATE & CRAFT
If you’ve got a crafty little one, a simple craft is a great way to keep them interested in the topic. While their creative juices are flowing, you can also chat about what they’ve learned so far or ask them what else they’re excited about learning!
For our crafts of the day, we gave them a few options that would help them enhance their pretend play or add in some of what they learned.
- Whale Shark Coloring Page by Super Coloring
- Paper Craft Origami – How to make a Whale Shark ~DIY tutorial~ by 2D3D DIY
- Crayon Resist Whale Shark by first palette
- Big Mouth Whale Shark by Sharks 4 Kids
STEM & STEAM ACTIVITIES
While crafting and writing get their creativity and imagination flowing, we also like to add in an activity that gets them thinking along the lines of science, technology, engineering, or math! These engaging activities or experiments are a great way to keep them learning!
- Eugy Whale Shark 3D Puzzle
- Field Journal
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for checking out our at home learning fun post! If you enjoyed this read, please let us know what you think in the comments below and/or follow us on Pinterest
Also, if you haven’t already, check some other days in our Awesome & Amazing Sharks Week, as well as our Shark Day in our Ocean Camp Week, Megalodon Day in our Stunning Prehistoric Sea Creatures Week, Ocean Learning Fun Days, and our other DIY At Home Camps!
Happy Learning!
