Ocean Food Chains

There were so many ideas I didn't get a chance to share this year, so travel "back in time"with me to about 2 months ago, when we were studying ocean animals and food chains...I started doing these little ocean food chains back when I was a student teacher! They are so stinkin' fun to make, and they are such a fun visual to reinforce the concept!  Each child drew a giant shark, cut out a circle for the belly {well, I cut the circles--this was pretty hard for most of them}, then drew a fish, and cut out a circle belly, then added some plankton inside the fish!  Each piece was then taped to a piece of curling ribbon--but I have used yarn and string before too!  Teacher friends...this idea could be used with any food chain--you wouldn't have to wait until your ocean animals unit!

Craft Idea Share

This craft idea seems a little random, but I came across this picture today, and I just thought these were too cute! We made these coffee filter jellyfish during our ocean unit! They are so easy and fun to make. Flatten out a coffee filter, and tell the kids to color all over it with markers--try not to leave any white space. Then, you can either spray it with water, or fold it and dip each edge in a cup of water and watch as the colors blend into one another. Let them dry on a paper towel for about an hour, then fold in half and add eyes and curling ribbon. I really like when the kids decide to make giant eyes for their animals--I just think they look adorable and very "kid-like" that way.