Click on the image to download activity sheet
Objective: Have fun creating an “ocean in a bottle” craft while teaching beach-themed vocabulary. This activity also offers the opportunity to use comparative adjectives as your child observes differences between their “mini-Ocean” and a beach they may have visited in real life.
Ocean in a Bottle – El Océano
Materials needed:
• plastic water or soda bottles,
• blue or green food coloring,
• baby oil or vegetable oil, tiny shells,
• sparkles or gold glitter for sand.
1. Fill the water bottle 2/3 full with water and tint it with the food coloring and add oil.
2. Fill bottle to about 1/2 inch of the rim.
3. Add tiny shells, glitter, or other sea-related items.
4. Glue the bottle shut and place tape around the top to seal the bottle to prevent the oily liquid from leaking out.
5. When you tip the bottle it will look like rolling ocean waves.
Language Practice:
• Shake the bottle back and forth and ask children to tell you what they see.
• Encourage them to use these words and describe how it is like the ocean.
• Continue the exposure in the target language by conversing about what they see and making connections with the child’s prior knowledge of the ocean. Ex: “ Mira las olas… son grandes… ¿cuántas conchas hay en la botella? Has visto conchas en la arena? Etc etc.
Vocabulary:
El agua- water
las olas- waves
El mar- sea
la arena- sand
El océano- ocean
las conchas- shells
Click here to download a PDF with the Ocean in a Bottle activity sheet. The download will automatically start as soon as you click. Check your computer’s download folder to find the files.
Thanks to The Bilingual Fun Company for providing this activity. You can follow them on Twitter and Like their Facebook page which is always bustling with information.
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