A ‘Deep Dive’ into Undersea Exploration

At IMS, we believe that inspiration comes from many different sources, but especially from nature. In our Early Childhood Classroom (ECC), students in Pre-K and Kindergarten have been exploring ocean and aquatic environments, just in time for Earth Week! 

Our Pre-K room has come alive with jellyfish, sea turtles, and a giant octopus, and the ocean has taken over Kindergarten with seaweed and an underwater volcano. Students have been drawing, looking closely at sea creatures, and noticing the shapes and colors that repeat in nature. Kindergarten teacher Mrs. Michelle Charles says, “It has been exciting to discover how much our students already know, and to build upon our knowledge in order to create an underwater world.” 

There are myriad ways our exploration of the ocean has come into play in the Pre-K and K classrooms. We have used observational drawing to encourage children to draw sea life, most notably our seashell still life pictures. “We are using our recent study of shapes to notice how they repeat in nature,” adds Mrs. Charles. We have practiced our fine motor skills through a playdough ocean exploration, incorporated sea creatures into our maker station, and weaved our ocean theme into math and literacy studies! For example, students have been labeling sea creatures throughout the classrooms to practice noticing sounds and writing phonetically. We have also been reading books like “Snapshot Picture Stories: Underwater Animals.”

Whether it’s spending as much time outdoors as possible or bringing nature into the classroom, our teachers foster an appreciation for all life on Earth.