The Ocean Box

As I've mentioned before, we homeschoolers are studying swimming creatures. Our science book recommended building an ocean box and filling it throughout the year.

So far we've had two successful clay sessions!The first week, Joe and Marianna made dolphins. One is under the water while the other leaps above.Didn't they turn out great?As you can probably imagine, Rebecca wanted to participate but was frustrated with what her four-year-old self could produce. Eventually someone suggested she make an underwater volcano and her cheerfullness reappeared.

Whales were this chapter's topic, so Marianna made a gray (baleen) whale and Joe built a narwhal (toothed). They have been doing their own work, too. This Friday I didn't even stick around to offer moral support; Len was home so I went to the grocery store. :-)

-

We still need to hang the narwhal so it can "swim", and we're planning to cut the gray whale and glue part above and part below the lid to simulate breaching. Meanwhile, here's what they look like:Rebecca wanted to make a surfer. Marianna helped her come up with this beauty, who I've been told looks like me (green IS one of my colors):

The red squiggles are surfboard decorations.