The fun continues with Ocean week! Today we’ll play ocean chase with Word Party, make some parrot fish puppets, read The Pout-Pout Fish, and play a game about feelings.

Watch Together

In this episode of Word Party, (Season 3, Episode 13: “Ocean Chase,”) the babies pretend to be hungry animals chasing each other and then learn about different ocean animals. After watching, you might ask your child:

• Do you remember what animals the babies pretended to be?

• What animal would you be?

• What does your animal like to eat?

• What is your favorite ocean animal?

Watch the episode here.

Make Parrot Fish Finger Puppets!

The ocean is filled with all sorts of interesting creatures, one of which is a parrot fish. Can you guess why it’s called that? Yep, their fused teeth look like a parrot’s beak! Now you can make some parrot fish finger puppets of your own. Click below to download the instructions and pattern.

Find the instructions here.

Cuddle Up and Read

Grab a book about ocean animals, plant life, or anything else your child might be interested in! Or, catch this read-aloud of The Pout-Pout Fish by Deborah Diesen.

Read along to the story here.

Pout-Pout Fish Feelings Game

This game provides young children with the opportunity to explore their feelings in a fun way. Before beginning, ask your child how the Pout-Pout Fish felt at the beginning and end of the story, (sad, then happy). Invite your child to guess how the other characters in the story might be feeling, (frustrated, curious, angry, etc.).

Game instructions:

1. With your child, decide which feelings you will use during the game. Depending on your child’s age, you may choose anywhere from 3-10 different feelings.

2. Present different scenarios to your child, inviting him to act out the corresponding feelings through his facial expressions, movements, or other body language. Ex: When you say, “Imagine it’s raining on the day we were planning a picnic,” your child might pretend to cry, make a pouty face, etc.

3. Call out the feeling your child is displaying as she does it. Ex: “Oh, you look sad! Is that the feeling you’re acting out?”

4. Repeat until your child has acted out all the feelings.

5. Afterwards, repeat the game, inviting your child to give you different scenarios as you act out the corresponding feelings.

Coming Up Next…

Ocean week ends with a Splash and Bubbles celebration for papa, an ocean in a bottle, and more!