Preschool: Shark Week

So, it's Shark Week on the Discovery Channel!! I LOVE Shark Week, maybe it's because I'm a poor landlocked Nebraksan who, I think, was born to be somewhere near an ocean. I love water, swimming, and just sitting near or having a view of water. Maybe someday (I don't think I'll ever make a lifestyle change to get to live on the ocean) I can get a home near a lake or stream :) Anyway, I am a huge fan of Shark Week, it's on all day, so for preschool this week I thought why not do some mini lessons/crafts on sharks. We took a walk to the library to get some books on sharks for story time. And today we did a torn paper collage. Super easy and what small child doesn't like to tear paper and use glue sticks?

 Materials:
half-2 sheets of blue construction paper (different shades) depending on what size, mine were only 1/2 so we only needed 1/2 sheet of construction paper. But if you did a full sheet you would need one and I think two different shades of blue would look nice.
white paper
cut out shark from black or gray construction paper
cut out fish from various shades of construction paper
glue stick
 
We did half a sheet, since I was low on blue construction paper. It's hard not being a teacher anymore and having a fully stocked supply closet down the hall :( I started with 1/2 sheet blue construction paper (If I had more I would have done a full white sheet and two or more different shades of blue). Told the kids to tear it up. Then I got each of them 1/2 sheet of white computer paper and had them glue the blue scraps onto the white, covering as much of the white as possible. I had cut out sharks and little fish ahead of time. You could let them cut the sharks out, but with preschoolers we usually loose a fin or two when there are sharp corners like that. Gave them the sharks and fish to glue onto the paper. They loved it, purple glue sticks are so much fun :) and it was easy for all of them to do.

The other shark craft. A water color resist. I should have taken a picture of the older kiddos, but you draw/print a shark/sea life scene. Have the kids color it, really well, color white where you want white. Then let them paint with water colors over everything. Where you colored with crayon the watercolor won't stick. Kids love to paint, it was a hit and easy!