Today we celebrated OSHC Oceans week by making ocean jars. We gathered materials including, glitter, seashells and clear glass jar. We used the sample picture to recreate our ow ocean jar. The children who participated in this activity were excited to pick out their own special shells to include in the jar. We filled the jar with shells and blue glitter to represent the water. We filled the jar up with water and sealed the lid tightly and shook the jar up. We watched with wonder as the glitter and the shells swirled together. We had a discussion on how we can protect our oceans because they are so important and so beautiful.
The children were very eager to participate in this activity. It was mostly younger students, which gave the educator the opportunity to encourage discussion about the treatment of our oceans and things we can do. It was important for the children to create the jar themselves as a team, because we had a discussion about how we are all responsible for the treatment of our environment.
We were enthralled by the beauty of the spinning glitter in the jar, and the children discovered that watching the glitter ans the shells spin in the jar was comforting and calming. The children suggested using the glitter jars as a relaxation tool at before school care before they head to the classroom.
Picking out the shells allowed the children to work on their fine motor skills, as the shells varied in size.
