This Friday Fun is all about our oceans. Australia is a marine nation, we have one of the largest ocean territories in the world! And Sea Week (March 4 to 12) is Australia's major national public awareness campaign; to provide information, focus community awareness on current issues, and encourage an appreciation of the sea.
Our beautiful island nation is deeply connected with the ocean; from our favourite recreational activities to our climate and weather; employment and tourism opportunities to the delicious array of food and other resources - the ocean is in our blood! So, dive into Friday Fun; learn, play and grow!
The 7 Ocean Literacy Principles!
Ocean literacy is an understanding of the ocean’s influence on you—and your influence on the ocean.
There are seven Essential Principles (see below poster) that each explore a number of Fundamental Concepts related to that principle. But essentially, a person who is ocean-literate:
Understands the Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts about the ocean;
Can communicate about the ocean in a meaningful way; and
Is able to make informed and responsible decisions regarding the ocean and its resources.
You can download your own copy of this poster (and a bunch of other helpful educational resources) from the Australian Association for Environmental Education website or the National Marine Educators Association website.
How to Celebrate Sea Week!
Sea Week is all about developing your ocean literacy and making connections between the world and your self. All life, including our own, exists because of the ocean. Our lives depend on the health of our oceans and it is important that we all learn about this important resource so that we can make informed and responsible decisions about the ocean, its resources, and our actions!
There is so much scope here for addressing a number of curriculum areas; including, but not limited to, Science, The Arts, English, Mathematics and Technologies. The Ocean Literacy Essential Principles and Fundamental Concepts give you a foundation for exploring all manner of topics related to our oceans; and they also give our children (and ourselves) the opportunity to become active and informed citizens with a focus on sustainable action! (Wow! Look at all those curriculum links we are making! Not only are we able to cover and integrate a bunch of subjects, but we can also hit those cross-curriculum priorities and general capabilities requirements too!).
But Sea Week isn't just about ticking curriculum boxes in fun ways, it is a fantastic reason to get our and about in our world, connect with others, take action on matters that are important to you, and most importantly learn more about this amazing jewel of a planet that we live on!
Use this special week to explore your local ocean environments (nature walks, ocean swims, exploring rock pools, or snorkelling anyone?), connect with professionals working in ocean industries (think: aquaculture, reef or island tours etc.), join an organisation or participate in an event that promotes a healthy planet (like Clean Up Australia Day, incidentally, also happening this Sunday, 5th March!). You might also use this week as a springboard for new units or explorations, or even just as some additional fun - go exploring, connect with others, do some experiments or crafts!
What Are We Doing?
It really is difficult to just narrow down to a few things to be honest, but here are some things that have stood out to us and that we'd like to include in our week!
Big Kids!
Learn...
We're going to explore the Salt Water Schools website - there are so many fabulous resources and lesson plans here that it is sure to spark some interest and send us shooting off down another rabbit hole of learning and fun!
This is also a fabulous resource if you're looking to align with curriculum or find age/stage appropriate activities that address the Ocean Literacy Principles; all of the hard work has been done for you and you can use the resources as is, or you can adapt and combine as needed!
Virtual Excursion time!
We're off to join the education team at the Australian National Maritime Museum to learn about how plastic waste is affecting marine life and habitats!
This special event also includes a virtual visit to their wharf to discover how innovative technology like the Sea Bin can help clean up our oceans.
And of course, we'll learn about some things we can all do to help our beautiful oceans by making more sustainable choices and taking more sustainable actions.
Play...
I could not go past this creative STEM opportunity for the bigger kids!
Not only do they have the opportunity to learn about the layers of the ocean (and potentially spark a completely new tangent of investigation) BUT they also have the opportunity to experiment with soap-making (a useful skill to have and also a fabulous way to dive into science!).
Jump on over to Steam Powered Family to find out more!
We're going to try our hand at creating some interesting, ocean-inspired installation art.
Not only is art fun (and beautiful), it is also a fabulous way to communicate ideas, raise awareness of important issues, and express our opinions and thoughts in ways that words simply can't.
We'll be checking out some cool installation art, looking at some important activist messages that have been communicated with art, and creating an installation piece of our own to communicate an important message about ocean wellbeing!
Some artworks we'll check out are:
FEMA: Fear Environmental Mayhem Ahead
Aerial
Community Forms Of course there are way more than these, but we'll start here!
Grow...
If your teen is looking for ways to expand their skillsets, connections or interests then this one might be for you!
Joining Ocean Youth online is totally free! But there are also some face-to-face opportunities for learning and engagement too if that's more your cup of tea!
"Ocean Youth (OY) enables youth to gain the skills & knowledge to implement solutions to some of the big, hairy issues our oceans face, and influence others to take positive ocean action too." (Ocean Youth, 2023).
FACE TO FACE:
Some locations offer a program that consists of interactive, immersive, and skills-building activities. Keep an eye on our socials as we recruit for the face-to-face program.
LOCATION INDEPENDENT:
We offer a range of opportunities to engage with our Ocean Youth community & have your voice heard. Join our community through our news and updates so we can continue the conversation.
We're super keen to find out more!
We'll continue exploring our Oceanography Journal (we started this quite a while ago and go side-tracked - but this is a great opportunity to jump back into it).
The journal is a really comprehensive unit study that is perfect for ocean enthusiasts; and covers all aspects of ocean exploration from history, geography and science through to creative and informative writing, art and nature study! It also dives into ocean-based careers and has a list of awesome resources (most are totally FREE and easy to access!) to help you get started exploring the ocean!
We'll probably be diving back in using nature study and then exploring some science experiments and possible career paths!
Find out more about the Oceanography Journal here!
Little Kids!
Learn...
Of course, we're going to read a bunch of ocean-themed books. Books really are our go-to resources for teaching and learning - they are engaging, they give us the opportunity to slow down and connect, they more-often-than-not springboard a whole host of new adventures, AND they are so incredibly accessible - with options to borrow from the library, listen to audiobooks, use e-books, or even find read-alouds of your favourites (or something new!) online!
Some titles that are on our To Read list are:
The Snail & the Whale (Julia Donaldson)
Bloom (Julia Seal)
Commotion in the Ocean (Giles Andreae)
An Anthology of Aquatic Life (Sam Hume)
Oceanarium (Teagan White)
Rainbow Fish series
We'll be learning about all kinds of ocean animals using fun games and hands-on activities - simple, colourful and manipulative are the key things that we are looking for, for our little ones because that's what gets them (and keeps them) engaged! Some great resources we found that we're looking forward to exploring are:
Montessori Nature Printables (shown above) - we can do matching activities, look at the parts of different animals and so much more!
Ocean Plant & Animal Cards - our little Miss absolutely loves looking at gorgeous animal and plant pictures, sorting cards like these, and even creating her own stories and games using them - they are a super versatile resource (and what's even better is that these are FREE!).
We'll also be exploring this Montessori-Inspired Layers of the Ocean activity - this is one of our favourite finds because it incorporates craft, gives our kids opportunities for hands-on play and sorting, and opens doors for them to ask questions and wonder about things outside of their current knowledge-base!
Play...
We're super keen on sensory play at our place - not only is it fun, but it really helps the little ones develop their dexterity, strength and coordination!
This topic is perfect for some things that I've had saved in my wishlist of fun activities for a while...
First on the list, Soapy Sea Foam - not only is this a completely unique sensation for hands-on play, it is also so versatile - use a play trough outside, do it in the kitchen sink (or the bathtub for a full immersion activity!), or even use a plastic container.
Learn how to get started here!
Next, we want to try out Ocean Slime - slime is just one of those things that will have kids screaming for joy (you can also use this as an opportunity to explore science concepts because making the slime is half of the fun!).
Learn how to get started here!
And finally, a favourite of ours, themed playdough - this time Ocean-themed! Throw together your favourite playdough recipe, make a bunch of ocean-themed colours (think: blues, greens, sand and rock colours - or maybe you'd like to include some brights for fun on the reef!); grab some shells and ocean creatures, or maybe a few playdough mats and get started!
Click here for our No Fail Playdough Recipe!
And check out our Freebies section for some fabulous ocean-inspired playdough mats!
Our little ones are very craft and colouring oriented, so we will be feeding their interests by providing a bunch of creative things for them to explore!
Top things on our list are:
Ocean-themed Colouring
Coral Reef Blow Paintings
Salt Watercolour Resist
Painted Shells
We'll also look at heading to the beach for a nature walk and will add some cool finds (or pictures and drawings of our cool finds) to our nature journals. Side note: even the littlest members of your family can keep a nature journal (with a little help), maybe you could create a shared family nature journal and include their drawings or comments, and pictures of their adventures!
Grow...
We're not just growing our minds, we're also growing our bodies - so it is important to us that our little ones have lots of opportunities to move and play!
To support this, we will be using some Under the Sea Movement Cards to spark their imaginations and get them up and moving!
Our little ones also love music, so we will have a variety of musical instruments out for them to experiment with (how can we make ocean sounds? what would a fish swimming quickly sound like? or a jellyfish gliding along?) AND we'll also be playing some ocean music for our little ones to move to (we like this cute compilation of ocean-themed songs from Super Simple Songs!)
Our little ones are growing so fast and they are always super keen on anything to do with water; so this is a great opportunity to extend their water skills (in this case, learning how to swim) and their knowledge of water safety (especially at the beach or when we're out in the boat). Like I've already said, Australia is a water-loving nation and we spend huge chunks of our time using water for fun - it is really important that we grow our children's capabilities in and around water, starting from when they're small - we want our kids to have fun, but we also want them to be safe! Head on over to:
Royal Lifesaving Australia for some great resources and activities about water safety (Primary focused)
Kids Alive for some great educational or parent resources to help you teach even your littlest ones about water safety
FREEBIES!
If you're dreaming of some playdough fun then this freebie might be for you! Download a copy of our Ocean-themed Playdough Mats for FREE (only for Sea Week, so don't miss out!)!
*This item is no longer a free download - but you can still grab a copy from our store!
If you're heading out into nature to explore, why not grab a free copy of our Nature Study: The Beach & Ocean Guide and record your amazing nature adventures! BONUS - you get a sneak peak inside our Oceanography Journal too!
We hope that this has given you lots of fun ways to celebrate Sea Week and get you diving in to learn more about our beautiful oceans and the creatures that live there! Friday Fun at The Hub is all about connecting homeschoolers with fun learning experiences that enrich every homeschool; and providing families with fabulous freebies to support learning, playing and growing at home!
If you've got some suggestions for other great ideas or would like to share your adventures, please visit our private group on Facebook - Little Sprouts Homeschooling and join a community of homeschoolers just like you!
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