Oatmeal Starfish

Theme of the Week: Oceans

As my two year old and I head out of town for a couple of days on a mommy and son vacation to the beach, we spent some time this week leading up to our trip talking about ocean life.  Making oatmeal starfish was a perfect toddler afternoon activity for him.  He helped me trace the shape onto construction paper first.  I cut it out and made him a mixture of glue and water that he painted onto the starfish with a foam brush.  His favorite part was sprinkling oatmeal all over (literally all over!) to make his starfish rough.  We brainstormed about other rough things that you might find at the beach, and smooth things too.  

We also talked about one of my favorite messages that comes from the Starfish Parable.  A shortened version graces our kitchen chalkboard along with his starfish now.  Every teacher and parent can find purpose in this message, and I hope that my son does too!

If you're looking for more ocean fun, check out our Ocean Explorer kits offered for the primary and intermediate classroom.  I used them this week with my summer tutoring students, and we had so much fun!