OLS Kindergartners experience ocean fun

Kindergartners at Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic School celebrated Beach Day on Oct. 14 as a conclusion to their extensive study about the ocean.

“Though this study is overall a science-based experience, it crosses the curriculum,” said kindergarten teacher Cindy Westbrook. 

Through experiments, art projects, math, and story writing, the students learned about such things as ocean levels, sea life, erosion, caring for the ocean and more. 

“I used many books, charts and science websites to make the study come alive for my students,” Westbrook said. “We created many art projects, one of which was a wave tube. Students used the sand they created as the floor, then added water, blue food coloring, seashells, creatures and oil to make the ocean tube.”

On their special Beach Day, students wore ocean t-shirts and accessories. They also participated in an array of activities including listening to beach songs, playing in sand tubs, making sea creature patterns in math, creating shell rubbings, finding a message in a bottle, and writing sea sticker stories about their knowledge of the ocean.  

“We even went to Livestream Mass during the day, because we should never miss Mass just because we are on vacation at the beach!” Westbrook said. 

The highlight of the youngster’s day was a sea-snack made of blue Jello with sea creature gummies and goldfish crackers.

Submitted by Mary Stephens Pugh.