Different creatures survive in different types of habitats. On this day your little one learned that habitats are environments that a particular plant or animal is perfectly suited for. To learn some more about creatures living under the sea, we used this particular Tuesday afternoon to talk about the whale! Whales are fascinating creatures, particularly because they are so mysterious.

Though they are among are the world’s largest creatures, they are gentle giants (with the exception of a few), feeding on thousands of plankton throughout the course of their day. These amazing animals make their homes in the warm and cold waters of the Pacific, Indian and Atlantic oceans. To help us identify with these “homes”, we created our very own under water habitats using a few materials. Habitats are among our favorite kinds of activities in Miss Carrie’s class. There are several ways to introduce the concept of an under water habitat to young children. The most effective way is for them to create a small habitat model using natural materials.

As they do this, they may create stories and scenarios that apply to recently acquired knowledge (in this case, the whale).Their imaginative brains are constantly conceiving plots and characters for even the simplest of things. This tendency for creative story building can be incorporated into any curriculum. To integrate this into our week of the whale, we discussed the characteristics of this particular habitat, why our whale sharks may prefer this as their home, and then created our own narratives to go along with it!