Resources for our 3-Year-Old Students

Little Bunny Activities and Resources:
We love Eric Carle books because we are drawn in by the bold, bright colors and the child-like drawings. There is a pattern to the books that children can follow. There are also life lessons to be learned, as Eric Carle relates to what happens in nature.
Fun Fact: Bill Martin, Jr. wrote and Eric Carle illustrated the following books:
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?, Polar Bear, Polar Bear, What Do You Hear?, and Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?
Books
Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See
The Mixed-Up Chameleon
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The Very Hungry Caterpillar
The Grouchy Ladybug
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Math
There are many opportunities for counting.
How many different animals did the Chameleon wish he could be?
How many days did the Hungry Caterpillar eat before he built his cocoon?
How many insects and animals did the Grouchy Ladybug try to fight?
How many animals did Brown Bear see
How many different animals did the Chameleon wish he could be?
How many days did the Hungry Caterpillar eat before he built his cocoon?
How many insects and animals did the Grouchy Ladybug try to fight?
How many animals did Brown Bear see
Science
Crafts
Make your own Brown Bear Book.
Grown-ups: fold writing paper and staple to look like a book. Children: draw different animals you might see or color each page differently or maybe different foods you like to eat. What do YOU see? Make a mixed-up painting. Paint different colors on a page. Use different utensils (plastic fork, spoon or cup) to create texture as well as mixing up the colors. Paint a pattern. Use corks or cotton balls or whatever you have on hand, and dip them in different color paint. Can you make a pattern? Make a ladybug. Use a paper plate and color or paint it red (or any color you choose). Add black dots. How many dots do you want your ladybug to have; count them. You may add legs and antenna with pipe cleaners. |
Egg crate caterpillar.
If you have a cardboard egg crate, cut in half the long way. Placing the egg crate upside down, paint the first cup red for the head, maybe adding eyes and antennae. Paint the rest green. (Remember, you can show your child a picture and let them make their own color choices). Caterpillar necklace. String red and green beads with yarn. Another option, color tube pasta by placing the pasta in a plastic baggie. Put in 3-4 drops of food coloring. Take them out and place on a lined cookie sheet to dry completely. Then string. Caterpillar in a cocoon. String a pipe cleaner with beads to look like a caterpillar. Wrap your caterpillar in tissue. Color a bath issue tube or paper towel tube to look like a cocoon. Slide your caterpillar inside the tube. |
Snacks
Graham Cracker Bear.
Coat the cracker with peanut butter, frosting, whatever you like to help the eyes and nose stick to the cracker. Use raisins or chocolate chips for the eyes and a marshmallow for the nose. |
Mixed-Up Chameleon trail mix.
Fill small bowls or cups with a small variety of your child’s favorite snacks (pretzels, goldfish, raisins, dried fruit, Cheerios). Let them add it to a different bowl, cup or baggie to create their very own trail mix. |
Caterpillar fruit kabob.
Cut green grapes and a strawberry in half. Line the grapes up as the body and the strawberry for the head. You can also use cucumbers and tomatoes or green apples and strawberry. |

Dancing Dino Activities and Resources:
Explore... The Ocean!
Fun Facts: Around 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans. The Pacific Ocean is the biggest ocean. You can find mountains and volcanoes on the bottom of the oceans. The biggest animal in the ocean is the blue whale.
Explore... The Ocean!
Fun Facts: Around 70% of the Earth’s surface is covered by oceans. The Pacific Ocean is the biggest ocean. You can find mountains and volcanoes on the bottom of the oceans. The biggest animal in the ocean is the blue whale.
Ocean Art...
Sensory Ocean Activities....
Wave Bottle
A great “calm down” or sensory activity. You can even put sea shells, glitter, or small items inside and watch them ride the waves! An empty water bottle White vinegar (or water), Blue food coloring, Oil (baby, canola, or vegetable oil) |
Fill bottle with 1/3 vinegar and add coloring. Then add oil. Oil sits up top and won’t mix! (Hot glue or tape the lid on to make sure you don't end up with a blue mess on your floor!) Shake and swirl - it’s really fun to watch! Looks like waves at the ocean! |
Ocean Science…
Ocean Treats…
Ocean Treats…
Octopus Fun
Print the “Octopus Fine Motor Practice” game here. Roll the dice. Cover the number of spots on the octopus with buttons or coins that corresponds to the number you rolled. Who will cover their octopus first? |

Little Wing Activities and Resources:
Here are some ideas and activities to do over the summer focusing on the OCEAN!
Here are some ideas and activities to do over the summer focusing on the OCEAN!
Sea Creature
Using play doh, create a sea creature... Get creative! Paper Ocean Scene
Cut up blue paper into small squares and glue to paper creating an ocean scene. Find pictures of fish or other sea creatures and paste to the ocean. Sand Writing
Write letters and numbers in sand using your fingers |
Paint Project
Use various shades of blue to paint. Use Q-tips, cotton balls, loofahs, or even their hands. Add some glitter for extra fun! Soothing Sounds
Play ocean sounds on your phone, tablet or YouTube. Relax and close your eyes. Think about what it feels like to be at the ocean. |

Kick-off your ocean theme activities with an awesome STEAM project! This cool ocean theme craft is very easy to make with just a few simple materials from the kitchen. Combine art with science with STEAM learning, and discover about absorption.
Color copy paper or markers and crayons
Glue
Scissors
Watercolors
Watercolor paper
Paintbrushes
Salt
-Coat the watercolor paper in water until it’s damp but not soaked. Watercolor paper is highly recommended for salt painting activities and will yield a nicer finished project!
TIP: Watercolor paper is made to handle all the extra water! Construction paper or copy paper is more likely to tear and rip off during the process.
-Select your paint colors. Different shades of blue with touches of green and yellow will make for a pretty ocean background. Using a paintbrush add the watercolors to the damp paper until you are happy with the results.
-While the paper is still wet, sprinkle pinches of salt across the surface and let the science begin!
TIP: Spread the salt so you don’t have little piles of salt left on the paper.
- Allow your ocean salt painting to dry completely and then glue on your sea creatures and bubbles. You can even make your own additions of seaweed or
fish!
Color copy paper or markers and crayons
Glue
Scissors
Watercolors
Watercolor paper
Paintbrushes
Salt
-Coat the watercolor paper in water until it’s damp but not soaked. Watercolor paper is highly recommended for salt painting activities and will yield a nicer finished project!
TIP: Watercolor paper is made to handle all the extra water! Construction paper or copy paper is more likely to tear and rip off during the process.
-Select your paint colors. Different shades of blue with touches of green and yellow will make for a pretty ocean background. Using a paintbrush add the watercolors to the damp paper until you are happy with the results.
-While the paper is still wet, sprinkle pinches of salt across the surface and let the science begin!
TIP: Spread the salt so you don’t have little piles of salt left on the paper.
- Allow your ocean salt painting to dry completely and then glue on your sea creatures and bubbles. You can even make your own additions of seaweed or
fish!
Sing the Five Little Starfish Song
Five little starfish by the lie down by the shore, The yellow starfish got lost and that left just four. Four little starfish float in the sea, The blue one swam too faraway and that left just three. Three little starfish in the ocean blu,e The red one went on a seahorse ride and that left just two. Two little starfish bathe in the sun, The orange one washed out to sea and that left just one. One little starfish swimming without a friend. It was time for him to go home and so our song had to end. |

Zoo Crew Activities and Resources:
Dive deep into exploring the OCEAN!
Dive deep into exploring the OCEAN!
1. Ocean slime: 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup liquid glue or white glue, 1/2 cup liquid starch, liquid watercolors or food coloring and glitter.
Start by pouring the water and liquid glue into a bowl. Mix until combined. Add your liquid watercolor or food coloring to the glue-water mixture and glitter, add liquid starch and stir, once it starts to thicken knead by hand & ENJOY. 2. Sea Creature Salt Art: White glue, Card Stock Paper, Paint Brush, Liquid Watercolors or Food Coloring mixed with water, salt. Pour the glue onto the paper making a jellyfish with dangling arms, starfish, fish or crab. pour the salt to cover all the glue and dust-off excess.. prepare several different colored cups of liquid paint, you’ll then dip your paintbrush into the paint cups and gently touch the salt covered glue lines and magically watch the paint travel and mix colors. 3. Crystal seashells: Borax Powder, water, measuring cups and measuring spoon, Mason Jars or Glass Containers, seashells. Boil water then add 3-4 tbls of borax powder per 1 cup of water. make a cup solution to get started if you are going to do several seashells. When you are mixing the solution, you will still see a tiny bit of the powder floating around and settling to the bottom. That means it’s saturated! Place your seashells in glass containers {glass prevents the solution from cooling down to quickly} Add the solution to the glass containers and watch what happens. 4. Oceans of the world: (in a book or online) try to find or count how many oceans they are in the world. What kind of water is in an ocean? Can you think of jobs people have that work in or around an ocean? What are the two oceans called on either side (coast) of America? 5. Guess who?: List 10 things that live under the sea then give two or three clues for each. See how many things you can think of and how many clues you get! For example, I am pink and called another word for little...who am I?, I have a hard- shell and pinching claws...who am I?, I have eight legs that wiggle...who am I?, I am round, clear like jelly and can sting...who am I?, I don't gallop but I live under the sea...who am I?... |
6. Swim the surf: well, really your bathtub but pretend by bringing in swim shoes, goggles/sunglasses, sunscreen, bathing suit, beach towel, beach hat, seashells, any ocean play animals, sand toys, shaving cream ( for waves) and SWIM!
7. Alphabet fishing and matching game: big plastic tub or bin, water, ping pong balls, small fishing nets with handles, black sharpie, empty egg cartons and blue liquid color. Write a letter of the alphabet on each ping pong ball ( or any other small item that floats) and in each space of the egg carton and place next to the water bin. dump the ping pong balls into the blue colored water bin. go fishing with your net for a letter, identify it and then place it in the matching letter in the marked egg cartons. 8. Beach in a box: shoebox ( attached or detached lid), blue and white paint, glitter, kinetic sand ( or regular), play shells, little people, mouthwash bottle caps or thimbles, small plastic containers. Paint the inside of the shoebox with blue paint, (if attached, paint lid and add clouds), sprinkle glitter. Once dry fill with sand to cover the bottom like a beach, add shells, play people, bottle caps (tiny buckets), containers and imagine away! 9. Bubble wrap jellyfish: white paper or cardboard, blue paint, bubble wrap, pipe cleaners, googly eyes, glue and glitter. Paint your paper with blue paint and sprinkle with glitter. when the glitter paper is dry glue on one or two semi-circle pieces of bubble wrap. glue on eyes and tape to the bottom of each as many pipe cleaners as you want. 10. Fish soaker game: filled water balloons, paper plates, black sharpie, tape, fish cut outs. Using a permanent marker, write the letters of your name on each paper plate and matching letters on the water balloons. On fence (or other hard surface) tape paper plates and fish cut outs (try to have at least one fish near each lettered plate). The object is to identify each letter on the water balloon and then throw it at the plate with the matching letter, WITHOUT "soaking the fish". |
Ocean edibles:
a. Sand snack: Place 3 vanilla wafers in a ziplock bag. Crush to make sand. Pour the sand in the bottom of a clear cup and scoop blue jello on top for the ocean, whipped cream for the waves and gummy fish.
b. Tuna fish snack: use a fish cookie cutter to cut two pieces of bread, spread tuna salad, pieces of lettuce, celery or pickles as seaweed and add goldfish crackers.
c. Fishing poles: pretzel rods, breadsticks or celery sticks, cream cheese, or peanut butter and goldfish crackers. Dip either the pretzel rod, bread stick or celery stick in the peanut butter or cream cheese, spread the goldfish crackers on a plate and try to fish for a cracker!
d. Shark punch: cranberry juice, white grape juice, 12 shark gummies. fill an ice cube tray with cranberry juice and put a shark gummy in each cube and freeze. Add these shark ice cubes to cups filled with white grape juice and enjoy!
a. Sand snack: Place 3 vanilla wafers in a ziplock bag. Crush to make sand. Pour the sand in the bottom of a clear cup and scoop blue jello on top for the ocean, whipped cream for the waves and gummy fish.
b. Tuna fish snack: use a fish cookie cutter to cut two pieces of bread, spread tuna salad, pieces of lettuce, celery or pickles as seaweed and add goldfish crackers.
c. Fishing poles: pretzel rods, breadsticks or celery sticks, cream cheese, or peanut butter and goldfish crackers. Dip either the pretzel rod, bread stick or celery stick in the peanut butter or cream cheese, spread the goldfish crackers on a plate and try to fish for a cracker!
d. Shark punch: cranberry juice, white grape juice, 12 shark gummies. fill an ice cube tray with cranberry juice and put a shark gummy in each cube and freeze. Add these shark ice cubes to cups filled with white grape juice and enjoy!
Aquariums and Zoos might still be closed, but you can still see the animals!
Visit The Aquarium of the Pacific, The National Aquarium, The San Diego Zoo, The Georgia Aquarium, and The Adventure Aquarium.
Visit The Aquarium of the Pacific, The National Aquarium, The San Diego Zoo, The Georgia Aquarium, and The Adventure Aquarium.