Preschool Killer Whale Activities
Killer whales are fascinating creatures and preschool children are often intrigued by these animals as well as their environment. Integrating science, art, physical activity and literature creatively can give preschoolers a well-rounded introduction to the life of a killer whale.
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Stuffed Whale
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Provide children with a black garbage bag, newspaper, construction paper and string. The students can crumple the newspaper and put it into the bag while an adult ties off a small part of the stuffed bag to create a tail. Create eyes, a mouth and white spots from construction paper and tape them on the bag.
Clay Killer Whale
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Give each child a picture of a killer whale. Support the students in sculpting a killer whale out of clay. Break toothpicks into smaller pieces and insert them where the whale's teeth would be. Press beans into the clay for eyes.
Homemade or store bought clay will work fine. Add food coloring to homemade clay to make it black or purchase black clay for the children to work with. The students could also paint the whales according to the pictures after they clay has hardened.
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Killer Whale Environment
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Discuss with preschoolers how killer whales usually live in cold ocean water. Ask the children to think of other things that would live in the ocean with the killer whale such as fish, plants, sand and rocks. Provide students with a black and white picture of a killer whale and instruct them to cut the whale out very carefully. Glue the whale onto white construction paper. Draw pictures of sea life around the killer whale and lightly paint over the entire picture with blue watercolor paint to add water.
Killer Whales and Minnows
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Use this simple game to get kids moving and have some fun. Choose one child to be the killer whale and stand in the middle of the room. The rest of the children will be the minnows and will stand at one end of the room. The minnows run to the other side of the room while the killer whale tries to "eat" them by tagging them. When a minnow is tagged, he must freeze where he is and cannot move unless he is unfrozen by another minnow. Strive to be the last minnow standing.
Literature
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Use fiction and factual children's books to teach preschoolers about killer whales and to develop early literacy skills. Preview the pictures in the book first and ask the students for predictions about the story. Review what is in a killer whale's environment while previewing the books. Check out "Dory Story," by Jerry Pallotta, "Killer Whales," by Seymour Simon, and "Diving Dolphin," by Karen Wallace.
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References
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