Shark Stroytime

"SHARK! Get out of the water and into the library!" With the much anticipated 25th anniversary of The Discovery Channel's Shark Week on the horizon, and since kids love sharks, I thought it would be fun to have a storytime featuring these fun, yet fearsome creatures. For our after-stories craft we made "Deep Sea Panoramas" featuring The Sandbar certified sharks.

Shark Storytime Line-Up:

I'm a Shark by Bob Shea

Meet a shark that's not afraid of anything; well, almost anything. Bob Shea's dinosaur books are a big hit at our house as well as at storytime. This title was no different.

After reading I'm a Shark, I showed the kids pictures of different types of sharks with a few facts before reading the next book...

Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Ken Geist, illustrated by Julia Gorton

A spin-off of the tale The Three Little Pigs for the ocean blue.

Next, the kids enjoyed a flannel board rhyme.

Five Little Fish, Teasing Mr. Shark Flannel Board

Five Little Fish Teasing Mr. Shark

(Sung to the tune of 5 Little Monkeys Swinging in the Tree)

 

Five little fish, swimming in the sea,

Teasing Mr Shark

"You Can't Catch Me!"

You Can't Catch Me!"

When along swam Mr. Shark, as quiet as can be...

AND (clap hands) caught that fishy right out of the sea.

(Repeat with four fish, three fish, two fish, and one fish...)

So alone swam Mr. Shark as quiet as can be

And he looked and he looked...

"no more fishies for me."

Smiley Shark by Ruth Galloway

A friendly shark that would do anything to be friends with the other sea animals. The kids loved this book.

Deep Sea Panorama Craft:

The kids had such a fun time with this craft. There was quite a bit of prep involved, but it was worth it - especially since The Sandbar donated toy sharks for the kids to keep. For those of you who don't live in Lawrence, The Sandbar is a downtown staple. They're famous for their "indoor hurricanes" and signature adult beverages including (make that especially) their "Shark Attack".  For this post, I amended their famous shark attack and made it kiddie friendly. More on that later.

Materials Needed: file folders, colored paper, tape, glue stick, clip art printed and cutout, stickers, scissors, and crayons.

To create the deep sea panorama, open a file folder and tape two pieces of blue paper on the inside of the folder.

Cut the exposed folder parts leaving only the blue paper showing.

It will look like so.

Using white or manilla colored paper, cut sand to line the bottom and glue on.

From green paper, cut squiggly lines, layer, and glue onto the panorama.

I pre-cut the sand, seaweed, and also cut out some clip-art I found on the interweb that the kids glued on. They also used foam stickers. (They love their foam stickers!)

I also left crayons out to color their panoramas with.

The finishing touch... each kid received their very own shark! To keep!

And to play with in their homemade deep  sea home forever and ever!

We also took diorama pictures that were posted on the library's facebook page. You can view those here.

Now for the bonus round...

How to make a Shark Attack drink for kids (without the bite).

Here we go!

*BONUS* Shark Attack Fun!

Since The Sandbar serves adult-only Shark Attack drinks, my co-worker (who has two shark-loving boys) came up a kid-friendly version. Here is my take on her idea to make a  kiddie concoction for refreshment fun at home.

Materials needed: light blue sports drink (I used Powerade Mixed Berry), grenadine, clear  drinking glass, ice, and a hollow plastic toy shark.

To make, put a few ice cubes in a glass and fill 3/4 full of blue sports drink.

Holding shark nose up, pour grenadine into the shark until almost full.

Serve by setting shark in the glass facing up.

Now for the fun part... Allow the child/children pour the grenadine into the cup while yelling, "SHARK ATTACK!!!!"

Make sure you bob your shark up and down to mix it well. Saying, "shark attack" a few more times helps as well.

Drink and enjoy .

A BIG THANK YOU to The Sandbar for donating the sharks!

Looking for more kid-friendly ways to celebrate Shark Week?

Check out Discovery Kids Shark Week's Shark Facts, Shark Yourself by uploading a picture of yourself or anyone to become a shark, and these free shark coloring sheets. Know a game nut? Try Shark Dash ($.99) or Shark Munch (free) kid-appropriate computer games.