The children have had so much fun learning about the Arctic.  We used out bodies to understand where the Arctic is on the Earth, referencing a globe so that the children could visualize polar positions (the Arctic is their head).  As we built up the physical environment, we used various props to help the children better understand.

Ice was introduced to the sensory bin along with Styrofoam pieces to represent the frozen ocean and icebergs.  As new lessons were given/animals introduced, the same toys were also introduced.  Not only was there sensory play for the children to explore but large foam pieces were also used with the blocks to help the children continue to expand upon their play.

To better help the children make connections and recall information, we sang all about the animals and their connections.  One of their favorites was “Arctic Animals Hunt,” a little ditty using the same tune as “The Farmer and the Dell,” where the children would select one of the animal replicas and sing about that animal and what it’s favorite food source would be (polar bears hunt for seals…wolves hunt for caribou).

Of course, we also tackled our literacy and math skills while exploring the arctic.  We learned that the arctic was in the North while learning about letter N, Orcas and Polar bears during O and P.  We worked on number identification and counting, feeding whales and seals the appropriate number of fishy crackers, not only doing 1:1 correspondence but also tracing the numbers in written form.

The children had an “arctic blast” exploring the northern most part of the Earth while working on all of their educational, language and motor skills!