We all lived in a yellow submarine

Well, it's finally happened in my lifetime. The Beatles have apparently slipped from their niche as a cultural marker. First, competitors in a teen academic bowl could not supply the first names of the fab four. And just last Wednesday someone referred to what was obviously a copy of the yellow submarine as a "choo choo train." It's a serious blow, let me tell you.

The aforementioned yellow submarine (created by the lovely and talented Allison Briggs) was a major feature of story time this week. I'm still trying to figure out how to create a link to the photos we took of children "on board" the banana-colored bateau. Meanwhile, I'm posting a couple extra-cute ones here for you to enjoy.

Here are some activities for an "Under the Sea" theme.

Make Jellyfish
1) Use small white paper plates.
2) Cut tentacles from various colors of crepe paper. I made ours from lavender, turquoise, light blue, and blue-green strips that were about 12 inches long.
3) Place the plate right side up. Overlap the tops of the crepe paper strips and secure to the plate with two or three staples. When you turn the plate upside down, the strips should dangle beneath the plate like tentacles.
4) This is optional, but we stuck puffy foam fish on some of the tentacles, as if the jellyfish had caught them.

Let the children move their jellyfish up and down as if bobbing in the ocean while you sing this song (to the tune of "Allouette")

I'm a jellyfish drifting in the ocean
I'm a jellyfish drifting in the sea.
Wiggle, wiggle, splash, splash, splash
Wiggle, wiggle, splash, splash, splash
Dive right in (Dive right in)

Repeat using the names of other fish: angel fish, tuna, swordfish, shark, etc.

Books
Hooray for Fish by Lucy Cousins
Shark in the Park by (oops!! memory lapse!! will add later)
Swimmy, by Leo Lionni

The night before, place some Swedish fish (gummy fish) in a heat-proof, clear bowl. In a separate bowl, dissolve a package of blue jello according to the package directions, then pour it into the bowl containing the gummy fish. They will "float" up as you pour in the jello. Chill, then dive right in! (Dive right in!)