Hi, I am Beth Wise with Scribbler's Ink, an educational resource company in Orlando, Florida. We've been talking today and had a group of kids here to demonstrate, fun summer activities for kids. We've been having a wonderful day talking about activities that are related to water and summer. The activities have taken us with our penguins to the polar region, with Octopus and sharks and fish over to the oceans and to the lakes, and now we're back at our backyard in the pool, doing activities with them.
We're using a small wading pool for all of our examples and activities today, just because it's much more practical for us, and it's a little safer for very small children. So today, we're going to finish up with some activities around the pool, and we're going to make an octopus jug.
We've been talking a lot about octopus today, so we already know that octopus are animals that live in the ocean and that they have eight legs. So we're going to have to make an octopus jug that has eight legs.
To do this on this art activity and water activity, you need a two-liter clean soda bottle for each tub that's going to do the activity. You're also going to need an electric drill with the very small bit, a cup of permanent markers, and it's important that they're permanent so they will write on the two-liter soda bottles.
So let me get started with this activity, I'm going to suggest that the parent does some of the prep work on this in advance for the children. We don't want children to be working anywhere near drill, so let's just go ahead and do it in advance, so what you need to do after you have your two-liter bottle, make sure that it's clean, it's got a cap, we need the cap on it, and this octopus is going to be upside down. So this becomes the head of the octopus and this is going to become the legs of octopus, so turn it upside down, we need to drill eight holes for the legs and the water is going to come shooting out of the holes to make it look like their legs.
So turn your bottle upside down and we're going to drill eight holes around the bottom, forth of this bottle. So hold your bottle, and then take your drill, and puncture the bottle. You want to do this eight different spots around your two-liter bottle. When that's done, bring the kids in and let them get started.
When the kids get started, explain to them that these eight holes are the legs of the octopus and that they might want to draw coloring spots around the holes. Many of the octopus that are in the ocean do have very muted spots, so it's a great idea for them to go ahead and start talking about where the octopus lives, and what he looks like. So let them draw spots on the octopus and then of course, at the top you want them to decorate this bottle with a great octopus face.
Some of the kids have been making octopus with great big teeth and some of them had been making great big eyes, big smiley faces, hair, whatever they like to do, just to decorate their bottles. So here is one that's finished. We've got the bottle, again it's upside down, we've got our eight holes drilled for the legs and we put our spots, colored spots with our permanent markers, and then we have a great octopus face.
Now, all we need is a little bit of water and little bit of plaster, and we're ready to go. The kids will take these into the pool, they will unscrew the cap, and they will fill the bottle with water. When the bottle is filled, they will lift it upright so the water stays below these octopus legs, the holes, they will screw the cap back on and then when you're ready for some octopus fun, turn the bottles upside down and the water will squirt out to show the octopus's eight legs.
So that's our great octopus jug activity for the swimming pool. These have been really fun activities to do. Of course, they could be used any time of the year but they are so practical for the summers since we spend so much time in the sun and then the water with children. It's a wonderful time for you to spend time with your children, to talk about the things, just a little bit of -- just squeeze in some little educational talk with them to teach them about the oceans and the lakes, and the water, the animals that live there, their particular environments, just add some of that information to make it little bit more fun. Then of course, spend time with your children, talk to them, read to them, get in the pool, have fun, do games with them and activities with them, just make sure that their time spent with you is a very precious moment for them and great fun.
We had a great time today doing these activities; I hope that you have too. Thanks for being a part of this, our fun summer activities with children, I hope you'll come back and hear more of our ideas.
Transcription by:
Scribe4you Transcription Services