All about Sharks
By Eri Akbar
There’s nothing like a shark to ignite the imagination of children. Many species of sharks are on the
endangered list due to overhunting. Celebrate World Ocean’s Day and create awareness about sharks
with these activities that children will enjoy.
Share a Shark Story
My personal favourite is Shark In The Park by Nick Sharratt. Children anticipate the repetitive lines and, if you
make paper roll binoculars in advance for the children to ‘spy’ the shark’s fin in the book, it will get them
excited about participating in the storytelling. If you don’t have a Shark themed book to hand, don’t worry.
You may be able to find a related story or two from this website https://freekidsbooks.org/?s=sharks
Shark Body Parts
Where does the shark’s fins, teeth, eyes, nostril, gills and tail go? Print off a big picture of a shark, cut it up into
those parts and laminate the pieces for the children to fix as a puzzle. Keep it simple for the younger children
by creating fewer pieces to fix together. For older children, create puzzles of different species of sharks, such as
Great White Shark, Hammerhead Shark and Zebra Shark. There’s plenty of amazing shark pictures that you can
find easily online to create your very own jigsaw puzzle.
Sing a Shark Song
This has become a ‘must’. Children all over the world are hooked on the catchy ‘Baby Shark’ song. The song is
simple enough for even toddlers to appreciate (soon they will be singing ‘baby shark, do, do, do, do, do, do,
do, do’). If you have not heard of the song, find it on YouTube using these keywords: Baby Shark song by
Pinkfong. Play the tune during a splash session to get children into the mood (see next point).
Shark Splash Day
Encourage children to role play by wearing a shark’s fin on their head during splash time. The shark’s fin can be
made out of soft foam or other waterproof materials. Children can decorate their own shark’s headband with
glitter.
Have fun and take lots of pictures for their learning journals.