1.Learn about Jellyfish…
“There are more than 200 different kinds of jellyfish. Jellyfish are predators and will eat just about anything they come across, even an entire fish. Most of the time they eat plankton. They catch animal using their tentacles. They protect themselves by hiding and stringing. Jellyfish do not have brains, hearts, nor bones. Most of them do not even have eyes. The worlds most deadliest jellyfish is the box jellyfish. Unlike the other jellyfish, the box jellyfish has eyes. Jellyfish look like they are swimming but they are actually floating. They are made out of water. Their skin is thin and water goes through it, which helps them breath. If their skin was not thin they would not be able to breath. The venomous types of jellyfish can kill you. In fact there are more deaths from jellyfish than sharks in Australia” (written by my son).
2. Read a jellyfish story… Peanut Butter and Jellyfish written by Jarrett J. Krosoczka is a must-read. This is a cute story about two friends and a bully who likes to pick on Peanut Butter and Jellyfish. Find out why this bully (who is a crab) is mean to them. Learn the lesson of helping others out in a time of need. Learn about forgiveness and what true friends look like. Someone who gives others a hard time or is mean can be doing it because they are jealous or not happy with themselves. Great time to talk about LOVING EVERYONE.
3.Write a poem…. (written by my son).
Some jellyfish have venom stings.
If you see one run.
Try not to get stung,
Because it’s not fun.
They might not have a brain,
But they sure are insane.
To get stung has no gain,
All it offers is pain.
4. Identify the parts of a jellyfish…
BELL: looks like the top of a mushroom or an umbrella.
ORAL ARMS: look like beautiful white lace.
TENTACLES: look like thin long strings. This helps the jellyfish catch food and sting.
ORAL ARMS: look like beautiful white lace.
TENTACLES: look like thin long strings. This helps the jellyfish catch food and sting.
5. Make a jellyfish craft… Cut a foam ball in half. Cover the bell with beads and buttons. Use thicker lace or ribbons for the oral arms. Use thin ribbons or craft lace for the tentacles. You can use tacs to place the ribbons/lace into place. I got u shaped nails which I purchased at Lowes that worked even better on foam. You can glue the lace on as well but that takes some time as you have to wait for each of them to dry in order to move on.
6. Paint jellyfish… Our 4 year old loved doing this. I got a huge roll of paper and laid it on top of the coffee table. I placed different colored paint onto the paper and my daughter transformed the paint dotes into jellyfish.
7. Draw the lifecycle of a jellyfish..” Male medusa release sperm into the water while the female releases eggs. Moon jellyfish hold their eggs under their bells. While the female moon holds her fertilized eggs under her belly, most of the eggs just drift with the current. Jelly larvae drift through the water searching for a hard surface to began their next life stage. This hard surface can be floating debris, reefs, docks, or even seaweed. Once the larva attaches to the a surface, it becomes a polyp (like a tiny sea anemone). Its arms wave in the water as it seeks plankton to eat. A single poly produces many adult medusa. The poly divides horizontally, like a stack of pancakes. Each “pancake” is a young medusa (known as ephyra) which then floats away. These tiny young medusa develop over a few weeks into the adult medusa- the jellyfish we are used to seeing. As they eat plankton, they grow in size.”
8. Jellyfish matching game…. Print out two pictures of the same jellyfish. Mix them up. Turn them upside down. Then pick two pictures and see if they match.
9. Make a jellyfish Pet… Get a small zip lock bag. Place something heavy (screws, I placed a glue gun stick as well). Tie the zip lock bag. Get a recycled water bottle and place a few drops of food coloring into the water. Now add your jellyfish pet. This is so perfect for kids to see how hard it actually is to see jellyfish. When we first put the jellyfish in the large water bottle, my kiddos kept saying, “We can’t see him.” Jellyfish are so good at being transparent (see-through).
10. Color some jellyfish…
11. See jellyfish live…. We went to the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They have a whole section dedicated just for jellyfish. It is magical to watch jellyfish. I am always in awe of these transparent creatures. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is located at 886 Cannery Row, Monterey, CA 93940.
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Amanda - Raising da Vinci
We learned about jelly fish last month, even made one for the bath tub with a plastic bag and a glow stick. I love the jelly fish pet in the bottle! I wish I would have done it. Next time!
Healing Mama
My kids loved the Jellyfish craft. Everyday they would look at it and ask it questions. I really love how put together all of your art projects are!