Dissecting a Starfish, Clam and Shark!!

Hi! My name is Kristin and I will be a new contributor to this blog. I have two girls, age 1 and 4. I still have some time before I officially start kindergarten with my oldest, but for now I am encouraging a love for learning, ingraining good habits and learning a ton so we are ready to start when it's time.

I am so thankful to be a part of this group and around moms who love homeschooling and enjoy their children. They are just about excited, if not more, as their little ones when it comes to books, birds and bugs. We are thankful for our liberty to be with our children and teach them in a fun and inspiring way.

Speaking of fun, we met up at Jen's house today for a day of learning and play. First I wanted to show you how she displayed some of their nature finds and treasures! I love it!

First we started the day with play and then some reading about a starfish and clam, two of the things we would dissecting. This was to get this kids excited and give them a few ideas of what to look for or ask to see.

You can order animals to dissect online. Get a shark shipped right to your door step!

Then the kids had some time to draw or paint what we just read about.

We were so thankful to have a friend who teaches bio labs and was willing to offer some time to guide us in dissecting these creatures. She was fun and told us lots of neat facts, pointed out parts and answered the kids questions. She endured some squirting of the specimens too, so she was quite the champ.

The grand finale was the shark...i love this picture.

Of coarse the moms were right there with their children oohing and aahing.

Once the dissecting was over we went outside for some nature play! We had a great spot right under a big Fig Tree.

Some kids painted...

Some kids searched for items on a scavenger hunt list....

Tried some wild cherries....

Climbed trees, built forts, sword fights, catching grasshoppers, running or just spent time with their moms under the big tree with shade.

We had a fun full day! Hope this gave you some ideas to do with your little ones!