It’s the end of the year, and you know your students have summer vacation on the brain, and it can be hard to get them to finish the year strong and reach their academic goals. My best advice? Don’t fight it, embrace it! Bring the beach to your classroom for some educational, sunny fun!
If you’re looking for a way to infuse some sun-soaked excitement into your elementary classroom, look no further! I have some tips for creating the ultimate beach day experience right inside your four walls.
Get ready to create a vibrant, interactive, and beachy atmosphere that will have your students splashing with joy. Let’s make some waves and bring the beach to your classroom!
Create a Beach-Themed Reading Corner
Picture this—a cozy nook transformed into a beachside paradise. Set up beach towels, colorful beach umbrellas, and a collection of beach-themed books. Encourage your students to bring their favorite reads from home, or curate a selection of captivating books that whisk them away to sandy shores, coral reefs, and ocean adventures!
Try Out Some Sand Sensory Play
What’s a beach day without sand? Create a sensory play area with kinetic sand or a sand table. Provide small shovels, buckets, and molds to let your students’ imaginations run wild. They can build towering sandcastles fit for royalty or even create intricate sand art. For an extra touch of excitement, hide small objects in the sand for a thrilling treasure hunt.
Break Out Some Beach Ball Math
Let’s combine fun and learning with a game of beach ball math! Take a ball and write numbers or math problems on different sections. Have your students toss the ball to each other, calling out the number or solving the problem their hand lands on. It’s a fantastic way to reinforce math skills while enjoying some friendly competition.
Set Up a Seashell Sorting Station
Bring the wonders of the seashore into your classroom with seashell sorting. Gather seashells of various shapes, sizes, and colors. Provide sorting trays or bins and ask your students to categorize the seashells based on different attributes. Sorting by size, color, or pattern helps develop critical thinking and classification skills.
Create Some Ocean-Inspired Crafts
Unleash your students’ creativity with beach-themed art and craft activities. From paper plate sunshine to fish or sea creature collages using colored paper and other materials, the possibilities are endless. Let their imaginations take them on an undersea adventure as they paint and decorate seashells. Display their creations around the classroom to transform it into a beach wonderland!
Bust Out Some Beach-Themed Resources
I have you covered! This Virtual Field Trip To The Beach resource is the perfect way to end the school year with a bang.
Virtual Field trips are a great way to engage students in learning. Use these interactive, editable Google Slides to easily have students copy and paste movable parts, learn about beach safety, ocean life, what to bring and so much more!
What is in this download?
18 Google slides with titles, edit text boxes, directions, and movable parts
Great for virtual or in-person teaching!
- KWL Chart
- Packing A Suitcase
- 1 Minute Take OFF Flight Video
- 7-minute Beach Field Trip Video ( Safety Tips, Car Ride, Animals, People Swimming, and Interview Questions about what people like or don’t like about the beach)
- Sequencing Events, 2 Writing Prompts, Counting Objects (under 10), Labeling Parts, Beach Song, and Comprehension Questions
- One extra slide for you to add anything you would like to the lesson. (videos or an assignment)
Want more beach fun? Try out my Beach Party Escape Room!
Students will practice addition, writing, and reading skills to solve a classroom mystery and SAVE the stolen sea turtle eggs.
With a little prep, your students will work as a team to break into a box, which breaks them out of the classroom as they beat the clock! This Escape Room involves a missing turtle egg mystery that leads your students to a BEACH PARTY!
NEW – Just added extra forms for upper elementary for you to easily exchange for the primary. There is one blank page for you to create your own math problems if needed.
What’s inside this download?
There is a PDF file with step-by-step instructions, and a link to incorporate a YouTube Video to HOOK your students into the missing sea turtle egg mystery leading them to a BEACH PARTY! The pre-made team names turtle egg mystery can only be solved by using reading skills, math skills, and teamwork. The end destination of a beach party can be as simple as a few beach towels outside and popsicles or much more elaborate. Ideas are included.
After you finish these activities, take your students outside with beach towels and beach balls for some beachy fun!
Looking for more beachy fun for the classroom? Check out my post here on how to decorate your classroom with a beach theme!