Summer holidays is THE time to go to the beach and at the beginning of the term many of the children will want to tell you about their beach adventures. A feltboard story is easy to prepare using yellow felt for the sand and blue for the ocean.

A story like this really tells itself as you begin to put the pieces on the board. For example,

“These children are excited about going to the beach. It is very hot so Dad puts up the beach umbrella and Mum puts the basket of food under it.”

Give the children names like some of the children in your story group. Let your felt kids make sandcastles, paddle, jump in the waves, go on the surfboard or fall off, or search for creatures in the rock-pools. There are fish to count, a crab to talk about and more creatures could be added. Talk about putting on sunscreen, the food that the family might have at the beach and how the sand and water feels.

A pretend game of jumping over waves and splashing each other and eating pretend sandwiches is a good way to conclude the story. A feely bag with real shells for the children to handle and listen to and some plastic model sea creatures, is a calming activity that also gives the children an opportunity to share what they did at the beach.

The toys go to the beach

Another way to present a beach story is to use toys. The three bears or some dolls or soft toys can go to the beach.

Here are my three bears sitting under their beach umbrella and wearing their swimmers.

Involve the children by asking them what the toys will need. Prepare the toys, showing their swimmers, and other gear such as towels, hats, sunscreen etc. Children can help spread crepe paper for the sand and can help the bears find shells and sea creatures. They can also lie on their stomachs to show little bear how to kick in the water, float on his back and blow bubbles. Finish the story by showing pictures of children swimming or of brown bears in water or polar bears in their natural environment.. If children like to see iPad images, search for great vision of bears catching fish or polar bears swimming.