Beyond the Book (and Song!): Baby Beluga by Raffi

When S asked to do a story stretcher with a book about a whale this week, I knew it was a great time to check out a copy of Raffi's Baby Beluga with illustrations by Ashley Wolff from our local library. This illustrated version of the classic Raffi song is a great book to sing a read together. I can remember listening to the song on cassette tape when I was little and now, you can even watch it and listen on YouTube! Oh, how the times have changed...this video even has footage of actual beluga whales:

We have transitioned to doing story stretcher activities once a week or over a couple of afternoons. Lately both boys have really been enjoying outings and story times at the library in the mornings and we save our story stretchers for afternoons at home (when it's way too hot to go outside). For this story stretcher, we even took a theme related field trip to our local science museum. There is currently a great exhibit of artwork and sculptures created in the image of ocean life made from recycled materials found on the beach. It is a great way to teach our children the importance of recycling and disposing items that cannot be recycled in an appropriate manner so that they do not harm our beaches, oceans and sea life. It is also great fun to walk through and see!

This whale rib cage is made entirely from plastic bottles and containers!

These drums sound great! They are made from Styrofoam found and rescued from the beach. 

We started off our story stretcher by reading and singing Baby Beluga and enjoyed a whale themed snack. Please excuse my creative license with this banana whale! S loved it and didn't mind that it maybe doesn't quite look photo worthy... Incidentally, if you have a reluctant reader who is less likely to sit through a longer book or even an enthusiastic reader who is just not in the mood for a story, reading during snacks or meals is a great way to sneak reading together into your routine. It's also a great "distraction" for picky eaters who have a harder time getting through meals and snacks without a battle. Whether we're struggling with one issue or the other, combining the two aspects of reading together and sharing a meal have proven successful every time!

YouTube was a great resource for videos about whales and live footage. We don't live very close to an aquarium, although we are only a couple of hours from a great marine center in Virginia Beach. In the meantime, the internet had to suffice, along with some great themed play and learning activities. These activities are simple enough to combine into one afternoon or to do individually for a short story stretch when you're short on time, energy or resources:

The Measured Mom has great printable dot sticker/do-a-dot worksheets for every letter of the alphabet. We used this one at our easel (for a vertical work opportunity) along with dot stickers to review the letter Ww! You could use do-a-dot markers instead or even use it on a horizontal surface with glass stones (which can be found at Dollar Tree or your local craft supply store) for an activity you can use multiple times.

I set up a very simple soapy water sensory bin with ocean mammals for S to play with in the kitchen while I made dinner. A little pro-tip--if you're looking for plastic animals, thrift stores are a great resource. Plastic animals can be quite pricey, but I've made some great finds at secondhand stores. We tend to throw in some soapy water play whenever the sensory table (or some toys or the kitchen floor) need a good washing! I added a few drops of blue food coloring to create the look of the ocean and you could certainly add more to this--glass stones, other props or toys for pouring and filling. I know S well enough to know he will search the house for creative things to add so I like to start it off quite simply at first and see where he takes it!

 This brown paper bag whale craft is simple, fun (as in you can hang it up when you're done or play with it) and incorporates the concept of recycling "trash" rather than allowing it to pollute our earth and oceans. I prepped the brown bag with eyes and a mouth; older artists can do this independently. I set out kwik stix and creamy crayons in an assortment of ocean themed colors. You can use any art medium. We really love these right now, but paint, crayons, markers or tissue/scrap paper collage would work well too! Once your artist is done decorating the bag, you can stuff it partially with recycled plastic grocery bags or newspaper or even packing materials from your recent Amazon Prime Day purchases! Leave some room for a tail and tie it off with a rubber band or pipe cleaners. I used a hole punch to make a hole at the top center of the whale and we added a silver pipe cleaner cut in half and bent/folded to resemble water being blown through the whale's blowhole. Did you know beluga whales can blow bubbles through their blowholes? I just learned this! In fact, they can supposedly blow bubbles of different sizes based on how they are feeling. Fascinating, right? If you're looking to extend your story stretcher, blowing bubbles of different sizes would be a great activity to take outside. We had a lot of fun with this whale of a tale. S has already requested a book about a farm for our next story stretcher, so we will be back with some farm themed fun next time. Until then...happy playing!