Sep 17, 20223 min read

Lobster Recipe: Making A Splash

Make Your Lesson About Lobsters A Recipe For Fun!

LET'S DIVE IN!

I was clawing to start our homeschool unit study about lobsters. Lobsters are such fascinating sea life that have all the features to hold a child's interest- claws, multiple legs, eyestalks, are just a few. With wild anatomy like that, naturally kids are intrigued, and even adults! So I got my tail swimming and dove into this lesson planning with excitement.

ALL CLAWS ON DECK.

With my creativity going in all directions, I knew that preparing this lesson plan was going to be a lot of work to include all I wanted to teach them, but I was up for the challenge. I knew I wanted to incorporate topics like weight and multiplication for math, and language topics like shades of meaning and comparative adjectives. This was just the tip of the lobster tail! I wanted our learning activities, games, and creations to be as fresh as the catch of the day, so I got my claws on deck (or desk) to begin piecing this monster together.

The end result was more than educational, it was unique and fun!

So here are some ideas to get cracking away on for your lobster lesson plan.

Make It "Claw"-some!

Make your week totally "claw"-some by using the lobster theme in your learning activites. Not only will it make learning fresh, it will highlight facts and features about these sea creatures.

Use manipulatives like squishy lobster toys to aid in multiplication games. Check the lobster traps and build an array to match the multiplication problem shown on the trap.

Go lobster fishing! With a few supplies, you can have this game ready and chomping at the "bait". To play, sit behind the board, and fill the player's bag with a lobster that they can pull out of the deep. We used this to practice language skills, but a game set up like this has even more flexibility to be used to practice many other topics. Drop in the cage and see what you come up with!

Being that you'll definitely be reviewing the claws on a lobster, make a engaging learning activity involving them. Using some sheets of red tissue paper, you can have lobster claws galore that can be used to "crack" and reveal word strips or math solutions. We used this activity to work our vocabulary skills and were cracking up from the fun.

Keep Marching!

Just as lobsters do, keep the lesson marching by including a close encounter with lobster anatomy.

Purchase lobsters from the store or visit an aquarium so young learners can get eye to eyestalk with a real lobster. I simply bought a bad of frozen lobsters and allowed them to thaw overnight. The next day my kids were shaking claws with these creatures and identifying their body parts.

Their reactions alone were worth the price, but to see them interacting, studying, and engaging in what we had been covering from books, was impressive.

Be sure not to let all that lobster go to waste! Use it to include some delicious kitchen creations. My kids love to get involved in the kitchen however big or small the task. With this lesson, I had us use the lobsters from the anatomy study to make baked lobster. Next day, we used the leftover meat to whip up some lobster rolls. For the recipe, click here.

Dive In

With some great reads about lobsters. Keep afloat this week by adding in all the facts and fun with these helpful suggestions:

Ocean Life Up Close: Lobsters by Heather Adamson

An insightful read, full of great facts to get to know a lobster's anatomy and behaviors.

There Might Be Lobsters by Carolyn Crimi

An inspiring tale of a young pup who is timid of the beach experiences. Hesitant to participate in the activities, until an event happens in which she has to face her fears.

This story ties in perfectly with the social and emotional topic of overcoming your fears.