Jellyfish Tunnel Book

When I asked my son what he wanted to learn about, I don’t know what I was expecting him to say. But “jellyfish” certainly wasn’t it.

Our local library was equipped with tons of books, but the real conundrum was what to do other than just read them. That’s when I stumbled on Teach Kids Art, a wonderful resource written by a California blogger whose tunnel books were the ideal way to take learning about jellyfish beyond books. Check out the original post here.

Before my son dug out his art supplies, though, we read two great books, both titled “Jellyfish” by authors Martha E.H. Rustad and Carol K. Lindeen. These books feature amazingly beautiful pictures of jellyfish both big and small and are ideal for early readers like my son.

Once we’d learned a thing or two, I gave my son three pieces of cardstock which had a rectangle cut out in the center (the “cover” also included a scuba diver) and another piece with no cut-out that included a jellyfish graphic. Download a PDF of the front and back pages of our jellyfish book and/or blank pages by clicking on the red words in this sentence.

On the top of each of the four cards, he wrote a short fact he’d learned about jellyfish. Then he colored the jellyfish and scuba diver as well as some graphics of fish which he glued to the edges of the window on the second and third pages.

Next, I cut two 8 ½ x 11-inch pieces of cardstock in fourths. He folded six pieces in half and then folded the edges back to meet the folds again. Lastly, he glued these between the pages of his tunnel book.

When it was complete, he could look down on his book and read his jellyfish facts or look through his book to see the fish and jellyfish scene.

To say that my son loved this activity is an understatement. He was enamored with the finished product and couldn’t wait to show off his creation.

Thanks Teach Kids Art for helping me teach my son about jellyfish!