Whales are such awe-inspiring animals, and I am so excited we have an award focused on them! For the whale award, you will want to choose one specific type of whale to learn about – any whale will be an interesting choice. We choose the blue whale. Although most of the activities in this post will work for any species of whale, some of the information is specific to the blue whale. The whale award is an optional Sunbeam award. We taught it to our entire club this year for our first meeting of the year.
Story: Jonah and the Big Fish
Fulfills Requirement # 7
We read the story of Jonah and the Whale as part of worship. I encouraged the kids to do some actions as we read to keep them engaged. (Rocking side to side as the boat struggled to stay afloat in the storm, things like that.) We read Jonah and the Big Fish written by Katherine Sully and illustrated by Simona Sanfilippo, but any version of the story will be fine. If you have a smaller group/plenty of time, act out the story of Jonah after you read it.
Just How Big is a Blue Whale?
Fulfills Requirement # 1, 3, 4
If you have nice weather, this is a great activity to do outside in the parking lot. My Adventurer staff and I measured out the dimensions of a blue whale before the kids arrived. We also sketched her outline with sidewalk chalk. If you have a smaller/older class, you could do all the measuring with the kids.
Once kids arrived, we showed them how BIG our whale was by having one person stand at each end of the whale. Then we handed them chalk and encouraged them to trace over the lines. Once the kids were finished tracing and/or coloring (a few areas got colored, but coloring our whole friendly beast would have taken a week!), we snapped a picture of the kids in “the belly of the whale” and headed inside to learn more about whales. Ideally, you would read one of the books before heading out to work on the whale. However, as we needed to get the outside activity finished while it was still light out, we opened our meeting with our chalk whale.
Curious how much space you need to draw out a blue whale? Ours was too big to capture in a photo (without a drone). However, I do have a video that’ll give you an idea of it’s size.
Although the requirement is to draw out the whale in a parking lot, sometimes weather or locations don’t cooperate. Pray for sunshine, but be ready to be flexible! If you can’t draw a whale in your parking lot, you could measure out its length in a long hallway. You might need some painter’s tape to mark the ends.
Science: How Do Whales Stay Warm?
This is an optional activity, but if you have the time, I recommend it. How do mammals in cold cold places stay warm? Blubber! Using a baggies of Crisco to simulate blubber, your adventurers can feel the difference between their bare hand in ice water versus using (a simulation of) God’s perfectly designed “mittens.” Home Science Tools has all the details for this experiment.
As you will be using this in a club setting instead of a homeschool setting, I do recommend setting up your baggie gloves ahead of time. A small 16 oz container of Crisco was enough for three gloves. I also used packing tape to completely close the top of the inner baggie to the outer baggie and to reinforce the base. Ziplock bags don’t perfectly align when connecting them to a second bag, and I knew my adventurers might be a little rough with them. When I did this experiment with my own children in my kitchen, I wasn’t worried about a little oil getting out, but that was a potential mess I wanted to avoid at the church.
Story: The Blue Whale
Fulfills Requirement # 1, 2, 3, 5
I love the book The Blue Whale by Jenni Desmond. It’s challenging to visualize just how big something so big really is! 100 feet is kinda…abstract. This book teaches about blue whales by comparing aspects of them to everyday things the kids are familiar with. For instance, when blue whale exhale, they blow air up to 32 feet high or the height of nine seven-year old boys! (How cool is that?) The book is kinda long, and I was worried about how the younger kids would handle the length, but they all hung in until the end. The facts are interesting, and the pictures are fun!
Make a Whale
Fulfills Requirement # 6
Play-dough is loved by the entire range of ages in Adventurers. We handed each kid (and a few parents a handful of play-dough, and told them to create a whale. The kids got to work and created a wide range of unique whales. As they finished their creations, they would call me over to admire their masterpieces and take a picture of them with their whale. These photos will go into their craft portfolios and (hopefully) up on the club bulletin board!
I made a large batch of play-dough for this meeting. This is my favorite play-dough recipe. (However, please don’t use essential oils in play-dough for Adventurers.) I multiplied the recipe by five, and it felt like about the right amount for our club of 13 kids. At the end of the meeting, parents were given the option to take the playdough home them. Premade Play-doh is convenient and a great option for anyone who doesn’t enjoy making play-dough.
Technically, the requirement is to make your whale out of sand or clay, but I’m choosing to go with the spirit of the requirements instead of the letter of the law. (Besides, playdough is similar to clay..) This origami whale from Red Ted Art is also a fun craft. We made these origami whales the last time I taught the award. I like both craft options, but I think the play-dough option is ideal for the wide range of ages and group size we had, as we taught this award to the whole club.
Which whale is your favorite whale to learn about? And, a question I love to ask my adventurers, would you rather be with Jonah inside a big fish or be with Daniel inside a lions’ den? Tell me in the comments!