A Boston Family

The instructors then explained mouth brooding and showed photographs of male "Daddy" fish with eggs in their mouths. Since the children would be seeing a Daddy cardinal fish mouth brooding when visiting an exhibit at the aquarium, they were called up one at a time by name (i.e., to practice waiting and taking turns) to place cardinal fish on a felt board.

Children were then guided in a paper plate craft decorating their own Daddy fish. Once the children made the fish with huge pocket mouths from the plates, they were given toy baby fish to hold in the mouths. The children then danced and tried not to spill any of the baby fish out. When the music ended, the children were asked to have the "Daddy fish" spit the baby fish out as they were ready to go out on their own.

The children sat down for a second circle time. The instructors played a video on an iPad of a Daddy fish mouth brooding and then read Eric Carle's, Mr. Seahorse. Once again they sang the Sea Squirts Anthem with instruments.

The class then walked over to the aquarium's main building to see the exhibits and specifically the mouth brooding Daddy cardinal fish. Unlike the other cardinal fish in the tank, the mouth brooding Daddy fish did not swim about but stayed roughly in one spot. When other fish came near he pulled back away from them, clearly protective of his babies. His cheeks were also puffy and full. Once in awhile his mouth opened slightly and you could see pink fish roe, as compared to the inner mouths of the other fish which were black. Class ended but we stayed at the aquarium and enjoyed seeing blue penguins, fish in the giant tank eating a head of lettuce, and sea dragons. Just before leaving we stopped to touch stingrays and then went and said goodbye to the Daddy fish and headed home in time for lunch.

Mouth Brooding Cardinal Fish

At a cost of $55 per session ($13.75 per class) for aquarium members this is well worth it. Signing up for one session at a time makes this a relatively small financial and time commitment. For Malli the social skills component of being with other children is great. While many of the activities were things we could do on our own, we probably would not. Additionally, we never would have noticed the cardinal fish that was mouth brooding at the aquarium. Best of all perhaps, the class was educational for the adults as well, which is very different than a MyGym or Groovy Babies type class.

Another benefit of the class is that it helps us to take advantage of our aquarium membership. While we love going to the aquarium, we are hesitant to go too often so as not to wear the experience out. These classes help draw a focus to each aquarium visit. While at the aquarium afterwards we did not feel like we needed to try and see all the exhibits. We had already been there long enough with the class that we could just focus on a few exhibits.

Bottom Line: Sea Squirts is a different and science-based way to engage toddlers/preschoolers in a class environment. It is exactly the type of opportunity that is unique and wonderful about living in Boston.