Mote SEA Shark Pups & Grown Ups
Long before children can pronounce “marine ecosystem,” they are already experts in wonder.
By Edit Sarasota Staff
Long before children can pronounce “marine ecosystem,” they are already experts in wonder. A shadow gliding through blue water, the roughness of a shell, the sudden flick of a fish’s tail—these are the first lessons, and in Sarasota, they have a particularly vivid classroom. Mote SEA Shark Pups & Grown Ups invites the youngest explorers in the family to investigate the natural world alongside an adult who is ready to get down on the floor, make a little noise, and follow their curiosity.
Designed for children ages 2 through 5 and their favorite grown-up, the early childhood STEM program treats learning as an active, shared experience. Each class combines movement, sign language, science-tool exploration, role play, and games, creating a welcoming introduction to scientific thinking without asking preschoolers to sit still for a lecture. The format recognizes something parents and educators know well: at this age, a child learns with the whole body.
The monthly program also offers a changing theme, so each gathering brings a fresh point of entry into the lives and habitats of animals. One session might begin with a question, another with a gesture or a game, but the aim remains consistent—to help children notice, wonder, communicate, and make connections. Because every class is unique, families can return again and again without simply repeating the same experience.
That spirit feels especially at home at Mote Science Education Aquarium, where marine science is not treated as something distant or sealed behind glass. Mote has long connected research, conservation, and public education across Sarasota and beyond, giving local families opportunities to encounter ocean science in ways that are both accessible and memorable. For young children, those early encounters can become the beginning of a lasting relationship with the Gulf and the creatures that depend on it.
There is also something quietly valuable in the “grown ups” part of the program. A shared activity gives adults a model for extending discovery beyond the classroom: turning a walk into a search for signs of wildlife, using household objects as pretend science tools, or simply pausing to ask what a child notices. Mote SEA Shark Pups & Grown Ups takes place Saturday, September 19, 2026, at Mote Science Education Aquarium, 225 University Town Center Drive in Sarasota.