Create memories with your little one while exploring the wonders of the natural world during our Sea Sprouts class!
Registration is now open for Sea Sprouts sessions in Fall 2026!
This fall, we are hosting a nine-week series that provides children ages 3-5 with the opportunity to learn about nature in a safe, fun, and developmentally appropriate environment. Classes begin September 18 and end on November 20.
No class will be held on October 16, during Hamilton County’s fall break.
One adult must accompany the registered child throughout the program.
Dates and Times
- Classes begin September 18 and run through November 20, 2026.
- Each week, we have 2 class offerings. Every Friday morning from either 9:00-10:00am or 10:30 – 11:30am.
- You can choose which class time is best for your schedule during registration. Both classes are the same.
- No class will be held on October 16, during Hamilton County’s spring break.
Pricing
Non-members: $120 for all 9 weeks
Aquarium Members: $108 for all 9 weeks
Class Location
Sea Sprout classes are held in the S.T.R.E.A.M. Learning Center on the Aquarium Plaza at 1 Broad Street, Chattanooga, TN 37419.
Sea Sprouts Activities
Each class can be a little different based on the theme, but click to expand and see some common activities you will experience.
- Nature play
- Story time
- Exploration stations such as animal biofacts, sensory bins, and TN State Learning Standards lessons
- Animal encounters
- Take-home crafts
Promoting kindergarten readiness
Sea Sprouts activities are developed to encourage curiosity and to promote kindergarten readiness for your little one.
The Tennessee Aquarium is an active partner with Chattanooga 2.0, a local nonprofit organization. Among other initiatives, Chattanooga 2.0 and community partners want to equip parents/guardians with the “knowledge, tools, and resources to support your preschooler on their journey to Kindergarten”.
Like our partner, we promote kindergarten readiness for your sea sprout by encouraging them to learn and reinforce the following skills:
- Learning how to listen and build your own stories.
- Working on our counting skills, identifying shapes and colors, and recognizing simple patterns.
- Building curiosity and independence by trying new things, following directions to complete a task, and holding focus on an activity for 5 minutes before moving on.
- Strengthening fine motor skills by using different techniques during craft time.
- Working on our social skills by practicing sharing, taking turns, helping others, and accepting help from our caregivers or teachers.
Class Descriptions
Join us as we learn about animal groups in nature. From solitary snow leopards to bunches of bats, we will discover how numbers shape an animal’s habitat, family size, and so much more. We will practice our counting skills, make new friends, and learn through sensory play. We are counting down the days to meet you!
Some animals, like owls, travel alone, while others, like fish, find safety in groups! This week, we focus on how different animals prefer different group sizes before taking a deeper dive in weeks 2-9.
Discover independent animals like owls, snow leopards, and snapping turtles that prefer to hunt and live on their own! We will take a closer look at how these animals thrive in their habitats while practicing “All About Me” concepts and independent station play.
Everything is better with two! The animals we will discover today love living in pairs. We will learn which animals like to make best friends that they keep for life.
Step into the wild with small animal families. We will explore how small groups work together, practice counting to higher numbers, and practice basic sharing and turn-taking at our stations.
The family grows! In week five, we will explore how animals use larger family sizes to their advantage. From hunting in groups to teaching offspring generational knowledge, there is so much to learn about animals that live in large families.
Let’s count the animals that live in groups with double digits! This week, we will discover bustling animal ecosystems and practice navigating personal space within a larger group setting.
Bustling Colonies are where more friends means more fun! We explore medium-sized animal groups, focusing on group patterns, sorting, and collaborative play.
Dive into massive schools, swarms, and flocks! Discover how hundreds of animals travel together as one, while we practice big group games and full-classroom teamwork.
Bringing it all together! We celebrate our own big classroom “school” by marking our Kindergarten-readiness milestones.
Cancellation Policy
The Aquarium reserves the right to cancel any scheduled program. If the Aquarium cancels a scheduled camp program, participants will be notified and offered a full refund or an opportunity to reschedule.
- A cancellation made more than 7 days before the start of class will receive a full refund.
- A cancellation made less than 7 days before the start of class is not guaranteed a refund.
- We understand that our youngest students easily become sick. If your child is not feeling well and/or displaying symptoms of any illness such as flu, bronchitis, mono, or pink eye, please stay home. Contact us and we will work to help you reschedule your class or give you class credit.
Cancellations can be requested through the registration profile of your student, by email at [email protected], or by phone at 423-785-4093 and 423-356-1276.
Safety Policy
Aquarium Education programs follow CDC recommendations. This means that indoor mask requirements will be determined by current community transmission levels for diseases such as, but not limited to, COVID and measles.
Please note that certain activities within the Aquarium, specifically behind the scenes tours with mammals, may require masks for the safety of the animals and the participants regardless of current community transmission levels. Participants will be notified of these activities prior to them taking place and masks will be provided.
We ask all participants to stay home if they are experiencing symptoms of the following diseases:
- If they are experiencing COVID symptoms or if they have been in contact with a COVID-positive individual in the past 2 weeks.
- If they are experiencing MEASLES symptoms or if they have been in contact with a MEASLES-positive individual in the past 2 weeks.
If a participant is not feeling well and/or displaying symptoms of any illness such as flu, bronchitis, mono, or pink eye, please stay home.
Accessibility & Accommodations
Some areas during the program may not be fully accessible due to loud sounds, bright or low lighting, uneven terrain and/or tight spaces.
Please contact our Youth Development Coordinator at 423-785-4093 (office), 423-356-1276 (cell), or [email protected] for specific information pertaining to accessibility accommodations and allergy concerns.
Questions?
For any additional questions, you can contact us by email at [email protected] or by phone at either 423-785-4093 or 423-356-1276.
Sea Sprouts is sponsored by:
