Leaves - Orchards

Manipulative Stations

Sorting Seeds

This month came with a seed collection which the kids get to play with. They are developing patterning skills by sorting seeds and using them as counting manipulatives. I love giving them natural things to play with. I really love this idea.

Patterning and Stringing Beads

Sewing cards, stringing beads... these are things I grew up doing. Looking back, I admire my Mom's creativity and investment into my early years at home and I love being able to provide that for the kids I spend my days with.

Patterning develops readiness for reading letters and symbols promoting math and literacy skills.

Pounding Colours

This activity was a great combination of Science and Art. The kids got to explore natural pigments found in nature in a fun way by smashing natural items we found ourselves on our nature walk into white linen with a rubber mallet. They loved collecting things and searching for vibrant colours in my garden. The enjoyed smashing things with a rubber mallet even more!

Apple Core Art

Searching for the Letter 'A'

The kids had to sift through a pile of leaves find the letter 'a' and then copy them.

Falling Leaves

We talked about how leaves change in the fall. Trees stop producing chlorophyll as they prepare to rest for winter. This causes them to change colours and fall. The kids had to jump as high as they could to reach the leaves, but not the green ones that are not yet ready to fall.

Caterpillar

The kids explored munching through leaves like a caterpillar using paper and hole punches.

Hungry Caterpillar Art

This activity had the kids string beads onto a pipe cleaner to represent a caterpillar that they wove through a leaf. One child wanted his caterpillar to have a face so he used the circle punch from his leaf to draw a happy expression on his caterpillar. Another also wanted a face on her caterpillar. She looks quite forlorn about it until her friend helped her make one too.

Disclosure: I receive Mother Goose Time Curriculum free of charge for educational purposes in return for posting my honest experiences using the curriculum. Photos of children featured on my blog for review of Mother Goose Time are used with signed consent of the child's parents. I welcome any questions or concerns.