Fall Projects

In October and November we have talked about Fall.
The colors of Fall. (F is for Fall)
The holidays of Fall. (H is for Halloween)
The changes of the trees and leaves. (L is for Leaves)
The crops we harvest (H is for Harvest) in Fall.

There are so many fall activities it was hard to fit them all in but we sure tried. Acorns were added to our corn and tractors in the Discovery Table. For several days the acorns were there to explore with magnifying glasses or to pick up with the pinchers.

We got to work on another cooperative project.
One group painted with fall colors for the top of a tree.
Another group painted the tree trunk and gave it texture with popsicle sticks.

We hung our tree up in the hallway.
Throughout the month we've been adding to it.

We then made our acorns more useful.
We used a large Oatmeal container and put drops of fall colored paint on a piece of construction paper.
We then put the paper in the container with a handful of acorns.
(This activity came from Teach Preschool and then we made a few changes and extended it.)



Then the loud shaking began.
I planned on this activity giving us some great gross motor skill activity but once we got into it I realized there was more learning to grasp then I had planned so we extended this activity and took our time.
We shook up and down, left and right, made large circles with our arms, rolled it back and forth across the table to each other, shook fast, shook slow, we flipped it from top to bottom . . . the activities were endless.
So was the fun.
The kids faces say it all.
They each made two pieces of acorn art.

Our end product was BEAUTIFUL.
Each one so unique.

Days later we used our acorn art paper to make leaves for our tree.
We traced leaf patterns and cut them out.
They were just like the Fall leaves we had seen on our Fall walk; each one unique and full of color.

On a different day we painted using Q-Tips. (Pinterest idea)
I used this as a following directions/step by step activity.
Step one: Draw two straight lines to make a trunk.
Step two: Draw a big circle up top. (For many we did this step several times until they were happy with their circle.
Step three: Use Qtips to fill in your tree with "fall leaves". We talked about the difference between smearing it and just making a dot.
This required a slower more detailed movement then the broad strokes of painting.
They turned out great and were a great addition in our hallway.

Another simple Fall activity was to find four different color leaves and glue them on the correct space.
I was very excited about this activity but on this particular day they were more interested in just playing outside then doing another project. They all completed it but it was quick and a means to an end.
Some preschool projects are like that.

October has been a great month full of learning.

Lights and other Fun "L" Activities

Our second week of the season was "L Week"
Jesus came to be the LIGHT of the world.
We looked at candles and flashlights and talked about the sun, headlights, night lights, street lights and all the cool ways we use lights.
Just like lights helps us see where we are going; Jesus came to be the light of the world to show us how to LOVE and LIVE (some more great "L" words).

We started our week by bringing flashlights.
We used flashlights all day and kept the room dark. (We have two big windows so we still had a lot of outside light coming in.)

We played a version of "flashlight tag". It was more like a hide and go seek flashlight game.

We all counted while one friend hid. 

Then we went searching for them using our flashlights.

We had some creative hiders.

The game was a hit.

We found Mr. Bennett hiding in the bathroom.

One friend hid under my desk.

Two friends hid on our cubby shelves.

Smart - it actually took a little bit for our class to find them.

Counting - repetitively working on all those teen numbers. 

(Even in this game we were working on our academic skills.)

Some used there flashlight to read books too.

We worked on patterns by making a strand of Christmas lights with our thumb prints.

Then we decorated a house with lights. (Patterns weren't required.)

The other activity we did related to "L week" was a Lego Counting game.
With each class I played it differently experimenting with the best way to play.

The basic idea is to roll a dice (or two dice), add up your total by counting the dice and then to pick up that many lego pieces. With your lego pieces you build a tower.
With the morning group we did two teams and each time it was your turn you ran to the lego bucket and counted out your legos. We competed for the tallest tower.
With the afternoon group we did it at the table and every person built their own tower.
I'd say go, they'd roll the dice, count, get legos, build and wait to hear go again.
Both ways worked well.

The game was a great way to work on our math skills - adding, one to one correspondence, fine motor skills with our lego building, and even some problem solving took place. Some put their bigger lego pieces on the bottom to give them a better base.

I really enjoy activities that give us a lot of learning with little set up.
This was one of those activities.

Our gift wrapping station is still going strong.
I have a few gift wrapping Queens.
I love seeing the team work.

By the end of the month I just might let my little helpers do my wrapping for me. :))

- Mrs. Nicole