Find the Leaf

Find the Leaf

Materials:
Leaves of different shapes and sizes from different plants,
Construction paper,
pencils and crayons,
tape, (optional)

Preparation:
Collect a variety of leaves and show them to the kids

Ideas:
Go for a walk with your children and see if they can match the leaves to the plant they come from.
Allow your children to do leaf rubbing.
1. Put the leaf vein side up.
2. Place the paper over the leaves.
If the paper moves too much try taping it down.
3. Rub over the paper with the side of a pencil or crayon.

Look up the leaves and their trees. Learn the names ( Internet/library).
Put together a book of all the leaves.
Compare with friends from other areas of town, country etc.
Take digital pictures to remember this experience especially if you are making a book.
Compare leaves from the same tree/bush from different times or seasons of the year.


Good For:
Classifying,
Identification,
Vocabulary Building
Fine Motor Skills,
Learning about nature.

Idea from the Play-activities.com E-mail newsletter.

Fall Theme Lesson Plan

Literacy:
The Tiny Seed, by Eric Carle
A counting book, The Case of the Disappearing Acorns
Math: Sorting leaves, pinecones and acorns by color or type of object.
Sensory: Grab bag.
Contains fake apples, pumpkins, gourds, acorns and other fall related objects.
Children are to guess what’s in the bag before looking at it.

Apple Match
Cut out apples of green, yellow, and red. Put corresponding apples on a manilla folder.
Have your children match the apples.
You could also do this with pictures of food made from apples or make another matching game using pictures of different types of leaves.

Fine Motor:
Have two baskets.
Fill one with nuts and a set of tongs.
Have the children transfer the nuts from one basket to another using the tongs.
If some of the children are allergic to nuts, use fall colored pompoms or acorns.

For dramatic play, you could turn an area into a farmers market since they are selling fruits and vegetables through the fall.
You could include:
Cash register,
Fake money,
Fake fruits such as apples, peaches, pears, pomegranates,
Fake vegetables such as corn, gourds, pumpkins etc.
You could include boxes and or jars of foods that can be made with those fruits and vegetables.
For an extension of that area, you could set up a small tub of water where the children could pretend to wash the fruits and veggies.
I thought of this idea on the spot so if you can think of anything to add, feel free.

Movement:
Take a nature walk to collect leaves and other fall objects.

Art:
CRUSHED LEAF MOSAIC
Materials:
Dried leaves,
Construction paper,
Glue.


Steps:
1. Gather a small bag of fallen leaves.
2. Dry them out completely.
3. Crush the leaves.
4. Cut a piece of paper into a leaf shape and give it to the child
5. Cover the leaf shape with glue and sprinkle on the crushed leaves.

Discussions: Different types of leaves and the trees they come from. Also, discuss when seasons change and the cycle of how leaves fall off trees and new leaves grow next spring.


Leaf Wreath
What You Need:
Leaves (various colors preferred)
Paper Plate
Paste
What You Do:
Have your children collect interesting leaves.
Next, cut the center of the plate out and let your children attach their leaves.
Painting with Apples
Cut an apple in half and let the children stamp or paint with it.

Recipes:
Frozen Pumpkin Treats
For each child, mix 1 tsp. pumpkin-pie filling with 3
Tablespoons whipped topping. Spread on one graham cracker and top with another
Graham cracker
. Freeze.

Individual Pumpkin Pies
For each child: Measure 1/4 cup of vanilla pudding, 1
Tsp canned pumpkin and dash of pumpkin spice; mix together. Put mixture in single bowl. –serve with graham cracker crust and top with one candy pumpkin.