Lessons on leaves and trees

Over the past 2 plus years of teaching this nature preschool, I've done a number of lessons on leaves and trees. I thought I'd go ahead and post up a few of these lesson plans. Tomorrow, once again, we will be talking about leaves and trees (I just really like trees and I want the kids to also :) 
For tomorrow's lesson, I'll pull the favorite activities from these various lesson plans. You will see from the lessons that there is quite a bit of overlap. I try and incorporate at least a few of the following into my plans: welcome song/circle, pretend play, hiking and exploring, songs, a craft, gross motor and fine motor, a group activity, and games.

#1
Here's one of the first nature school lessons I put together from Sept. 2010:
Nature School, Sept. 2010
Fall Time

Welcome Song
Does anyone know what time of year it is? What kind of clothes you wear in the fall? What fun activities do you like to do in the fall? What happens in the fall? (days get shorter, leaves change color, temperature gets colder, rain)

Discussion on Photosynthesis
Plants need to eat food to grow just like people do. Plants make a special kind of sugar for food using sunlight and a chemical inside of them called chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is what makes the leaves green. In the fall, there isn't very much sunlight and plants can not make as much food. The tree starts to get ready to sleep for the winter. Because the leaves aren't making as much food, they don't make the bright green color anymore. The chlorophyll is all used up. When the leaves aren't bright green, they start to show other colors they have inside like red, orange, yellow, and brown.

Pretend Play
When the leaves finish changing color, they fall off the tree branches and onto the ground. Let's pretend to be a leaf falling from high up on a tree branch. Imagine you are a little leaf whirling from the tree. Wheeee!! Now let's pretend to rake up all the leaves that I have fallen and jump in our big pile of leaves!

Hike
While hiking, sing some songs with the kids about fall time.
Leaves on the Tree (to the tune of "wheels on the bus"
The leaves on the tree turn orange and brown...  orange and brown.... orange and brown
The leaves on the tree turn orange and brown, all around the town
The leaves on the tree come tumbling down.... tumbling down... tumbling down
The leaves on the tree come tumbling down, all around the town
The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish... swish, swish, swish.... swish, swish, swish
The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish, all around the town

The Leaves are falling down (to the tune of "the farmer and the dell"
The leaves are falling down
The leaves are falling down
Red, yellow, orange, and brown
The leaves are falling down

Collecting
Give each child a brown lunch sack. Let the collect various items that they find and are interested in. Remind them not to pick things off of living plants. Encourage them to search for interesting rocks, leaves, sticks, seeds, etc. After awhile, find a place to sit in a circle and let each child share what they found.

Color Hunt
Give each child a paint square sample. Let each child explore an area until they find that color, then exchange color square for a new one.

Craft
Leaf Rubbings- Let each child find a leaf that interests them. Give them a piece of paper and crayon. Place the leaf under the paper and rub crayon on top of paper to create a rubbing.


#2
Another lesson, from Jan. 2011 called "be a friend to trees"

Nature School, Jan. 9th, 2011
Be a friend to TREES

Welcome song

Letter of the Day
T for tree
Talk about children’s names that start with “t” and other words they like- treat, tooth, toe, table, tears, try, etc.

Pretend Play
Act out the parts of a tree-
Curl up in a ball and pretend to be a seed. Then slowly stand up tall and stretch arms out. Plant your feet into the ground like roots. Slurp, slurp, slurp. The roots suck up water from the ground. Now puff out your chest- your middle is the trunk, sturdy and strong. The trunk has an important job- it holds up the branches and the leaves. It also protects the tree from getting sick and insects eating it all up! Now, sway your arms in the breeze. Feel the mighty wind through your branches and leaves. Now wiggle your fingers! Your leaves are super important they are what make food for you to eat (pretend to feed yourself with your hands). Close your eyes and imagine what it feels like to be a tree.

Group activity
Adopt a tree
As a group, go on a search for a “special tree”. When everyone agrees on a tree, take some time to let the kids get to know it. Look for special traits- branches, bark, leaves, roots, markings, mushrooms, holes, etc. Let the kids get to know it by smelling, touching, listening, looking with magnifiers.
Have the kids sit under the tree and look up into the branches. What kinds of animals might live here? Now everyone be very quiet and listen to our tree. What does it sound like? Do we hear birds, squirrels, branches creaking?
Feel the bark. Does it feel soft, smooth, rough, cold, warm?
Bark rubbing- A bark rubbing is a way to remember our special tree and take a part of it home without hurting it. Give each child a crayon and piece of paper. Have an adult help hold the paper in place on the bark of the tree, while the child rubs a crayon back and forth over paper.

Games
Play “Ring around the Tree” with the tree you have found. Have the kids make a circle around the tree by linking hands. Sing the following to the tune of “Ring around the rosie”
Ring around the tree, you are so tall and free
Wind blows, wind blows the leaves fall down!

Tree Tag
This is a very, very simple game that kids as young as 1 ½ can play!
Find an area with lots of trees. Have the kids stand next to a tree. When you call out “Switch!” they run to a new tree. Wait till all the kids have found a new tree, then call out “Switch” again. Kids love the anticipation and getting to run. We have played this game for a good twenty minutes before losing interest ;)

Book
Read “Be a friend to trees”

Discussion
Why are trees important?
They give us air to breath- we could not live without them
Wood to build things
Shade
Nice to look at
Homes for animals and insects
Food for animals and insects

How can we take care of trees-
Climb gently, plant a tree, protect forests

Craft
Homemade Paper- this craft must be done at a home because you need a blender, water, screens, etc.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Homemade-Paper/


#3
Another lesson from March 2011 called "trees are special"

Nature School, March 14th, 2011
Trees are Special

Supplies: Trees are Special book, Crayons, Paper, Blindfolds, clover seeds,

Welcome to nature school today!! I’m so excited about our class this morning and I’m pretty sure you are all going to have fun, even though it is raining!

Let’s sing our welcome song to everyone!

So today we are going to talk about trees. First, let’s use our bodies to pretend to be a tree. What should our arms be (branches) and fingers (leaves)? What about our tummies and legs (sturdy trunk)? What about our feet (roots)?
Now, our roots needs to suck up water. Let’s all make a big huge slurping noise! Now, the water travels up, up our trunk (crouch down with hands on ground, then stand up tall raising hands up high). Now our leaves use the sunlight and water to make sugar and oxygen. We let the oxygen out of our leaves for humans and animals to breath (take a deep breath) and the sugar, we trees use to feed ourselves and grow bigger and taller (stand up taller and puff out chest).

We are really lucky to have trees. What are some things that you love about trees?
-They give us oxygen to breath fresh, clean air
-The provide us with shade on a hot sunny day
-Trees are fun to climb
-Many things we use are made out of trees- our houses, toys, beds, paper, pencils, bookshelves, etc.
-Trees make our world a more beautiful place
-Many animals use trees to make their home- bird, raccoons, squirrels, chipmunks, owls, snakes, monkeys,

Nature Walk- take about 20 minutes to let the kids explore and be creative.
Picking a “special tree”. (Give each adult a blindfold, a piece of paper, and a crayon)
I want each child to find a tree that they want to get to know better. Take some time to wonder around and pick a tree that you find interesting. Once you have found your special tree, take a few minutes to be scientist, observe the branches, the bark, the roots, the soil around it, if there are cones or needles or dried up leaves on the ground beneath it. After a few minutes, have an adult put the blindfold on so the child can use he/she’s sense of touch to get to know his/her tree even better. Does the bark feel smooth or rough, wet or dry, cold or warm? Does it have cracks? Are they big or small, narrow, shallow, deep, long, short?


Craft:
Bark Rubbing-crayons and paper

Song
The Plant Part Song
Tune: The Farmer in the Dell
written by Mrs. Jones

The seed makes a plant.
The seed makes a plant.
With soil and rain and sunny days,
The seed makes a plant.

The roots find the water.
The roots find the water.
With soil and rain and sunny days,
The roots find the water.

The stem holds it up.
The stem holds it up.
With soil and rain and sunny days,
The stem holds it up.

The leaves make the food.
The leaves make the food.
With soil and rain and sunny days,
The leaves make the food.

The flower makes the fruit.
The flower makes the fruit.
With soil and rain and sunny days,
The flower makes the fruit.

The fruit holds the seeds.
The fruit holds the seeds.
With soil and rain and sunny days,
The fruit holds the seeds.


#4
This lesson is entitled "leaves" from Oct. 2011:

Nature School, Oct. 17th
Leaves

Welcome song


Today we are going to be talking about fall time and leaves. Let’s go around the circle and share with our friends one of our favorite things about the fall.

Letter of the day- L

Storytime:
Can I tell all of you a story? Once upon a time there was a big tall oak tree named oakie. In the spring time, tall oakie had little buds that opened up into lovely green leaves. She loved her green leaves, the way they’d rustle in the breeze, little caterpillars would come visit for a little snack, birds would come build nests in her branches because the leaves helped them feel safe. The leaves also helped make food for oakie. When the sun would shine on her leaves, something would happen inside of them and the leaves would turn the sunlight into tree food. And oakie LOVED tree food! It helped her grow taller and stronger and it helped keep oakie’s leaves bright green!

But then something really, really strange would happen at the end of summer. There was less sunlight so the leaves weren’t able to make as much tree food. With less tree food, oakie started to feel really, really tired. The cold weather made oakie want to go to sleep for the winter. With less tree food, oakie’s leaves began show all the other colors they had inside- bright red, orange, yellow and brown!

Then the leaves on oakie started falling off her branches and down, down, down to the ground. With no leaves, oakie wasn’t able to make any food, so she fell asleep or hibernated till spring came and new leaves opened up from her buds again. It was like a cycle!

Pretend play
Let’s pretend to be a leaf on oakie’s branch rustling in the breeze

Let’s pretend to be a leaf falling from oakie’s branch. Imagine you are whirling down, down, down from the tree. Whee!

Let’s pretend to rake up all the leaves into t big pile. Rake, rake rake!

Now, let’s jump in! Jump, jump, jump!


Exploration time
Find an area with interesting free objects (twigs, nuts, grass, flowers, berries, seeds) and tell the children to take some time to explore using their senses- smell, touch, hearing, sight.

Color hunt
Give each child a paint sample and ask them to find that color

Numbers Activity
Find a place with a bunch of acorns. Ask the kids to find a partner. Hand out the numbers and ask the kids to find that number of acorns and place on their number. If they want to find something different, that is completely fine.

Craft
Stainglass leaf art

Fall time lesson schedule

Here is my fall schedule for nature school. I probably won't stick to this exactly, as I like to take into account the weather forecast and interests of the kids. I'm also due with baby #3 in December 1st, so I may just call it quits for a few weeks before baby comes depending on how I'm feeling. If you have ideas or suggestions for fall, send them my way!

October 8- Trees and leaves
October 15- Apples
October 22- Seasons
October 29- Pumpkins
November 5- Bats
November 12- Migration
November 19- Food and thankfulness
November 26- Soil and mud

Lesson Plan- Dragonflies

Nature School
Sept. 31, 2012
Dragonflies

Welcome song
Today we are going to learn about dragonflies!! Who likes dragonflies?

Letter of the Day
D for Dragonfly, Damselfly, darting, dipping, dashing, diving,

Dragonfly Body
Let’s first look at a picture of a dragonfly and learn about it’s body.
Head, thorax, abdomen, wings, eyes, legs

 (to the tune of  Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes)
Head, thorax, abdomen, abdomen
Head, thorax, abdomen, abdomen
Four wings, six legs, and a compact eye
Head,  thorax, abdomen, abdomen

Let’s go for a little walk around the wetland and use our eyes, our ears, our hands, and our nose to explore! If you see something interesting, maybe a dragonfly? please share it with everyone! Do you all remember what we found last time we were here? Snakes, frogs, grasshoppers, etc. Wetlands are full of life!

Dragonfly Matching Game
Memory game with dragonfly pictures

Dragonfly Misquito Tag
-Place three lily pads on the ground. Choose one child to be a dragonfly. The other children are misquitoes. Ask them to choose a lily pad to begin on. When you call “switch” the misquitoes must run to a different lily pad. If the dragonfly tags them, they become a dragonfly and so on.

Dragonfly Facts (this info is more geared towards the moms and dads, although throwing in a fact here or there is good for the kids too)
-Dragonflies beat their wings about 30 times per second.
-Dragonflies are one of the oldest insects on the earth. There were dragonflies that lived 300 million years ago. They had a wingspan of 2 ½ feet.
-Dragonflies have a compact eye which means it is made of many lenses (humans only have one lense). Dragonflies eyes are made of 30,000 lenses.
-From egg to adult, a dragonfly can live up to six years.

What do dragonflies eat?
Dragonflies in their aquatic stage eat many kinds of small animals: aquatic insects, tadpoles, small fish, and other invertebrates. Adult dragonflies eat flying insects, especially mosquitoes, also aphids, smaller dragonflies, damselflies, and just about any other insects they can grab.

Craft:
Pipe cleaner and popsicle stick dragonfly. Use two pipe cleaners to make four wings, attach to popsicle stick using half a pipe cleaner. Decorate with markers, glitter, and sequins. 

Food Chain Game

Spider lesson pictures

Lesson Plan- Spiders

Nature School

Sept. 17th, 2012
Spiders

Welcome Song

Letter of the day- S for Spiders

Are you all ready to learn about spiders today?


Pretend Play:
First, let's pretend to be spiders. Let's curl up in a ball and pretend to be a spider egg. We have to squish together because spider eggs are all close together in a little sac. Then we burst open! Now we are a baby spider called a spiderling. Let's stretch out legs out and our arms out. We have to learn how to walk. It's hard! Then we shed our exoskeleton and grow bigger and bigger. Now we are an adult. We are HUGE! We can stomp around and jump and run really fast! Let's now pretend to make a web. We have to work really hard to make a beautiful and useful web. Then we CATCH bugs in it. Yum, yum, yum!

Did you know?.....
Spiders have 8 legs- their legs can grow back if they are broken off!
Spiders are NOT insects, they are aracnids
Spiders can climb
Spiders eat bugs
Spiders make webs

Hike and exploration time:
As you hike, look for an area where the kids can explore and look for orb weaver webs. Let the children lead. Ask them where they think spiders might like to live and make a web. When the children find one, give them plenty of time to examine and talk about it. Remind them to be gentle and not destroy it. The web is important to the spider. The spider has worked hard all night to make a useful web where it will be able to catch food. 

Find an area where the kids can explore and find natural items. Have them find multiples of one type of item- sticks, leaves, cones, flowers, etc. Count the number of natural items each child found. Lay out the items in groups 1-10. Let the children look at the groups and work on counting together.


Songs:
Sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider and add other verses such as:
Big Gigantic Spider (say with loud low voice and instead of fingers crawling use hands)
Very Quiet Spider (with a very quiet voice)
Hairy black spider (point at your hair)
Little baby spider (sing in a baby voice)

Poem:
The spider is knitting a magnificent web,
"I will use the silk as silver thread" She said.
She is webbing all day, she is webbing all night,
She is making a web unique and bright.
Her spinning glands and eight legs,
Help her to make a home for her tiny eggs.
In that house, the insects will be trapped,
With her silver thread, they will be wrapped.
A spider can be found in a garden, or in a barn
Always knitting a web, with its silver yarn.

Craft:
Paper plate spider web
Coloring page with body parts

Fun Facts for moms and dads about spiders:

Chart of Spider Facts

There are 37,000 known species of spiders in the world. Approximately 3,500 in the U.S. and Canada.

Spiders lay between 2 and 1,000 eggs.

Their skeletons are on the outside of their bodies. This is called an exoskeleton.

The mother wolf spider carries her eggs with her and keeps the young spiderlings on her back until they are old enough to care for themselves.

Some spiders live underground and catch insects for food by jumping out at them.

Spiders use a sticky silk to make their webs. The silk comes from six “spinnerets” located on the underside of their abdomen.

They use the silk as parachutes, as shelter and to catch food.

Spiders have as many as 12 eyes.

Coloring Page:

Spider Body Parts:

Lesson Plan- Turtles

Nature School
May 7th, 2012
Turtles

Welcome song

Letter of the Day: T for turtle. Do we have any of our nature school friends who have a name that starts with T? Thor, Tighe...

Turtle facts:
-Turtles are reptiles.
-Turtles have been on earth for more than 200 million years.
-Turtles live on every continent except Antarctica.
-There are a lot of different kinds of turtles (270 different types).
-Turtles live on the land and in the water. Turtles that live on land are called tortoises.
-Depending on where they live, turtles can be sorted into two groups - sea turtles or fresh water turtles.
-Turtles can also be sorted according to what they eat. Different turtles eat different things. Some turtles eat just plants, some turtles eat just meat, and some turtles eat plants and meat.
-Turtles lay eggs. Their eggs are soft.
-A turtle's shell is made of 60 different little bones.
-Turtles have an excellent sense of smell and very good eyesight.
-Turtles hibernate in the winter.

Observation time: Take a walk with the kids to the pond where the turtles hang out. Hopefully they are out sunbathing. Give the kids some time to observe the turtles and answer the following questions:
How do turtles move? What do they like to eat? What kind of habitat or home do they live in? Do they make any noise? What do you think its shell feels like?

Pretend Play:
Did you know that sea turtles spend their whole life in the ocean except for when they lay their eggs. The mother turtle returns to the same exact place that she was born (like salmon), digs a big hole in the sand, and lays her eggs in the sandy nest. Let’s all dig our own sandy nest just like a sea turtle! When we are done digging out our nest, we can find some rocks or shells and pretend they are our eggs and lay them in our sandy nest!


Rhyme:
A Little Turtle: Submitted by Lisa
There was a little turtle (put hands together in a fist)
He lived in a box (make a box with both hands)
He swam in a puddle (make swimming motions)
He climbed on the rocks (use your fingers to climb up your arm)
He snapped at a mosquito (clap hands)
He snapped at a flea (chomp with your mouth)
He snapped at a minnow (clap hands)
He snapped at me (Do Home Alone Face)
He caught the mosquito (grab with your hand)
He caught the flea (grab with your hand)
He caught the minnow (grab with your hand)
But he didn't catch me (jump in excitement)

Craft: Turtle sand art
This craft must be done on the beach where fine sand is available. Have various printouts of outlines of turtles and other sea life (starfish, shells, etc.). Give them each a printout and some elmer’s glue. Let the kids outline the picture however they’d like with elmer’s glue. Encourage them to take a handful or two of sand and sprinkle it over their paper. Then dust off the extra sand and they will see their beautiful sand art revealed. 

pictures from the Heron Habitat Helpers tour

Lesson Plan- Flowers

Nature School
April 30th, 2012
Flowers

Welcome to Nature School today! Let’s sing our welcome song-

Letter of the Day:
Today we are going to be learning about flowers and pollination so our letter of the day is P for pollination. What other words do you know that start with P? Do any of our nature kids’ names start with P?

Who has seen some flowers blooming lately? There are lots of them, aren’t there? I’ve seen flowers on bushes, trees, and growing straight out of the ground!

Role Play:
Let’s pretend to be a flower. Let’s pretend our feet are roots. Plant them down in the dirt! Then stand up straight and tall. Your legs and your middle are the stem of the flower. Now, our arms and hands are our leaves. They help us photosynthesis and soak up sunlight. Now reach your neck up high and face the sun. That beautiful face of yours in the flower with its petals and beautiful bright colors. Oh, the sun feels so nice! Now it’s raining! We love the rain because it gives us a nice drink which we need to survive. Let’s slurp up some water with our roots. SLURP!! Now it’s really windy! Sway back and forth and side to side. Good thing we have a nice, strong stem to hold us up in the wind. Good job everyone!

Hike:
Who wants to go on a flower hike? As we hike, looks for flowers and point them out for everyone else, okay? Let’s see how many different flowers we can find.

Flower Dissection:
Who knows what dissection means? Dissection means to take something apart and look at the inside. Who wants to dissect a flower? (Have a diagram for each child that shows the different flower parts. Give each child a flower to dissect. Walk them through the different parts of the flower including the reproductive parts. Explain that pollen comes from the anthers, moves to the stigma, down the style, and into the ovary during pollination. A flower can pollinate itself, but many flowers require assistance from insects, wind, birds, or bats to move pollen from flower to flower which is called cross pollination).

Further discussion on pollination: What is pollination? Pollination is what happens when a flower turns into a seed, or a berry, or a fruit. The flower is beautiful and attractive and smells wonderful. Little insects come and get nectar from the flower. When they land on the flower, they get a little bit of pollen on them. Then they spread that pollen to the next flower they go to. That is exactly what the flower wants to have happen!!! Spreading pollen from one flower to the next is great!! Then the seed begins to grow.
Diagram of flower parts:

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zFWLdGHD8kqRXYlKbOjN1dMTjNZETYmyPJy0liipFm0?feat=directlink





Game:
Pollination Game- have 6 cutouts of bees. Have 6 children be bees and the rest be flowers. Have the bees go from flower to flower and pollinate, until they have pollinated each. Then switch roles.


Song:
The Plant Part Song (Tune: The Farmer in the Dell)

The seed makes a plant.
The seed makes a plant.
With soil and rain and sunny days,
The seed makes a plant.

The roots find the water.
The roots find the water.
With soil and rain and sunny days,
The roots find the water.

The stem holds it up.
The stem holds it up.
With soil and rain and sunny days,
The stem holds it up.

The leaves make the food.
The leaves make the food.
With soil and rain and sunny days,
The leaves make the food.

The flower makes the fruit.
The flower makes the fruit.
With soil and rain and sunny days,
The flower makes the fruit.

The fruit holds the seeds.
The fruit holds the seeds.
With soil and rain and sunny days,
The fruit holds the seeds.

Craft:
Handprint flowers- Give each child a piece of paper. Ask them to draw a stem and leaves. Paint each child’s hand with paint. Have them stamp their hand onto paper.

Pictures from Monday's class

Here are the pictures from Monday's nature school lesson on mud and soil:

Smelling skunk weed

A cute, little mudcake with a flower on top

Playing in the creek

Mud cupcakes

Digging in the mud

Getting water

Nature school buds

Busy little nature schooler

Lesson Plan- mud and soil

On Monday, we are going to be learning about mud and soil. I've had a lot going on this weekend, so I'm not going to plan very much of a lesson. We will talk a little about soil and why it's important. We will do a little math equation: soil + water = mud. The best part- we will make mud pies! I've done this with my boys a few times. They love it, or course. What kid doesn't love making mud pies? I'll gather some tools- plastic yogurt containers, rolling pins, shovels, spoons, muffin tin, muffin liners, mortar and pestle, flowers, pebbles, marbles, etc. The place where we are hiking has a little stream and stream bed where we will set up our pie kitchen. It should be great!

Here are some mud pie pictures I found online from a cool mama (who I secretly envy with her farm, animals, five kids, homeschooling, and down to earth personality) who periodically writes for this blog- http://rhythmofthehome.com/archives/summer-2010/mud-pie-kitchen/ . Her personal blog, with lots of other great ideas for nature-based play and education is here- http://www.gsheller.com/