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
