Autumn Learning

Autumn Learning

Autumn is my favourite season of the year with all of the beautiful colours, the crisp cool air, and the harvesting of the abundance of vegetables and apples here in Ontario. There are also many opportunities to bring nature into the classroom during this time of year as well as bringing the classroom outdoors. Below is a glimpse of some of the activities we did during the fall season in our classroom.

2 students are exploring together the fall themed materials set out at the light table. I also had tiny clear plastic cups that fit the plastic clear and coloured pumpkins perfectly.

The ECE in the classroom brought in a variety of gourds and set them out at the science and discovery table for the children to feel, observe, ask questions, and to record their thoughts. We also set out the magnifying glasses and had them record their observations in their science journals.

After exploring the classroom gourds at the science table the children had asked where we had gotten them from. This started the conversation about what a Farmer's Market was and what can be bought there. We decided to turn our dramatic play area into our own classroom Farmer's Market. Here we have some children designing and painting the sign to be displayed.

The start of the farmer's market. We made apples with Styrofoam balls and painted them adding pipe cleaners for the stem. We also made apple and pumpkin pies using tissue paper and paper plates. After the children labelled the bins and added a price amount.

The students role playing being customers and cashiers.

Playing in the Autumn sensory bin. The students enjoyed putting the tiny sparkled pumpkins in the ice cube trays then counting to see how many they needed to fill it completely.

Apple Water Table

Apple Prints

Creating a jack-O-lantern with the pumpkin play dough and loose parts.

Making tiny pumpkins with the pumpkin play dough and sticks.

Sorting leaves by colour that we had collected on a nature walk.

Corn painting with fall coloured paint.

Planting our pumpkin seeds after we had cut open a pumpkin and explored the inside. Each student planted a seed in a cup with dirt and water. We placed them in the classroom windows to see if any would sprout a seedling. We also learned about how and what plants need to grow.

Making crock pot apple crisp with the apples we picked at our AppleLand field trip.

Outdoor leaf rubbings. The students found a leaf that they liked outside and placed them under a page in their science journals then rubbed a crayon over the page and leaf to reveal the intricate designs of a leaf.  They loved this activity!

Comparing and noticing the differences between the two pumpkins.