Make-it Topic: Things from trees

Imaginative:

• Place out paper leaves, rakes, gloves, hats for pretending to rake leaves 
• Place out a tree with apples have a pie making materials (paper or play dough play)
  Place out baskets and acorns for picking

Language: 

• Sing the poem 5 little acorns
• 5 little acorns, hanging from a tree
  High as can be.
  Along came a wind and blew one away
  4 little acorns left to sway.
  Repeat till 1 .
• Down came a squirrel from high in the tree
  Searching for food as fast as can be
  He saw those acorns fat and round
  And hid them in a hole that he dug in the ground

• Read “A leaf for teacher” 
• Read “ Red leaf Yellow leaf” 
• Read “Dot and Jabber and the great acorn mystery”

Art:

• Tinfoil leaves place out foil and leaves encourage the children to place the foil over the leaves to get an imprint and glue onto a paper 
• Make a leaf collage 
• Paint with acorns or pinecones 
• Do apple stamping 
• Make torn leaf pictures 
• Use tree leafs, acorns, apples, pinecones for rubbings

Water/Sand

• Place out an apple washing station 
• Place dried leaves in the sand 
• Place acorns in the sand table with sifts 
• Place leaves in the water table with strainers and colored water

Gross Motor

• Make wands from paper towel tubes and long streamers have the children dance as leaves with the wands 
• Place out acorn cut outs on the ground, have the children do different movements to each acorn 
• Apple picking 
• Go on a leaf hunt (Read the story Going on a Leaf Hunt)

Science/Curiosity

• Place out leaves and magnifying glasses 
• Place different types of apples on the table with a scale for weighing the apples 
• Place out acorns for looking at

Blocks

• Use paper tubes for building with 
• Add a tree house and people to the blocks 
• Place out fall colored blocks 
• Place out tubes and baskets for building 
• Add fake leaves, grass, rocks to the blocks

Conceptual/Table top/Fine motor

• Lacing leaves 
• Sorting real or fake leaves 
• Place out apples, acorns, pinecones and leaves for size classification 
• Place out play dough with leaf cookie cutters 
• Make puzzles with paper apples cut in half 
• Place out pattern cards for things found on trees 
• Place out tongs and acorns to pick up 
• Put pinecones with play dough for imprinting 
• Have different seeds from trees (pinecones, acorns etc.), magnifying glasses for exploring and bowls for sorting.

Music:

• Make leaf shakers

Quiet

• Place out the book “Ten apples on top” and apples for counting with 
• Make sequence cards for the flannel board 
• Place out some apple quiet time books

Cooking

• Make fall baskets 
• Ice cream cones flat bottoms, chopped red apples, 1 tbsp. apple sauce for each cone, homemade fruit leather or natural leather stip.
  Have the children place the apples into the cone, add the applesauce, place some more apples on top place the leather strip along the top for a handle and enjoy.
• Chop up fruits that grow on trees (apples, plums, oranges, bananas etc. Allow children to spoon and mix their choice for a tree fruit salad.

Field trip

• Go apple picking 
• Go on a walk to collect leaves, acorns, pinecones, and apples

Extensions from the activities

• Discuss apples and seeds 
• Go to the bakery 
• Show what happens as acorns grow