autumn
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Pumpkin Activity round up
‘Tis the season for pumpkin everything! Whether you’re carving your pumpkins for Halloween or trying to figure out how to use up all of the left-over pumpkins and gourds as Thanksgiving approaches, there are a million different ideas for classroom activities using pumpkins. I thought I’d share some of my favorites so that you can get all of your activities in one place! Pumpkin Pie Dough from Fun At Home With Kids Pumpkin Moon Sand from Growing a Jeweled Rose Pumpkins, hammers, and golf tees from Exploring the Outdoor Classroom Describe a pumpkin using your five senses from Gift of Curiosity Pumpkin Pie Art from Fun A Day Make a…
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Preschool Halloween Party Activities
The most difficult piece of any holiday party is planning activities that will keep the kiddos busy, but still be easy enough that they can do them independently – because you barely have time to breathe during a party, let alone facilitate games and crafts. I’ve put together a list of 10 activities that would be perfect for any preschool Halloween party. Mini pumpkin relays – challenge the children to place a mini pumpkin on their head and walk a short distance without it falling off. If they’re really good at it see if they can circle around a chair or plastic cone. Sensory bins – There are a million…
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Planning a classroom party
Whether you are planning a Halloween party or a Harvest Party, it’s time to start thinking about it! I know some people dread party days, but I love them. Parties are the perfect time to build classroom communities. They give the children a common event to look forward too and opportunities to bond over their anticipation, and throughout the actual party. Over the years I’ve come up with quite a few tips for making those crazy party days run just a little more smoothly. The planning makes all the difference, so consider your party details as I run through some of the questions you might want to ask yourself. What…
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DIY Classroom Decorations for Fall
If you’re anything like me, your classroom probably feels like home, you certainly spend enough time there! There a few ways that I make my classroom my own, and one of those strategies is decorating the classroom for each season – just like I do at home. I’ve come up with some easy ways to keep this seasonal decor within my budget. Instead of decorating for each holiday throughout the year, I stick to the four seasons, this means I need fewer decorations, and less space to store my decorations because they stay out longer. I also try to use any natural decor that I can – for autumn pumpkins…
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Friday Freebie – Pumpkin seeds
Happy Friday! This week’s posts have all been about bringing autumn into the classroom, and I am loving this season. Today’s freebie fits right in with that theme. Yesterday I shared a list of autumn manipulatives to use in the classroom, here is a fun activity to try with some of your manipulatives, Pumpkin Seed Letters. This super cute freebie is from A Kinder Kindergarten, and is a fun way to practice those fine motor skills while encouraging letter recognition. Make and entire alphabet to display in your classroom all season long, or laminate the mats and use them over and over. Enjoy your weekend!
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Autumn manipulatives for the preschool room
Autumn is my favorite time of year to use seasonal manipulatives because there are so many different options. The items on the list below are great for math games, patterning, sensory tables, tactile language activities, the block area, and fine motor exercises. Some autumn manipulatives you can include in your activities and center include: Leaves Acorns Miniature pumpkins Soy beans Corn kernels Popcorn Sunflower seeds Candy corn Pumpkin seeds Seasonal confetti Seed pods Orange, yellow, and brown gems Apples Apple seeds Pinecones I’d love to know how you use some of these items in your classroom, share your ideas in the comments!
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Preschool activities do to with leaves
One of my favorite fall activities to do with preschoolers is to collect leaves. I give each child a grocery bag and we go on a nice long walk to make sure that we pass a variety of trees and we try to get leaves of all shapes, colors, and sizes. We have some really great conversations during our walk; we try to decide which leaves have fallen from which trees, and we watch squirrels collect acorns and bury them for the winter. After we collect as many leaves as we can we take them back to the classroom we start exploring. Here are some great activities that you can…
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Ideas for Observing Trees with Preschoolers
Trees offer great opportunities for seasonal observations because; They are readily available and can often be observed from inside the classroom simply by looking out the window. They offer obvious visual examples of seasonal changes. They can easily be revisited over an extended period of time. Observing trees is completely free. Start your observations by having your class help choose a tree that they want to make “their tree.” Check on the tree every couple of weeks. During some points throughout the year the changes will happen more rapidly, revisit the tree more often during these periods. As you engage the children in observations, consider doing some of these activities:…
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Friday Freebie – Leaf Patterning
Happy Friday! Somehow it’s already the second week in September, and because of the strange weather we’ve had this summer, our leaves have already started to change. Nothing like messing with my seasons! This freebie is a cute patterning activity that uses different colored leaves. This would be a great center or a fun activity to send home for families to work on together. Download your copy here and enjoy your weekend!
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Great autumn activities for centers
Autumn is a great season to explore in the classroom because there are so many natural materials the you can bring into your environment. This also means that it is really important to have other materials in your centers that are related to those natural materials. Here are some of my favorite autumn centers; Autumn vocabulary cards– These are great for reinforcing the new vocabulary words that students are learning. This set includes the words acorn, apple, leaf, corn, leaves, pumpkin, tree, orchard, squirrel, and turkey and are wonderful for a writing center. Acorn matching set – This set includes letter matching, number matching, and color matching, making it easy for…
