autumn
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Natural Materials for the Preschool Classroom – Autumn
It’s no secret that I love autumn, so it should come as no surprise that I like to include autumn-related natural materials in the classroom for the children to explore. In fact, we spend a lot of time outside collecting these materials to bring into the classroom. I’ve found that the children are more like to explore these things inside, when they get to be a part of finding them outside. This also gives them a frame of reference for each of these items because they can remember where they were collected. Here is a list of some of the things that you can typically find in my classroom during…
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Book Talk Tuesday – Leaf Man
Mrs. Jump’s Class Hi everyone! It’s Tuesday so I’m linking up with Mrs. Jump’s Class for Book Talk Tuesday. Today I’m sharing one of my favorite fall books – luckily I have enough favorites to get me through every week of autumn – but today it’s Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. All of Lois’ books are amazing, her illustrating style is unique and it really speaks to children, and encourages their own creativity. This book in particular contains illustrations that are made out of leaves. This story opens up children’s imaginations to all of the possible places that leaves can fly on the wind. There are a number of activities…
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Friday Freebie
Yay for Friday. This weekend is all about fall for me, high school footbal tonight and a fall bonfire party for my 4H club on Sunday, not to mention the tiny little town down the road is having their annual fall festival and flea market this weekend, so it feels like fall is officially here. This freebie would be a great addition to the crockpot applesauce recipe that I shared yesterday. The Apple Five Senses set from Kindergarten Lifestyle includes a mini poster for each of the five senses with words to help children describe apples. It also includes a black and white full page poster for each of the…
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Making applesauce with preschoolers
I'm not sure when it was decided that autumn means an in-depth study of apples in every single early childhood classroom in the country, but I'm certainly not one to buck tradition. One of my favorite apple activities to do with my preschoolers is to make homemade applesauce. Children love this activity because they get to eat the end product, so it's a great way to sneak in a ton of other learning opportunities. First there's the understanding that the applesauce they eat in their lunch every day actually comes from an apple that grows on a tree. This helps them begin to comprehend economic concepts such as food supply and…
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Book talk Tuesday – We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt
Today I'm linking up with Mrs. Jump's Class for Book talk Tuesday. Every year, this book finds a permanent place on my classroom bookshelf for the entire autumn season. My students love Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger. This book is perfect for preschoolers because it takes a story that they are already familiar with, and gives it an autumn twist. They are easily able to retell the story to themselves or each other after hearing me read it a few times. The pictures are also colorful, attractive and very descriptive. Books like this give young readers confidence in their beginning skills, making reading fun. I also love that it names…
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Autumn Play Dough Recipe (Version 2)
On Tuesday I shared my recipe for Apple Pie Play Dough. Today I’ve got one for Pumpkin Pie Play Dough – it’s very, very, very similar. This recipe is so easy, just mix the following ingredients in a large saucepan: 2 cups of flour 2 cups of water 1/2 cup of salt 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil 1 tablespoon cream of tarter 1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice food coloring (I used Wilton gel food coloring in copper, but you can use red and yellow liquid food coloring too) stir over medium heat until the dough forms a uniform ball (it should look dry). Place the play dough on the counter…
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Preschool Activities for Autumn
From Sweet Green House The weather around here lately has been screaming AUTUMN and I am loving it! Fall is my favorite time of the year (we’ve had this discussion before – boots, sweaters, pumpkin spice lattes, need I say more?!), and to celebrate, I wanted to share what’s in my Autumn activity bundle. Be sure to read all of the way through, I added a blog exclusive freebie for you too! The Autumn Math and Literacy Activity Bundle includes the following activities (all are also available separately): My Autumn Vocabulary Cards and Spelling Practice set includes the words acorn, apple, leaf, corn, leaves, pumpkin, tree, orchard, squirrel, and turkey. I…

















