natural materials
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Preschool Nature Mobile
Here’s another really easy fall activity for your lesson plans! This nature mobile requires children to collect the natural materials, and then some artistic planning involved in putting it all together. Once the mobile is complete you can also introduce a scientific component with identifying the objects and watching how they change as they hang in your classroom. This is an excellent way to explore the plants in your specific area. You can take a walk to gather materials as a group, or ask families to donate items that they find around their homes. I grabbed a long twig and used that to hang all of the items from. Introducing…
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Acorn Science
Acorns are great for autumn inquiries because they naturally lead to a variety of questions, such as; Why do the acorns fall off the tree? If we plant an acorn, will it grow? What would it grow into? What is inside of an acorn? Do any animals eat acorns besides squirrels? These questions can lead to wonderful investigations about autumn, hibernation, and plant life. If you’re looking for some additional science activities to do with acorns you can easily adapt year-round favorites to help your students understand acorns better. You could: See if acorns sink or float, and then explore the same question with other types of nuts Talk about…
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An Easy Fall Science Center
Fall is the perfect time of year to explore science – there are so many changes happening! It’s also really easy to find natural materials to use in the classroom (check out this list and this list for ideas), but sometimes I struggle with how to contain all of those natural materials. No more worries, I’ve found the perfect solution: How awesome are these leaf-shaped containers from Oriental Trading (of course) ?! I filled mine with tree bark, grass, pebbles, twigs, some small red leaves, and one larger green leaf. The best thing about this set is that it includes 24 containers, so your students could help you find all…
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Reggio inspired math centers
Yesterday I talked about how my classroom is ever-changing. I am constantly rotating materials in my centers, so thought I would give some examples for different center materials. Once I gathered a ton of materials for a particular center it was much easier to switch them out frequently. When it comes to the math center, my students especially love the following math-related materials: Scales (authentic bathroom or kitchen scales, as well as balancing scales) Calculators Abacus (I have a Melissa & Doug Classic Wooden Abacus that my students LOVE) Rulers, yardsticks, and tape measures magnet numbers I also like to add things that students can manipulate with each of these items,…
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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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Nature Art
I use natural materials in my classroom all the time – right now I have nature sorting in my math center, flower seeds and magnifying glasses in my science center, and twigs and tree circles in my block area. My students help me collect these materials, sometimes we go on walks around the neighborhood and fill up a bag, and sometimes they bring fun stuff from their yards. One of my favorite activities to do with wonderful bits of nature is to create a glue-free collage. This project is so simple, but encourages so many different responses from the children. The children are presented with the available materials and asked…
