nature
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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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Exploring Weather in Preschool
It’s Wednesday, and here at Preschool Ponderings, that means time to focus on the standards. Every Wednesday I choose an Early Learning Standard and share a number of activities that can be aligned with that particular standard. Remember, the Standards that I use every day, and am most comfortable with are Ohio’s Early Learning Development Standards – you can review them here, however I’ve found that even if your State’s standards differ, many of these activities can still be aligned similarly. I’ve rounded up some great ideas today! Domain: ScienceStrand: Earth and Space ScienceTopic: Explorations of the Natural WorldThis standard is all about the weather and nature – two things that…
