Preschool Activity: Fall Leaves

A few other friends and I take turns teaching preschool to our 3 yr olds.

I pushed our dining table over into the family room and decided our dining area would be the perfect place to hold "class".

(Since my husband is deployed, I usually end up eating dinner with the kids at the small table, anyway. ;))

Right out of college I taught at HeadStart for a year.  I was paired with another teacher who was the most amazing woman ever!  She cherished the children we worked with and really knew how to teach and foster their development.  She had been teaching preschool for many years and she knew a craft to go with every lesson theme possible!

She also knew how to stay calm when a child was intentionally mean or disobedient.  She definitely had a special magic in her!

Anyway, I learned so much about teaching children from her.

She taught me how to carry a lesson theme through multiple dimensions (like math, science, reading, exercise, art, etc).

Recently, I've really enjoyed teaching preschool to my son and his friends.  This week I'd like to highlight some of our lesson plans.

Lesson 1:  Learning about Fall

Have you ever made "stain glass" art out of tissue paper?

Well, we incorporated that idea in order to make multi-colored leaves.

We also painted, glued on pipe cleaner and got creative with a few other techniques for our leaves.

Then we went outdoors for a walk to pick up real life, dried and colored leaves.

Then we hung them all on our "tree" :)

During circle time we talked about seasons and the changes we see in the world around us as the weather grows cold.  

A good book to go along with this preschool lesson is 

I Love Fall

Written by Alison Inches

Illustrated by Hiroe Nakata

This book explores multiple aspects of fall through the touch and feel of a woolly scarf, fallen leaves, a smooth wicker basket, and more.

Lesson Targets

Outdoor/gross-motor Activity:  Finding and collecting leaves

Fine-motor activity:  Gluing small pieces of tissue paper.  Also, pinching the clothes pins to hang leaves up on the "tree"

Art and color:  Assembling the leaves

Math:  Counting the leaves on the tree

Science:  Circle time discussion- Seeing the changes in the weather around us.

Reading:  I Love Fall by Alison Inches