Week 7 - Fall Unit

Last week we took a break from our Letter of the Week and did a Fall theme instead.  It was a nice change of pace and provided more hands-on opportunities, which I think was fun for all of us.

Here's a snapshot of what we did:

Make your own pattern - I started the pattern and then had Jenna finish it. 

How many leaves in the tree?  I picked the number card and then Jenna added the correct number of leaves.

We read the book, Fall Leaves Fall.

We took a trip to a local nature center to observe leaves and their changes in color. 

We stopped at one point for a quick snack.

Jenna took along her clipboard and a Leaf Observation sheet.  She picked two leaves and then observed them - color, shape, smell, feel, etc. 

Shape Silhouette Match-Up.  I laid out the silhouette pieces and Jenna matched the pictures to them.

A candy corn counting activity - I wrote a number on the bottom of the corn stalks and Jenna added the correct number of candy corn.

Her first dot-to-dot.  Drawing straight lines was a bit challenging for her.

Number clip cards - she clipped the clothespins on the correct number.

Another number clip activity

A leaf maze/tracing page (pretty easy for her)

Leaf finger painting craft

I put plastic wrap over the leaves and paint and then they rubbed the paint around to cover the leaves.  The best part - no mess.  The paint was under the plastic wrap so their hands stayed clean.  Love it!  :)

I also added some glitter to the paint so they  had some sparkle to them as well.  This is the finished product the next day after they were dry.

I taped them to our kitchen window so we could continue to admire them.  :)

Leaf sorting

Which is Different paper

Apple counting file folder game - she had to put the apple piece with the correct number of dots over the numbers.

We made Cinnamon Spice play dough one day.  It was my first time making homemade play dough.  I was really impressed with how easy it was and fun for the kids too!  They especially liked getting to sit on top of the counter to help.

A fall-themed sensory bin for them to play in and explore.

A close-up of the bin.  They mostly just wanted to play with the rice.

The play dough after it cooled.

Grant's handprints in the play dough

Jenna used the pumpkin cookie cutter to make pumpkin shapes with the play dough.

Do-a-dot markers

Color-by-number paper - she had to color the apples red, yellow, or green based on the key.

Scarecrow number puzzle - she decided to put this together under the table

Finished product

Colorful tree craft - they covered a coffee filter with dots from their do-a-dot markers.

Then we sprayed them with water to blur the colors.  After they dried we were supposed to glue them on a piece of paper and add a tree trunk to it, but we never got to that part.  Oops!

Apple/Leaf sorting - another one that's too easy for Jenna.

However, Grant really enjoyed it and did a good job with it. 

An idea I saw on Pinterest to work on fine motor skills - use tweezers to "pluck" out the Indian corn kernels.  I really wasn't sure how hard it would be and if Jenna would even be able to do it, but she was able to do it and really enjoyed it.

It reminded me of a dentist pulling teeth.  :)  She worked on it for about 15 minutes that morning and then again in the evening.  I'll have to bookmark that idea for next year.