Match the Leaves

                  
This is a sticky matching activity.  The leaves are drawn on a piece of paper and then covered with sticky contact paper, with the sticky side out.
              
 
The children search through the basket, pick a leaf and match it to the shapes.  I realized I have way too many leaves in the basket which made it difficult to find the different shapes.  Next time I’ll put a few of each shape.
                         
This activity helped us look closely at the leaves and talk about how many points and parts each have.
            
I need to look for better contact paper as this one didn’t hold the leaves very long.
        
   The leaves were moved over to our trees and were perfect for raking.

StoryWalk–It’s Pumpkin Time

           
  I set up the book “It’s Pumpkin Time” by Zoe Hall in the pumpkin patch.
                      
                 It’s a perfect story to tell the life cycle of a pumpkin.
      
It also was a way to encourage the families to take time and walk around the patch.
    
Shannon, the farmer, pointed out that the pumpkins this year are reseeding themselves.  As we walked through the story we saw evidence of that happening.
                
                      New blossoms were growing on vines.
                 
           And we saw small green pumpkins attached to vines.
         
I overheard parents making comparisons to the book and their child’s pumpkin choice.
               
                       
   In the end they all found their perfect pumpkin for Hallowe’en.

You can watch a video of the book here.

More Than a Pumpkin Patch

                 Today was our annual trip to the pumpkin patch.
                    It rained but it didn’t dampen the excitement. 
                             Here’s a photo tour of our morning.
        
                     
               
   
                
                          
             
      
              

             
          
   

                  We also did a StoryWalk in the pumpkin field.
             
                            Watch the next post for more on it.

I Am Thankful Tree

Thanksgiving is this weekend and our school has been talking about gratitude.  I chose the book “Thanks for Thanksgiving” to start the children thinking about many things that people are thankful for.  The text is simple and to the point.
 

After reading the book the children picked a leaf shaped paper to print what they are thankful for.
             
                  We then added their leaves to this bulletin board.
              

          Today we shared the book and activity with our big buddies.
    
 
        
               
                  
I am thankful for you following along as I grow and learn with the children.