Kindergarten Harvest Lesson Plans: Leaves III

Continuing the discussion of colorful leaves and the variety of trees, today's lesson will add squirrels and nuts to the week. Here are a list of the things that you will need in order to present this lesson in it's fullest capability.

• Plush toy squirrel
• Reproducible acorn picture
• Brown construction paper
• Package of sand (can be located in the craft aisle of your local hobby store)
• Poster board
• Die cut leaves
• Dice
• Die cut acorns

Discuss that squirrels gather nuts as they fall and store them for the winter.

Explain that nuts are the tree's seeds. Sometimes squirrels will bury nuts and forget to eat them, those nuts will sprout from the ground and a new tree will grow.

Sing the song:

(to the tune of "You Are My Sunshine")

I am a squirrel, a little squirrel.

I gather nuts when they fall from trees.

In the winter, you'll never find me

Cause I'm warm in my home on cold days like these.

Copy a large reproducible acorn onto brown construction paper.

Paint the acorn "hat" with liquid glue.

Cover glue with sand to form a textured acorn top.

Adhere wiggly eyes to the acorns.

Hang acorns in the classroom for display.

Draw a tree onto poster-board.

With Velcro or tape, attach removable leaves to the tree.

Provide dice for the children.

Call on one child at a time to roll the dice and pick the correct number of leaves off of the tree.

Divide pre-cut acorns into two sets, write capital letters on the acorns in one set and lower case letter on the acorns of the second set.

Keep the capital letter acorns together.

Put the lower case letters in a pile on the floor.

Give each child a capital letter acorn. Send one or two children at a time to the pile or acorns on the floor.

The children should "gather" the lower case letter that matches the capital letter they are holding.

Fall Leaves by Mary Packard

It's Fall! by Linda Glaser