Over the past few weeks, we have been doing a lot of different fall activities. We started by getting the children to use their observations skills to see if they can notice the leaves changing colours. One morning, educator Aly got the children to collect some leaves that had fallen on the ground. Lots of children started to help and placed the leaves into the bucket. We then let them dry over night to ensure they were not wet. The next day Aly set up some Mac Tac on the table outside for the children to come over and place the leaves on. But this day was a little windy, so, we brought the activity inside instead. The children were able to do this a little better without the wind blowing the leaves everywhere!
As we continue sparking the children’s interest on leaves. Aly had set up a fun little experiment with cause and effect. She had cut a pop bottle in half, and placed a balloon at the bottom. Aly then added some fake leaves into the bottle. Aly used a straw to inflate the balloon. The toddlers were all watching Aly as the balloon got bigger and bigger. We then asked the children what they think was going to happen when Aly lets go of the balloon. At this point the children were unsure as to what was going to happen. Aly then let go of the balloon and all the leaves went flying in the air. The children were all so excited that they all worked together to pick them up so Aly could do it again. The children then wanted to see if it would work with real leaves, so again they went looking around and collected some real leaves. But we soon realized that it didn’t work because the leaves were too wet. This was a great example of trail and error.
Last but not least, we wanted to do some fall art. Educator Sara got the children to help collect some more leaves that we can bring inside and do some art with. When we got in Sara had set up the table with the craft mat, some white glue, glue sticks and some paper. Once everything was set up the children were able to take turns at sitting down at the table with Sara. They then were able to use their fine motor and sensory skills to use the glue sticks to scoop up the glue and spread it on the paper. Once they had enough glue, they then were able to take a leaf and stick it down to the paper. Marcus very quickly noticed that his fingers got sticky from the glue. Other children also felt their fingers to see if they were sticky too!
What’s next? We will try to go on a walk to see what we can find. Will we see more leaves changing colours? Will we see any fall or Halloween decorations? We can’t wait to find out!
