Activities

After reading Mrs. McNosh Hangs Up Her Wash by Sarah Weeks, tell the children they are going to help do laundry. Outside, set up a clothesline and give the children lots of washcloths and a basin of water. Add child-safe soap if wanted.

Set up an indoor or outdoor laundry line. Provide dish tubs and water to wash doll clothes. The children can use clothespins to attach the clothes to the line to dry.

Have the children bring in a plastic bag of dirt from their home. Place samples of their dirt on white paper and ask the children to use magnifying glasses and tweezers to explore it.

Select a child to be the leader while playing the song "Dino Stomp" from the group Koo Koo Kanga Roo.  The class follows the moves of the leader as he/she pretends to be a dinosaur.

Have the children explore the outdoor play area to collect leaves, or bring some in from home. Press the leaves between the pages of a heavy book overnight so they are flat. Encourage the children to glue them to a large piece of poster board.

Take the children outside to gather leaves. Have the children bend down and pick up leaves to place in a bag. Make a big pile with all the leaves and encourage the children to walk and/or crawl through the pile of leaves.

Obtain paint sample cards from a paint storethat match the colors of many leaves. Have the children pick up leaves, show them to you andtry to match their leaves to the colors of the paint sample cards.

Have the children find different types of leaves outside and create patterns with the leaves during outdoor time. The children can also use other items to add to their patterns such as acorns or pine cones.

Gather the following materials: 2 wooden blocks, 2 rubber bands, white square pieces of fabric, large green leaves and magnifying glasses.

Place different leaves on clipboards and secure them with contact paper. Attach paper to the clipboards and place them in the science area. Encourage the children to use crayons to make leaf rubbings.

Make leaf rubbings during outdoor time. Attach leaves to clipboards with contact paper to keep in the science center.

Lead the children on a tour of the playground searching for leaves. As you find a leaf, encourage the children to describe its shape.

Have the children place one frog on each lily pad, one at a time, and count aloud, up to 10. Create lily pads using green construction paper for the children to jump on.

Cut out 10 large logs from brown poster board and place them on the large group rug. Sing, “Five Little Speckled Frogs” and encourage the children to jump from log to log.

Tape a starting line and a finish line on the floor with masking tape. Be sure the distance between the lines is no longer than five hops. Ask the children to estimate how many frog leaps it will take for them to jump past the finish line.

Read a book about strangers, such as The Berenstain Bears Learn About Strangers by Stan and Jan Berenstain. Have the children explain the safety rules that the characters obey in the book.

Read Slam! A Tale of Consequences, a story about a boy who slams the door and causes a red ball to go bouncing through the neighborhood with unexpected effects.

The leaves are whirling round and round 

The leaves are falling to the ground

Round and round, round and round 

Falling softly to the ground

Using fall leaves (either silk or die cut) and small rakes, have the children rake leaves on the rug.

Tune: “Frere Jacques” Leaves are falling, leaves are falling
On the ground, on the ground
Orange, green and yellow
Orange, green and yellow
Red and brown, red and brown Snow is falling, snow is falling