15 Easy Autumn Invitations for Learning

Autumn is a beautiful time of year! There is so much potential for encouraging rich, playful exploration with natural objects that children find fascinating to explore. In this post I will share 15 easy to create autumn invitations for learning that can be presented in the classroom as table top activities, or investigated during outdoor play. These sparks for learning integrate math, literacy and science while offering potential for additional inquiries depending on how children explore and manipulate the materials. 

Educators can observe each activity and provoke further discovery using a 'see, think, and wonder' learning routine. After watching the children play with the materials, ask them to share what they are noticing while playing by stating "I see...". They can then be asked to reflect upon their observations and begin to build their theories about the play by making connections in an "I think..." statement. Finally a question for further exploration can be crafted in an "I wonder..." open-ended query. As children pose questions and share their curiosities about the materials and the world around them, the educator can record observations, reflect upon how to support children in additional work, and gather materials to enhance and evolve the play. 

For example - "I see many different kinds of leaves. I think they might be different sizes. I wonder if I can order them from smallest to biggest."

Natural Objects Colour Matching - recycle paint chip strips by providing them to children and encouraging them to find objects in the yard or placed on a table that match each shade as closely as possible. Encourage children to explore the different shades of each colour.

Roll and Fill the Web - create a spider web by wrapping a shallow basket with thick yarn. Encourage children to roll a die (or multiple dice), add or subitize the pips, and add that many spiders to their web.

Spider Game - create mini catapults by securing a wooden clothespin to a solid block or piece of wood with an elastic. Children can manipulate the catapult and fire a plastic spider into the web. Every spider that lands on the web earns them a point! Children can record their points using tallies, and compare their scores to others.

Measuring Circumference - present a variety of interesting pumpkins and gourds to children. Ask them to suggest ways to measure the circumference of each object. Order the objects from smallest to largest circumference.

Counting Seeds - encourage children to use fine motor skills to remove the inside contents of a squash, gourd, or pumpkin. Provide a variety of tools (e.g., hundreds charts, ten frames) for the to use when calculating the total number of seeds they have removed.

Gourd Runs - present a variety of gourds and recycled floor boards to children. Encourage them to create a variety of ramps and runs to experiment with rolling the gourds down.

Geo-Pumpkins - encourage children to create their own shapes and designs on pumpkins by using pushpins and elastics. Children can push the pins into different places on the pumpkins and then stretch an elastic around them.

Gourd Catapults - present a variety of recycled tubes, wooden boards and mini pumpkins to children. Model how the tubes and boards can be used to make a catapult. Children can be encouraged to stomp on the catapult and launch the pumpkin as far as they can. Brainstorm with children how to record how far the pumpkin travels. Discussing safety rules beforehand is recommended (e.g., ensuring no one is standing in front of the catapult before launching a pumpkin).

Creepy Crawly Pick Up - provide a variety of seasonal trinkets to children in trays. Encourage children to pick up and move the materials using a variety of fine motor tools (e.g., chopsticks, tweezers). Children can sort the materials in the trays in different ways (e.g., by colour, size).

Roll and Fill - provide a template for children to use (grid paper also works). As children roll the dice and add the pips, they then colour the corresponding number of objects or squares on their paper. First to fill a line, section or the entire page wins. 

Big Body Spider Webs - encourage children to wind yarn or twine around natural materials outdoors (e.g., stumps, tree trunks, branches), creating a large spider web. If the web is large enough, children can move their bodies in and out of the web, avoiding the yarn as an obstacle course. Large plastic spiders can also be added and the web transformed into a dramatic playscape.

Pumpkin Weigh In - provide a variety of measuring tools (e.g., balance scales, digital scales) for children along with a collection of pumpkins and gourds. Encourage children to measure and record the weight of the objects. Provide challenges like asking children to find the lightest/heaviest pumpkin or ordering them from lightest to heaviest.

Hanging Leaves - attach yarn or twine between to objects (e.g., tree trunks, posts). Provide a variety of real or fabric leaves and clothespins. Encourage children to attach the leaves to the twine in a variety of ways (e.g., sorted by shade, in a pattern, smallest to largest). Children can explore the play yard for other interesting objects to hang on the line.

Natural Materials Sensory Table - fill a sensory table with autumn items found in the play yard or provided by families. Add tools including magnifying glasses, tweezers, scissors and sorting trays to enhance the play.

Which One Doesn't Belong - present a variety of different pumpkins to children. Ask them to explain which one they feel doesn't belong and articulate their thinking using math ideas and terminology.

Cooking Squash

We were so lucky to have a special parent volunteer with us today! Mrs. Montcalm spent time with the children in our kitchen cooking two kinds of squash. The children were very excited to be making something to eat! They first explored the differences in the outsides of the squash...

...and then scooped out the seeds.

The squash guts were so much fun to squish!

We used child friendly choppers to help remove the peel of the butternut squash...

 ...and also to chop it into little pieces.

 

We also chopped some apple to add to give it a sweet flavour.

When the spaghetti squash was cooked the children each had a chance to help scoop it out.

We were so proud of the children! Many tried the different kinds and some even asked for a second helping!

We love having parents and other family members in our classroom! If you have a special talent that you are willing to share with us, please consider spending time volunteering in our room!

What's Inside?

Last week the children were very interested in seeing what they had each brought for snack. There were some great conversations happening at the snack centre about what the food looked like, smelled like, and tasted like.

 

Today I brought in some different kinds of squash. I wanted to extend the children's interests and thought this would be an engaging way to do so.

 

First we passed the different squash around the carpet. The children were encouraged to use many senses to explore; what did the squash feel like (exploring textures), how heavy was it (exploring measurement), how did it look (noting similarities and differences). This was also a good activity to reinforce turn taking.

During playtime the children were invited to explore the inside of the squash. This lead to many interesting math discussions - equality (2 halves of a squash are the same as 1 whole), estimation and counting (how many seeds are inside), measurement (which squash is biggest? which has the biggest seeds?) and shape (some squash are round and some are not). The children also practiced their fine motor skills as they used the tweezers to pick the seeds out. This took a lot of patience and perseverance because the seeds were slippery and stuck in the squash guts!

 

 

Families we are hoping to cook some squash for the children to taste. If you have any you are able to donate to our room, we would appreciate it! Also, if you are interested in volunteering to help with this activity, please let us know! Thank you!

Slimy Squash

We explored squash today in our classroom!  First we read a book called "Pumpkin, Pumpkin" by Jeanne Tetherington which helped us to understand the life cycle of a pumpkin. Then we discussed how pumpkins and squash are very similar. Children had a chance to pass around four different types and describe what they saw, felt, and smelled. These types were butternut, buttercup, acorn, and spaghetti. After being passed around, the squash were halved and placed at the science center along with scissors, tweezers, scoops, magnifying glasses, and collection trays.

"Tell me about what you did with the squash..."

In addition to helping children explore the life cycle and properties of squash and pumpkins, this activity promoted cooperation and oral language opportunities as children were required to work together on this task. The use of tweezers, magnifying glasses, scissors, and scoopers helped to strengthen their fine motor skills, promoting future writing readiness.