Leaf Manipulatives

The children are drawn to our light table. It's amazing to witness their interest and excitement when something 'magical' is placed on it. This week we included some beautiful fall leaf manipulatives for the children to explore.

The children naturally sorted the objects. When I asked them their sorting rule, they explained that they first sorted the leaves by colour, and then by shape. Curious, I asked them to expand on this. "We sorted the leaves by what kind of tree they came from," one child responded. "We sorted them as either Maple or Oak."

The children then spent some time creating their own unique patterns with the leaves. What a great way to infuse some math into our science and light table experiences, especially with the interest the children have in nature and the changing of the seasons right now!