Our In the Orchard fall preschool theme is coming to an end. With Mother Goose Time, we’ve learned about so many wonderful aspects of the orchard, including the tree, it’s life cycle, what lives in a tree, what lives in the orchard, about seeds, branches, fruits and nuts.
Painting leaves on the tree with green paint fingerprints. Then we added apple stickers. A bird, butterfly, ladybug and caterpillar are also pictured on the tree. These turned out beautiful and explored what is in the branches of a tree.
We explored what happens when we pound on leaves and parts of the plants with a hammer, under fabric.
We explored seeds in the sensory table, picked sunflower seeds from dried sunflower heads and collected seeds from dying plants outside.
We worked on counting and identifying numbers.
Using the hands on numbers, and letters, we played games to develop number and letter recognition.
We sorted fruit beads into pie tins to make “fruit pies”.
We used problem solving skills to make three rectangles from shapes. This month the focus was on numbers 3 & 4.
We read the story of Johnny Appleseed and made Johnny puppets.
Making apple core projects and counting out “seeds” (these are really beans).
Appleseed dominoes game (from Scholastic)
We talked about different parts of the tree – branches, leaves, flowers and then fruits. Here, we are making cherry trees with blossoms.
We learned about ABB patterns on our calendar and clapped out the rhythm. We learned about fruits: apples, plums, lemons and oranges. 
Working on numbers 1-3 with lemon shapes.
Tasting lemons and then squeezing lemon juice into our water cups.
Lemons are yellow paintings.
Our letters for this month are A, O & R. This color by letter was very engaging for the 3’s & 4’s.
The three letters we are focusing on this month were reinforced with this game. It could be played with a group or individually.
Using stamp pad inks, we made fall or fruit trees on our postcards with fingerprints. I will mail home these postcards with a song or rhyme on the back that we learned, The Leaves Are Falling Down, with a little update about what we’ve learned this month. I like sending home these post cards each month as another little preschool to home connection.
Painting with purple, exploring plums. We also learned the rhyme of Little Jack Horner.
This pie craft was wonderful. They were fun to make and fun to play with! My group spent a lot of time sitting in the corner like Little Jack Horner, pretending to eat pies. It’s more than a craft, it’s dramatic play with props and literacy.
The orange juice cup art was also a hit. After making these projects, the kids played with them, pretending to drink juice.
We learned about nut trees and this rhyme about the golden pear.
Counting walnuts.
We also painted mini pumpkins, read Spookley the Square Pumpkin and made a square collage paper craft of Spookley.
We did all of this and so much more! Mother Goose Time offers amazing learning experiences for children through hands on play. We had a great month learning about orchards. Next month is all about transportation – On the Go. Join us!
