Materials
Sensory table or empty tubs
Different sensory items (see below)
Instructions
- Change the sand/water table many times to offer children as many interesting experiences as possible. Some of the different things to use in the sand/water table include:
Birdseed
Bubbles
Clean white sand
Corks
Cornmeal
Cornstarch and water
Ice or snow
Sand/water
More to do:
Encourage the children to help decide what toys and accessories to use. Ask the children to help empty the contents in the table, put them away, and add new sensory materials to it.
Instructions
1. Read A Log's Life or In a Nutshell to the children.
2. Discuss with the children:What creatures live in a tree?Why do trees fall?What happens to the tree dwellers when a tree falls?What creatures move into logs?How long does it take for a fallen tree to become dirt?How does this help make another tree?3. Take the children for a walk in a wooded area and look for a fallen tree.
4. When you find a fallen tree, encourage the children to scoop some of the decaying log into their hands.
5. Ask the children to look at it, smell it, and feel it. How is it like dirt?6. Encourage the children to pick up rocks and sticks to find small creatures under them. Discuss why these creatures live under rocks and rotting logs.More to do:More Science: Ask the children to bring in insects in plastic jars to observe. Be sure to return them to their original habitats.Art: Encourage the children to draw pictures of their walk.More Art: Draw a giant log on mural sized paper. Ask the children to draw creatures that live under rocks and rotting logs. Children may finish the mural scene by drawing trees, porcupines, and so on.More Art: Make three-dimensional creatures using clay. For example, make a spider by shaping a ball of clay like a spider's body. Add a tiny head. Cut eight pieces of rubber bands for legs and press four into each side of the body. Attach a long piece of a rubber band to the top of the spider. Paint the spider. Bounce the spider up and down with the piece of rubber, and sing "The Eensy-Weensy Spider" as the spiders bounce. Another example is to make a porcupine using clay and toothpicks. Snakes and salamanders are also easy to make with clay.Circle Time: Discuss what creatures the children saw on their walk.Movement: Ask each child to pretend to be a tree standing in a forest. Encourage the children to shake as a storm blows in and fall to the ground as the storm knocks down the tree.Outdoors: Grow a tree. Bring some of the tree dirt back to the classroom or buy a bag of rich soil. Gather some acorns and plant them in the dirt. Watch a tree sprout and plant it outside.
