Happy October! Autumn is one of my favourite seasons and Fall themed activities are a favourite at the Daycare as well! As we enter Apple picking season, it is a great time for kids and adults to take part in learning all about apples through fun activities. If you are looking to do some activities at home with your little ones, in your classroom or homeschool in addition to visiting local spots in your town, then these activities are a great addition to exploring Apples.
Today, I will be sharing some of Our Favourite Apple Themed Montessori Activities that we have on our classroom shelves, plus ideas and links to free printables from some of my favourite sites that you can easily incorporate into your childcare setting and at home as well!
We love to use sensorial bins and there are SO MANY great themed ideas out there! All you need is a little bit of imagination and to use what you have! The kids really enjoy these bins and I use the same plastic bin from my local Dollar discount store each time, wash/wipe down and change the items according to theme. For this Apple Themed Sensory bin I added dry green lentils, a few pompoms, a foam letter “A”, some red counters that we use in our Math activities, some plastic apples (really cute plastic apple ornaments that my parents have) you can also find plastic apples from your local discount or craft store, a mini gardening tool to scoop up and explore and a plastic apple from the play chopping board set which shows the seeds in the middle of the apple. The kids really enjoy using their hands to explore and search for items, hide the items in the “seeds” for their friends to find, as well as continue to develop their vocabulary as they explore each item.
This Gardening Set had been purchased earlier in the year from my local Dollar discount store and I use this for my Spring/Summer themed activities as well! Again, it is great to use and re-use what you have! I really love multi-purpose materials. I kept the sunflower looking flower, added in some dry green “seeds” lentils – we have also purchased actual apple seeds (from the gardening section) to use in this activity as well. I also added the seeds into a container to practice some motor skills to open and close the container. The kids enjoy planting the seeds, taking care of and growing them into a flower or apple tree.
When I was in Teachers College and doing my practice teaching, I had come across this great site with so many wonderful Montessori resources and printables called Montessori for Everyone. I have incorporated many of their materials into my classrooms. They have free Montessori materials/printables as well as very affordable printables that you can purchase. I incorporated their Apple Life Cycle Chart as well as their picture cards into my Apples theme. We talk about the Life Cycle of an apple and often will have apples and/or apple sauce for snack time! These cards are great for pre-schoolers and then you can cut the words on the bottom separately for the children that are reading to match to the picture.
I love it when I come across a great website that offers colourful and educational printables. Cassie from 3 Dinosaurs has fantastic resources. I incorporated some of her Apple themed printables into my classroom as well. The dot-to-dot apple activity cards (I print these on cardstock and laminate for stronger durability) and added in some green and red pompoms and counters for the dots.
The count and clip cards are great as well, print, laminate and add in some clothespins.
I like to add in some colouring sheets, tracing or an art activity during the themed week as well and this cute mini-booklet and colouring sheet are great!
In our classroom, we have a cut and paste centre. I change the items according to theme. For the apples theme, I just drew an apple silhouette onto scrap paper, the kids cut some pieces of construction paper and glue it onto the apple. In addition, I also added this sheet of mini apples (from 3 Dinosaurs as well) and cut (practice cutting skills with safety scissors for kids) into strips, for the kids to cut and paste onto paper as well.
Something that is a MUST have when it comes to any themed activity are BOOKS! We have some quiet reading time in the morning where the kids explore books during our reading period as well as Storytime at the end of each day. Books are so important to incorporate in a childs day and into a childcare setting. I place our themed books for Storytime on our book shelf and a few themed books for the children in addition to the others in their book basket.
Fall is a great time to explore using the senses and these are some great activities to add to your home or classroom. I love to share our favourite themed activities that we use at the daycare and can’t wait to share more!
There are some simple and fun ways to incorporate Montessori elements into your home and/or classroom. Hope you will try a few of these activities and enjoy exploring all the wonderful activities that are out there during this great season (I know we are very excited too)!
What is your favourite Fall activity?