This week my class is focusing on Fall. Fall in Utah is so beautiful! We can see the mountain trees change color long before the trees in the valley begin to change. The kids have been watching this phenomenon for a few weeks now, and they are eager to learn and experience more!
We started our week with one of my favorite activities…Squishy Paint Leaves! This process of manipulating and mixing color is so much fun, and the kids are awed by the results!
We begin with a large, plain white leaf cut from 12 x 18 construction paper. I put red, orange, yellow, and purple flourescent paint into ‘mustard and ketchup’ squeeze bottles from the dollar store, and use a roll of platic wrap to cover the paint. It is a fast activity, so I choose one or two kids at a time in small group centers to do this activity.
I tell the kids that they need to choose at least 2 colors, but most of them choose every color! I will squeeze the paint in a dramatic swirly motion on their leaves…I have tried letting the kids do this step with really horrible results! (they are 3-5 after all!)
The tough part is not touching the paint until the platic wrap is covering the surface…
Then I let the kids start to manipulate the paint over the plastic wrap. I love to watch as they feel the coolness and texture of the paint and then turn their hands over to see no paint on them! They are always so surprised! I will instruct the kids to try to cover all the ‘white part’ of the leaf as they squish the paint around. Next comes the big reveal! I love to watch their faces as they see the beautiful leaf they have created…
You can see the vibrancy of the leaves on our drying rack in this photo! They are amazing! They will curl as they dry, and I actually love that part…they look more like real fall leaves! The finished product is quite wonderful and I will put them in my hallway to look like giant fall leaves blowing in the wind!
I’ll show the final display results in my next post.
The best part about all of this fall fun, is the awesome way it all blends into Halloween! I try to limit Halloween activities in the beginning of October to keep the kids as calm as I can…but there’s no way to hold off something so much fun for very long! I have BIG plans for my hallway bulletin boards this season! Thsese leaves are only the beginning!
This is just ONE of the awesome activities in my All About Fall 5-Day Unit Lesson Plan for Preschool, Pre-K, K, and Homeschool! in my Teachers Pay Teachers store!
Follow the link below for This lesson plan and so much more from Teach PreK!
Happy Fall!
