Learning about Trees – Lesson Plans

Trees are a great topic any time of year, but I like to talk about trees in the summer because if you have to be outside, at least you can be in the shade. But of course you can learn about trees indoors, too, as a lot of these activities will show.

The Crafty Classroom has ideas for a tree unit study that starts with a nature walk, collecting leaves, observing bark and just paying attention to all the details that make different trees unique. You can take rubbings, photos or draw or write down your observations in a nature book. If you have a nature corner or science center you can gather leaves, twigs, acorns, etc. and observe them at home, too.

You can also make a guide to the trees in your yard, playground, neighborhood or local park with this cute idea from Kid World Citizen. Kids can take a leaf and a rubbing of the bark to identify each tree. You could also take photos or draw a map of each tree’s location.

When the leaves start changing is the perfect time to do a lesson on why leaves change color. You can get all the details from STEAM Powered Family, which has a lot of details on different experiments they did and how they worked so you’ll know just what to do when you try it yourself.

Learn the difference between deciduous and coniferous tress with help from Capri Plus 3, and learn all about tree rings and the age of trees from KC Edventures.

Younger kids can observe changes in leaves (this uses fall leaves but you could do it any time) with this easy project from Preschool Toolkit.

Make your own trees to decorate the classroom with this easy paper bag craft from Crafts by Amanda. This would be a fun one to try at different times of year. How would you decorate a spring tree? How about a winter tree?

Or you can make your own trees with this printable tree outline from Crafts on Sea, or practice counting by decorating trees with fingerprint leaves with this activity from Fun Handprint Art Blog.

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Summer Activity Printables for Kids

I’m in deep denial about the fact that new year is almost upon us again! It’s been the fastest and the longest year at the same time, and I can look back and see some good things as well as some things I wish had gone differently.

Doing a year in review with your kids — whether in the classroom or at home — is a good way to capture some of their memories and the things they really liked about the year gone by.

There are a lot of different printable year in review worksheets you can use if you want to make this super easy. Here are links to a few (often part of larger posts about NYE celebrations with kids that are worth a read, too):

Teach Beside Me has lots of fun printables fro the end of the year, including a year in review that covers favorite memory, funniest memory and the best book they read, among other topics.
NurtureStore‘s version has space for a self-portrait and prompts like favorite toy, best day out this year and future dream job.
Remember favorites, their “best idea” of the year and have room for setting goals for next year with this one from The Keele Deal.
The year in review from Yes We Made This has room for drawing or writing and includes things like something they learned, a memory they made and a place they visited.

Of course you could pretty easily make your own year in review for the whole family to do that asks questions based on what you most want to remember. (Favorite video game? Best friend? Favorite family memory?)

And if after the year in review you’re ready to look ahead a bit, Mrs. Merry has new year’s resolution printables to inspired kids to look ahead and set goals for things they want to try. You can totally fill this one out as a grownup, too.

[Photo: Mrs. Merry]

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