Using Natural Objects in the Fall Classroom

It seems like fall offers a lot of bounty that we can use in learning activities, from leaves and acorns to pinecones, apples and pumpkins.

Keeping these items in a science center is an easy way to bring the outside into learning, but here are some more great ideas you might want to try.

Pinay Homeschooler uses natural objects in counting activities, such as putting pine cones on a tree or sorting out certain numbers of different kinds of items.

Emma Owl uses natural items on a sensory table combined with fall-scented playdough and other basic materials to let the kids explore and create.

And Learning and Exploring Through Play used a tray full of natural items, a pan balance and other materials for measuring and sorting to make a fall-themed tray.

What you can do will depend on what you can gather nearby, but it’s always fun to collect items this time of year and find fun ways to use them.

How do you use fall’s bounty in learning activities? I’d love to hear your ideas!

Check out our Online store for special buys on Educational gifts We find bulk items and end-of-stock supplies to bring you heavily discounted items. (make sure you check our store often so you don’t miss out on new stock). We also have some free printable files, including a Science PDF for learning about Microscopes.

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Pinecone Learning Activities for Kids

Shark Week generally happens in July, but any time is a good time to learn more about sharks.

First, start with some fun whale facts like these from Kids Craft Room. Here I learned about the dwarf lantern shark, which is the smallest shark and only grows to about 6-8 inches (about 15-20 cm) long. It also emits light. How cool is that?

Natural Beach Living has some great printable shark information guides, where kids can learn about different kinds of sharks, match the facts to the pictures, or print out doubles and do a shark memory game.

Living Life an Learning has some great shark activity pages including the parts of a shark, types of sharks, a crossword puzzle and more. Also check out their parts of a shark and word scramble download, and a life cycle worksheet.

Learn about how sharks float with this great activity from JDaniel4’s Mom.

Need more facts about sharks? This fact pact from The WOLFe PACK on Teacher Pay Teachers includes fact sheets, a printable flip book, informational text, vocabulary, comprehension questions and more.

Living Montessori Now has a great collection of shark themed activities with a Montessori inspired twist. You’ll find a shark roll and cover, shark phonics and lots more shark activities Deb has collected from all over the Internet.

Remember the “Sharknado” movie? A Few Shortcuts turned the combination of sharks and tornadoes into a fun science activity. You’ll need a bottle connector for this project but otherwise should have everything you need on hand. Use their template to make your sharks out of aluminum foil. So fun!

You can also do some shark themed coloring with these coloring pages from Encouraging Moms at Home. Or make a cool 3D shark with this template from korkotak. And there are tons of different shark crafts collected in this post from Kids Activities Blog.

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