Apple Trees & Seeds

Learning Goal: Apple trees have a life cycle. Commemorate Johnny Appleseed’s birthday (Sept. 26) with these activities.

• Reading= Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington, Ten Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss, Johnny Appleseed by Steven Kellogg and What’s So Terrible About Swallowing an Apple Seed by Harriet Lerner. Letter of the day= A is for apple.
• Science= Cut an apple in half to reveal the seeds inside. Help children visualize how a seed grows into a tree, a tree makes fruit, the fruit has seeds, and the seeds can be planted to grow another tree. Mix up visuals that represent different stages of the plant’s life cycle. Help children put them in the right sequence around a hula hoop to emphasize the cyclical nature of life.
• Art= Show Paul Cezanne’s Still Life with Basket of Apples. Notice the artist painted red, green and yellow apples. Stamp with apple halves using red, green and yellow paint. Try using a tall piece of paper to stamp apples one on top of the other. Count as you stamp!
• Play= Make applesauce or another favorite apple recipe. (How about an applesauce cake in honor of Johnny Appleseed's birthday!) Balance an apple (or apple-shaped bean bag) on your head while you walk across the room. Or, instruct children where to place an apple using positional words (e.g., inside, outside, above, below, on, in, behind, in front, top, bottom, between, etc.). Children will have fun moving their apple to a variety of locations around the room.

Fun fact: Johnny Appleseed's real name was John Chapman.

Farms & Food

Learning Goal: Plants and animals provide the foods we eat.

• Reading= Young MacDonald by David Milgrim, Duck on a Bike by David Shannon, If You Give a Pig a Pancake by Laura Numeroff and Harvey Potter's Balloon Farm by Jerdine Nolen. Letter of the day: F is for farm.
• Science= Talk about a variety of foods that come from plants and animals. Play a matching game in which children match the food to the plant or animal that produces it. Talk about how farmers plant seeds and care for plants and animals. Show them how to milk a cow using a latex glove filled with milk (or water). Punch small holes in the finger tips so the liquid will squirt out when the glove is squeezed.
• Art= On a large piece of green construction paper, glue several types of inexpensive dried seeds (popcorn, pinto beans, peas, apple seeds, pumpkin seeds, oats, etc.). Squeeze out a long stripe of glue along the length of the paper. Sprinkle one type of seed along the glue stripe. Make more stripes of glue, adding different types of seeds to each. The finished collage will look like rows of seeds planted in a garden.
• Music= Sing Old MacDonald Had a Farm. Move to music with Study Op. 25 No. 1 In A Flat Major by Chopin. Pretend to be a variety of farm animals (roll in the mud like pigs, walk like a chicken, gallop like a horse, etc.)
• Play= Play a game of horse shoes, have an egg hunt or take a field trip to your local farm.

Moon & Stars

Learning Goal: The observable shape of the moon changes from day to day in a cycle that lasts about a month.

• Reading= Harold and the Purple Crayon by Crockett Johnson, Shhhhh! Everybody’s Sleeping by Julie Markes and I Took the Moon for a Walk by Carolyn Curtis. Letter of the day= M is for moon.
• Science= Show pictures of the moon in different phases. Observe the moon in the sky then match its shape to the correct picture. Encourage observation of the moon over time. For example, draw the shape of the moon on a calendar every day for one month. Introduce constellations. Make pictures on the floor by connecting large paper stars with yarn (e.g., the big dipper).
• Art= Make your own constellation by adhering shiny star stickers to dark paper. Connect the stars with glue. Apply glitter to complete the picture. Or, show Van Gogh’s Starry Night. Use yellow paint to create a crescent moon and stars in a night sky.
• Music= Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star or No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed.
• Play= Blow up an inflatable mattress and let kids pretend to be monkeys jumping on the bed. Include simple props: a play phone, stethoscope, stuffed monkeys, bedding.
  
  Fun fact: The moon is closer to Earth during September than at any other time of year.

Sun & Shadow

Learning Goal: The sun gives us heat and light. Celebrate the last days of summer with these activities.

• Reading= What Can You Do in the Sun? by Anna Grossnickle Hines, Red, Red, Red by Valeri Gorbachev and On Earth by G. Brian Karas. Letter of the day: S is for sun.
• Science= Look at the sun with sunglasses. Observe shadows made by the sunlight. Trace the children’s shadows with sidewalk chalk. In a dark room, shine a flashlight onto a globe. Show how the sun casts a shadow on the spinning Earth to make day and night. Throughout the rest of the day, observe how the sun moves across the sky. Use chalk to trace the shadow made by a stationary object (a stick) over time (every hour).
• Art= Make a paper plate sunshine. Use yellow paint or crayons to color plate. Cut out orange triangles and staple them around the plate. Hang with string.
• Music= Move to music with Fur Elise by Beethoven. For example, pretend you’re swimming, riding a bike, etc. Or, sing You Are My Sunshine.
• Play= Put on a puppet show using shadows on a hanging sheet. Or, enjoy your favorite summer activity (wade in the pool, melt popsicles, play hopscotch, picnic at the park, build sandcastles, etc.).
  
  Fun fact: The last day of summer is Sept. 22.