So Many Leaves

1:"I put my leaves on the sand"

2: "What a mess"

3:When M was cleaning the leaves, L wanted to help her.

4:S was so busy dumping all the leaves .

5:I found so many leaves.

Reflection:  Fall is the season for the children to explore the world differently.  Weather is gloomy and tricky as well.  Maple leaves were turning green to yellow and lastly red, and then time to fall down.  We wanted to encourage the children to have the sensory experience with the natural objects. We collected plenty of multicolored maple leaves and set them in our outdoor play area.  Most of the children were so excited to play with the leaves.  Some of them were enjoying to throw them, some of them were just touching them with their hands, and some of them wanted to hear the sounds of the crispy leaves when pressed with their shoes.  There were various types of dump trucks, dust pan and wheel barrow for their play with  as well. M decided to use the dust pan to clean all the leaves.

When A spread all the leaves on the ground-She just said--"Oh no what a mess" -.Two more children were join her to help the cleaning activity for a long time.  S chose the wheel barrow and gently picked lots of leaves in it and dumped the leaves out on the water table.  I was amazed to observe their perseverance and teamwork skills. They were calm when others were throwing the leaves, somehow they understood that those who were throwing the leaves were younger then them and were exploring the activity in their on way. Children were engaged with this activity for the entire outdoor time without any interruption.

B.C Early Learning Frame work :

Understand fairness both for themselves and others: When children were playing with the fall leaves Younger children were enjoying to throw the leaves on the ground. Although some of the children were cleaning the leaves, they still continued their cleaning activity with lots of patience.  Alhamdulillah it was nice to observe that children were helping each othe to clean and dump all the leaves.

Develop a sense of wonder for natural environments: There were various shapes and colored maple leaves we provided for their free play.  Children were touching the leaves, dumping, throwing, spreading and cleaning.  They were creative and independent using the natural material.  They had lots of time and various types of material as well to interact with the objects.