Hunting for Squirrel Dreys

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  • November
  • Activities, Animals, Early Years Quick Activities, Fall, Middle Years Quick Activities

Materials Needed

  • Binoculars (if available)

Size of Group

1-25

Age Range

3-10 years

How to:

When the leaves have fallen from deciduous trees in autumn, it’s a perfect time to go hunting for squirrel dreys.  Dreys are the nests that squirrels make from dried leaves, situated in the crotch of tree branches.

Go for a walk in any nearby area with tall trees and see how many squirrel dreys the students can find and count.

This is a perfect complement to the Squirrel Nest game (see ‘Going Deeper’ activities for November.

Flying Like Geese!

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  • November
  • Activities, Birds, Early Years Quick Activities, Fall, Middle Years Quick Activities

Materials Needed

  • None!

Size of Group

8-30

Age Range

5-10 years

How to:

This is a great active seasonal game when the weather is getting chilly.  You might even see geese flying overhead while you play the game!

Explain that geese fly in a V-formation for many reasons.  They follow the lead goose to stay on course, and they conserve energy by raising their wings when the goose ahead of them pushes their wings down, so they can use the updraft.  Divide the class into groups of at least ten students and have them try to ‘fly’ around the schoolyard, running and flapping their wings, following the lead goose and staying in a V shape.  They can also change the lead goose periodically to give the leader a rest.

This is a hilarious activity that is more difficult than it seems! 

Natural Fibres Workshop

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  • March
  • Activities, Animals, Educator & Parent Workshops, Intermediate Videos, Intermediate Workshops, Intermediate Years Quick Activities, Middle Years Quick Activities, Middle Years Videos, Middle Years Workshops, Senior Videos, Senior Workshops, Senior Years Quick Activities, Spring, Student Workshops, Videos, Workshops

Materials Needed

  • Samples of natural fibres (if available: wool, cotton etc.)
Natural Fibres Video

Size of Group

any

Age Range

6-18 years

How to:

This 10 minute video, produced by Farms at Work, focuses on farmers in the Kawartha region who raise animals for natural fibres for clothing.  It explores the care of the animals, shearing and processing the fibres, and the reasons why natural fibres are especially important.  Recent research is showing that synthetic fabrics are one of the sources of microplastics in waterways, so environmental concerns are sparking renewed interest in natural fibres.

Garlands for Wildlife

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  • December
  • Activities, Intermediate Years Quick Activities, Middle Years Quick Activities, Senior Years Quick Activities, Winter

Materials Needed

  • Heavy thread and needles
  • Popped corn
  • Peanuts in the shell
  • Dried fruit, fruit peel

Size of Group

1-20

Age Range

5-18 years

How to:

To celebrate the winter season and decorate outdoors, make garlands out of edible items for our wintering friends in the woods. You can use a variety of items:  Cheerios, raisins, cranberries, peanuts, air popped popcorn, orange and pomegranate peel (shaped with cookie cutters) are all great options for stringing into garlands to hang in the trees.

Evergreen Tree Friends

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  • December
  • Activities, Early Years Quick Activities, Intermediate Years Quick Activities, Middle Years Quick Activities, Plants, Winter

Materials Needed

  • Evergreen ID Sheets
Simple Evergreen ID Sheet

Size of Group

any

Age Range

5-18

How to:

As the colours have shifted to the browns, greens and whites of late fall, and the broadleaf trees have shed their leaves, this is a perfect time to explore the many conifers of our area.  Go for a walk together and look for nearby evergreen trees.  Can you find spruce, pine and cedar?  Use the introductory Evergreen ID Sheet to help you get started.

Snowkey-Pokey

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  • December
  • Activities, Early Years Quick Activities, Middle Years Quick Activities, Songs, Winter

Materials Needed

  • None!
Snowkey-Pokey Poster

Size of Group

any

Age Range

3-10 years

How to:

It’s surprisingly fun to bellow a tune on a cold day!  Learn a winter song, like the Snowkey-Pokey and get moving to the beat.  See the poster for words and actions to sing outdoors.

Outdoor Nature Art

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  • October
  • Activities, Arts, Fall, Intermediate Years Quick Activities, Middle Years Quick Activities, Senior Years Quick Activities

Materials Needed

  • A variety of items found in nature

Size of Group

1-20

Age Range

6-18 years

How to:

Go for a walk together outdoors and encourage students to collect a few items that appeal to them (without damaging living things).  Encourage them to arrange their items in a pleasing way to create a piece of outdoor art.  Afterwards, have an ‘Art Show,’ where students can visit each others’ creations.

Leaf Sorting

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  • October
  • Activities, Math, Middle Years Quick Activities, Plants

Materials Needed

  • Variety of fallen tree leaves
  • Copies of sorting mat (link below)
Leaf Sorting Video
11 X 17" Sorting Mat

Size of Group

any

Age Range

5-10 years

How to:

While leaves have freshly fallen and still have clearly defined shapes in a variety of colours, they can be used to practice various math concepts.  Use leaves to create a variety of repeating patterns (small, big, big – red, yellow, brown, etc.).  They can also simply be sorted by shape, colour, type of edge, etc.  See the video link above to hear a teacher explaining how she uses leaves in math.  There is also a PDF for an 11 X 17″ sorting mat.

Sock Walk

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  • October
  • Activities, Fall, Middle Years Quick Activities, Plants

Materials Needed

  • a sock for each child

Size of Group

any

Age Range

4-10 years

How to:

Go for a walk in a natural area in autumn.  Have the children wear a sock on their hand, and ask them to brush their hand along a variety of plants that they pass.  Do they pick up any seeds with hooks along the way?  Explore the various types and shapes of seeds they pick up on your route.  How do these burrs help the plant survive?

Cloud Spotting

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  • October
  • Activities, Fall, Intermediate Years Quick Activities, Middle Years Quick Activities, Senior Years Quick Activities

Materials Needed

  • Copies of Cloud ID sheets
  • A day with clouds in the sky!
Cloud ID Sheet

Size of Group

any

Age Range

6-18 years

How to:

Lying on your back and watching the clouds can be a great activity for relaxing and de-stressing for all ages.  Clouds in autumn can be particularly beautiful and variable.  You can add an element of science observation by beginning to identify the different types of clouds.  See the attached Cloud ID sheet to learn some basic cloud types.

Leaf Animal Art

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  • October
  • Activities, Animals, Arts, Fall, Middle Years Quick Activities

Materials Needed

  • A variety of autumn leaves
  • Paper
  • Glue
  • Markers

Size of Group

1-30

Age Range

5-10 years

How to:

Use fallen leaves to create animals by pasting the leaves onto paper (see the example shown).  Use markers to draw in any additional detail.  Who can guess what animal you’ve created?!

Autumn Bingo

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  • October
  • Activities, Bingos, Early Years Quick Activities, Fall, Middle Years Quick Activities, Scavenger Hunts

Materials Needed

  • Copies of Bingo Sheet
  • Clipboards
  • Pencil
Autumn Bingo PDF

Size of Group

any

Age Range

5-10 years

How to:

Who will be the first to find a line of items?  You can also use this card as a scavenger hunt, and see how long it takes to find all of the items on the card.  Go exploring together and have lots of fall fun!