Monarch Ultra Workshop

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  • October, September
  • Activities, Insects, Intermediate Years Deeper Activities, Middle Years Deeper Activities, Senior Years Deeper Activities
Video Link

Size of Group

any

Age Range

8-18 years

How to:

In this video, Carlotta James describes the Monarch Ultra Run, a long distance run from Peterborough to Mexico, to mimic the migration route of Monarch butterflies.  This amazing journey was designed to raise awareness of loss of habitat for these pollinators, and to raise funds for Monarch conservation.

After watching this 20 minute video, discuss what you can do to help Monarch butterflies in your area.

Fall Bulbs

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  • October
  • Activities, Fall, Intermediate Years Deeper Activities, Middle Years Deeper Activities, Plants, Senior Years Deeper Activities

Materials Needed

  • Fall bulbs (garlic, tulips, daffodils, etc.)
  • Shovels
  • Compost

Size of Group

1-20

Age Range

5-18 years

How to:

After the fall harvest, we start thinking of putting our gardens to bed for the winter.  Don’t forget this is the perfect time for planting bulbs!  Tasty garlic is planted in the fall, when the air is cool but the soil is still warm.  Dig up the soil well in a sunny location, remove any weeds, add compost, and plant individual garlic cloves just below the surface, with the pointy side up.  Use garlic varieties that have been grown locally, instead of grocery store garlic from Asia.  Local Farmers’ Markets are good sources for garlic bulbs.

October is also a perfect time for planting spring flower bulbs such as daffodils, tulips and crocus.  These are available from most garden centres.

Autumn Songs and Rhymes for Tiny Tots

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  • October
  • Activities, Early Years Deeper Activities, Early Years Videos, Early Years Workshops, Educator & Parent Workshops, Fall, Landmark 7, Songs, Videos, Workshops

Materials Needed

  • None!
Link to Video

Size of Group

any

Age Range

birth to 5 years

How to:

Kate Jarrett shares a wealth of nature-based simple songs, rhymes and finger games for very young children, all based on the theme of autumn.  This is a live, 32 minute video of an outdoor workshop with parents and very young children.

Transitions

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

Materials Needed

  • Digital cameras

Size of Group

any

Age Range

12-18 years

How to:

Go for a neighbourhood walk to gather photos to represent ‘transitions’ (summer transitioning to fall, students going back to school, harvest, migration etc.).  Create a photo collage of your selections.

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?!

Hiding in Leaves

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

Materials Needed

  • Lots of fallen leaves!
  • Leaf rake

Size of Group

1-20

Age Range

1-6 years

How to:

This is an activity that even tiny children will enjoy.  If you have lots of fallen tree leaves, rake them into a pile, and see how many people can hide in the pile.  CAUTION:  Be sure your leaf pile is far away from roadways so the children aren’t hidden from drivers, and be sure to supervise the activity.

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!

Leaf Print Art

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

Materials Needed

  • Selection of fallen leaves
  • Paint and brushes
  • Paper

Size of Group

any

Age Range

2-10 years

How to:

An easy activity to celebrate autumn is to collect a variety of dried leaf shapes.  Use the leaves for printing by painting them various colours and pressing them onto a page.  For older children, this can be used to encourage the observation of various leaf shapes and to begin learning the names of trees.