Changing seasons

Find out what the children know with Have you-ever played in the autumn leaves? or Falling into place. It is a great opportunity to focus on those children that don’t regularly contribute to lessons because, with a bit of encouragement, they will all have experiences they can share.

Get your class out exploring before it gets really cold; there is so much to see and collect. They could go on a scavenger hunt collecting autumn leaves, conkers, acorns and other seeds and berries for display or further investigation in the classroom. Autumn leaves and Seeds of life are good Odd One Outs to practise looking closely and spotting similarities and differences, in preparation for heading outdoors. This is a simple autumn leaf spotter sheet. Children could make leaf puppets with autumn leaves.

Think about focusing on a nearby tree or group of trees throughout the year. How does it change with every seasonYou could take regular photographs of the class by the tree/s to help record the changes that occur. The What’s Going On time-lapse video showing a group of trees changing over one year, Seasons, is an excellent starting point in the classroom before heading outdoors. The Woodland Trust also have some nice time-lapse videos of different tree species – you may find they have the type of tree you are following.

As well as observing how the tree changes, consider how the creatures the children spot change? Squirrelling away  and Hungry hedgehog focus on autumnal animal behaviour, as does Have you ever seen lots of birds flying together across the sky? Children could learn about the birds that migrate in autumn to climates or those who arrive here because our winters are less severe. They could learn about animals, like hedgehogs, that hibernate over winter. Your class could make clay hedgehogs using and create a leaf den for them to hibernate in. Place a ‘Do not disturb’ sign nearby. Don’t forget to get them out in spring!

For harvest, What’s Going On Rich Pickings and the Odd One Out Types of apple are really helpful. Harvest time brings plenty of apples into the shops, but what differences can your class observe between varieties? Can they guess what Brill gills is? Mushrooms on the woodland floor are another sign of autumn and children will be fascinated to observe nt fungi growing.

October is also the time to plant bulbs that will flower in Spring. Crocus, Hyacinth, Narcissus (Daffodil) and Tulip bulbs are good options. You could take it further and get the children to create a design for the bulbs they will plant in the school grounds, which could be your school emblem, or an image related to your locality. This is the Royal Horticultural Society’s (RHS) guide to bulb planting.

It maybe becoming more difficult to associate particular types of weather with each season, but Wonderful weather is an opportunity to focus on the weather. To help the children see the wind, you could make a windsock to hang just outside the classroom, or you could. This video shows how to make a rain gauge out of a plastic bottle. The children could then make a simple pictogram or bar graph of the results. Similarly, you could check and record the temperature each day. 

The clocks change at the end of October so get the children to observe the mornings and evenings gradually getting darker. Ask Have you ever gone to bed when it is still light outside? With young children, you could regularly discuss whether it was light or dark when they woke up in the morning.

For more ideas about teaching seasonal change, watch the Planning support video and download the accompanying PDF.

Image credit: Girls Playing in Leaves by Brand X Pictures via Canva