Trees Project

Why did we choose this project?

We had many young, new children in the preschool class and one thing that we noticed many children shared an interest in was trees. They loved to climb them outside, they noticed them changing during the spring and they often included them in pictures. This was a great project to introduce our new friends to the preschool class!

What activities did we do?

English – We learned vocabulary associated with trees such as, “leaves”, “branches” and “roots”. We sang several tree themed songs in English (often with motions) to reinforce the target language. We also read several books about trees and had some class discussions, as well as individual discussions (tree questionnaires that served as a starting point – what do they know; and a finishing point – what did they learn).

Math – We did several math activities that involved counting trees as well as basic addition. We also did some estimating (how tall is the tallest tree?)

Art/Craft – We enjoyed drawing and painting trees using different methods or instructions. We made models of trees using clay, paper bags, sticks and even slime! We also collected twigs outside to make a model cabin. Our major piece of artwork was a large tree that involved joining together many milk cartons and toilet paper rolls. The children did all the painting, made the leaves and helped to put it together. They were very proud to see the finished tree!

Science – We talked about the process of trees gathering nutrients and water through their roots and sunlight through their leaves. We examined a cut tree stump to see how old a tree is by counting the rings.

Other – We enjoyed a field trip to Kodomo Shizen Koen. We did some tree activities: blindfold tree maze, tracing leaves with crayons, and examining the parts of a tree. During outside play, we encouraged children to climb and explore trees. We also painted a large tree that was used as the model for our class t-shirt.

How did we conclude this project?

The children did a presentation for parents at our end of term preschool fair. This included showing our artwork and craft, singing a tree song and getting our tree inspired class t-shirts!

Enjoying our class-made tree