Seasonal Classroom Guide October

INTRODUCTION Hello! Thank you for downloading this October Seasonal Classroom Activities Guide! I’ve  been  sharing  ideas  from  my  classroom  for  a  couple  of  years  on  my  blog  .      I  thought  it  would   be fun to gather all the ideas together in one place so I could have a simple resource to refer to when  it  comes  time  to  change  up  the  materials  on  the  shelves  each  month.    Hopefully  you’ll  be   able to make some use of it too! Our school is located in the United States and these activities reflect the seasons, holidays, and family activities of this region. If you live in the Southern Hemisphere, you may want to save this guide to use when Autumn rolls around for you. You can find many of these activities on my blog at http://www.trilliummontessori.org/tag/october/ and get even more ideas on my seasonal Pinterest Board http://www.pinterest.com/trilliummont/seasonal-october-fall-pumpkins-halloween-preschool/ If you want to be notified when the rest of the seasonal guides are ready (and get a whole bunch of free Montessori printables too), come on over to the blog and sign up for email updates: http://bit.ly/seasonalguides

Thanks again and I hope you enjoy the ideas in here!

IMPORTANT NOTE: The activities in this guide are not intended to replace your regular Montessori materials. If you are new to Montessori, please understand that these types of activities are a very minor part of the classroom and should in no way be considered required in order to have a quality Montessori program. In fact, if they pose a distraction from the traditional materials, I would advise you to remove them from your class altogether. These are simply supplemental things you can add to spice up your shelves a little bit, and add a point of interest to skills that children need more practice with. As with all activities with children, please use adequate supervision and all safety precautions necessary.

© TrilliumMontessori.org

PRACTICAL LIFE IDEAS FOR THE FINE-MOTOR SHELF

Use seasonal colors and materials to create a cohesive look to your shelves

Spoon lima bean ghosts! (I wish I knew who originally came up with this idea)

Add some orange food coloring to your wet pouring work

Use acorns in your drying pouring work

Tweeze miniature pumpkins into a seasonal ice tray © TrilliumMontessori.org

PRACTICAL LIFE IDEAS FOR THE ART SHELF

Add some pumpkin/autumn themed papers to your cutting work.

Create a Jack-’o-lantern face with basic shapes

Use seasonal colors in your introductory ribbon weaving work

“Gluing  on  a  dot”  is  a  great  introductory  gluing  activity.   Add some seasonal confetti as a point of interest.

Make lacing cards out of seasonal party plates! © TrilliumMontessori.org

PRACTICAL LIFE LONG SEQUENCE ACTIVITIES Set up a pumpkin/gourd washing station. We like to decorate our classroom with the cleaned mini pumpkins.

Hammer nails into a pumpkin. This is a good preliminary activity for children  who  don’t  have   the strength or coordination to hammer nails into wood yet. Inspired by: My Montessori Journey Please use all safety precautions necessary

Draw a face on a pumpkin, then spray and  wipe  it  off…  or  get   serious and scrub it off!

© TrilliumMontessori.org

MATCHING & SORTING The following activities will fit in a variety of areas of your classroom. Based on how your shelves are arranged, you may want to place these in your sensorial, early language, or even early math areas.

Shadow matching

Outline picture matching

Outline matching

Sort pictures of pumpkins and Jack-’o-lanterns

Sort by color

Sort by size

Seasonal things that go together © TrilliumMontessori.org

LANGUAGE IDEAS FOR ORAL LANGUAGE DEVELOPMENT

Create a Question Game. Collect some seasonal pictures  and  have  the  child  guess  what  you’re   thinking of based on verbal clues you provide. Type up the clues so the readers in your class can lead the game.

Practice following single and multi step verbal directions

Where is the pumpkin? Learn positional words

Create a little poetry basket with a seasonal song or chant. Find objects or pictures to go along with the song that the children can sequence.

© TrilliumMontessori.org

LANGUAGE IDEAS FOR PHONOLOGICAL AWARENESS

Match beginning sounds

Practice Ending Sounds with I-Spy Bingo Rhyming Riddles

Segment and blend phonemes with Point & Slide cards

Sort by Syllables

Sort middle sounds © TrilliumMontessori.org

LANGUAGE IDEAS FOR BEGINNING READING

A-Z of October words (Autumn/Halloween) Match the picture to the initial letter

I-Have Who-Has game with Autumn/Halloween CVC words

Multi syllable phonetic 3-part cards with Autumn/Halloween words

© TrilliumMontessori.org

EARLY MATH

Make pumpkin number cards and use pumpkin seeds in your Numbers and Counters work

Tiny stickers are great for fine motor development. Use seasonal stickers for counting.

If you want to bring Halloween into the mix, try lima bean ghosts and googly eyes as counters!

© TrilliumMontessori.org

SCIENCE

Go to a pumpkin patch and pick some pumpkins!

Learn about the life cycle of a pumpkin

Plant pumpkin seeds and watch them sprout

Sequence the life cycle of a pumpkin

(Cards available at MontessoriForEveryone.com)

Learn about the parts of a pumpkin (Cards available at MontessoriPrintShop.com)

© TrilliumMontessori.org

PRINTABLES GUIDE Montessori Style

Activities for October 1. The Question Game (photographs) 2. Outline Matching 3. Fall Go-Togethers (photographs) 4. Rhyming Riddles (photographs) 5. A-Z Letter-Picture Matching (photographs) 6. I Have Who Has CVC Reading Cards (photographs) 7. Multi-Syllable Phonetic Reading 3-Part Cards (photographs) 8. 0-10 Pumpkin Number Cards (photographs) 9. 0-10 Ghost Number Cards 10. 0-10 Monster Number Cards http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Montessori-Style-Activities-for-October-919587

Preschool Pack

Pumpkin Patch 1. Sorting by Color 2. Sorting by Size 3. Question Game 4. Following Directions 5. Shadow Matching 6. Category Sorting: Pumpkins and Jack-’o-lanterns 7. Where is the Pumpkin Prepositions Cards 8. Cutting Strips and Tracks 9. 0-10 Pumpkin Number Cards 10. Number Clip Cards http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pumpkin-Patch-Preschool-Pack-1-Sale-1464081

Phonological Awareness Activities

Pumpkin Patch

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

Poem, sequencing cards and booklet master Rhyming Riddles Syllable Sorting Beginning Sound Matching Ending Sounds I Spy Bingo Sorting Middle Sounds Point & Slide Cards for Phoneme Segmentation and Blending Phoneme Substitution Cards

http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Pumpkin-Patch-Phonological-Awareness-Pack-1-Sale-1464105

© TrilliumMontessori.org