Harvest Time

Kathleen's Science Center in Idaho: Home of the Spuds

Apples, pumpkins, potato, corn....these are just a few items that are being harvested in the field or gathered from a garden. Take advantage of fall’s bounty to add a twist to your skills or introduce a scientific process.  

Let your students investigate a pumpkin by reaching in to grab a handful of seeds to count. Cut an apple in half to examine the seed “star” in the center. Use a balance to see how many counting bears will equal the weight of a potato. Use related flashcards to review numbers, letters, and sounds. Read books - fiction and nonfiction - about apples or pumpkins. Graph your favorite kind of potato. Write about eating any of these foods or about a harvest or garden experience. 

The learning possibilities are endless - math, literacy, and science goals and standards can all be met while focusing attention on items that are relevant to your students, Stop by your local grocery store...or your own garden...to gather some fruits or vegetables that are being harvested, then begin! 

For more ideas and related center materials, check out these units:

Literacy Activities:

 Letter Whoo: Identifying Upper & Lowercase Letters

 Collecting Acorns: Blending Onset/rime

 Catching Crows: Identifying Letters

 Hidden Sounds: Identifying Beginning Sounds.

Math Activities:

 Scarecrow Patterns: Making shapes with pattern blocks

 Whatʼ s Missing: Developing observation & descriptive skills

 Leaf Count: Counting Leaves

 Leaf Graph: Graphing Leaves

 Leaf Hunt: Ordering Numbers

Worksheets

My Leaf Book

Trace and Write Letters A-Z

Writing numbers 1-10

Writing Prompts/Word Wall

Scarecrows

All About Autumn

Harvest Word Wall Words

Guided Reading Book

Fall Leaves

Science

 A Tree For All Seasons: Creating trees to represent

the four seasons

 A Fall Walk: Observing and recording the change of

season found around the school yard

 Seasonal Change of a Tree: Using senses to

observe and record the seasonal changes of a tree.

Art Projects

Leaf Person

Fall Leaves

Leaf Rubbings

Drawing Lesson: A Shapely Scarecrow

Pattern Block Scarecrow

Leaf Painting

Fall Tree

Songs

Autumn Leaves

Pick It Up

Scarecrow

Literacy Activities:

Apple Tree Rhymes: Producing Rhyming Words

Harvesting Spuds: Identifying Uppercase Letters

Harvest ABC Train: Letter Identification

The Country Store: Clapping Syllables

Math Activities:

Ordering Baskets: Ordering objects from least to greatest.

Harvest Sorting: Sorting potatoes or apples into groups

Harvest Balancing: Experimenting with a balance

Number Bingo: Identifying the numbers 0-12

Worksheets

Trace and Write Letters A-Z

Fall Patterns

Writing Prompts/Word Wall

What I Know About Apples

Pumpkins

Harvest Word Wall Words

Guided Reading Books

In The Fall

Science

Apple Experiment: Examining an apple using math and science skills.

Pumpkin Report: Recording Observations

Art Projects

Potato People

Potato Truck Portfolio Page

Apple Thumbprints Portfolio Page

Apple Prints

Construct Pumpkin 

Songs

One Potato

I Like Potatoes

Apples

The Apple Tree

Applesauce

The Pumpkin Patch