Fall is here and with it are so many opportunities for kindergarteners to explore outside while developing their language and math skills! We have been learning about attributes in math, a word that describes an object so that we can tell how it is like or unlike other objects. We can do this with leaves. Go on a leaf hunt with your child and collect lots of different leaves. Then have your child sort the leaves at home. Encourage her to sort in ways other than just color or size. You can help your child to think of many different attributes by having your child describe the leaves using his senses. What does it look like? Feel like?

Leaf rubbings are also a fun way to be creative while reinforcing fine motor skills like “pinching” the crayons and using your “helping hand” to hold the paper.

We went on a leaf hunt and then created our own leaf creatures after reading Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert. It was so fun seeing how creative the children were being with all the items we found.