Our Forest - What is forest? Lets find out!

THEME: What is forest? Lets find out! (project)

CHILDREN AGE: 3-4 years

OBJECTIVES: The child knows what is forest. The child can mention some plants/trees/flowers and animals/birds/bugs that are in forest. Activity 1: The child learns about a drawing program in tablet and tries to use it. The child is brave and introduces his/hers drawing to others. Activity 2: The child is active and brave in the forest. The child puts gathered nature materials in the art work. The child looks at art work. The child is active to give opinion about the most exiting treasure that is worth exploring further. Activity 3: The child knows pine cone (where it grows, why some cones are open and some closed). The child finds pine cones from the forest and compares them (size, color,  openness). The child participates actively doing the experiments. The child makes flowers from the pine cones and makes Mother's Day cards from them.

TOOLS/MATERIALS: Activity 1: tablet, paper, pen, printer, clothespin to put pictures up. Activity 2: every child has own treasure collecting bowl, name sign, bag, vests, table, chairs, Y-shape branches, yarn. Activity 3: drawing or showing, pine cones, for the experiment: bowl with water, jar with hot water, empty jar, for arts: pine cones flowers, colors, brushes, hot glue, paper for the cards.

PREPARATIONS: Activity 1: charge tablet, download app "Paint for kids". Activity 2. find bowls for the treasures, make name signs, gather Y-shape branches from the forest, twine yarn on it different colors. Activity 3: find or draw pictures with pine tree, cones, seeds, branches. Print it out. Out ready on table bowl with water and empty jars. Cut pine flowers with tongs.

ACTIVITY:

Activity 1: Individual activity. so that the children don't copy each other they will go to teacher to draw with the tablet program one by one. Firstly the teachers explains the program opportunities: how to draw with finger and how to choose colors. Then teacher asks to draw a picture on theme "What is forest?". If necessary ask questions like what grows there? who lives there? and then the children is drawing. The teachers ask questions about the pictures, so she will be able to help the child during the presentation if necessary. When the drawing is ready the teachers saves it to the tablet. When all the children have made the drawings, the teacher prints them out. The drawings are put on the wall. The child goes to his/hers drawing and introduces it to the others. If necessary teacher helps. Afterward there is a discussion what is forest, what grows there and who lives there.

Activity 2: Hike to the forest. Teacher gives the treasure bowls for everybody. Each child has to collect what he/she thinks is exiting (plants, rocks, branches, cones, bark and so on). When they are ready then they have some free time to explore the forest. Back in kindergarten the activity continues with small groups outside under the roof area. The child picks one Y-shape branch with twine yarn. The teacher asks then to choose materials from his/hers treasure bowl to twine between the yarn (from bottom to top and from side to side). And ask for teachers help if needed. After everybody are ready they explored the art works together. Then they pick one treasure to investigate further in the next activity. They all decided for the pine cones.

Activity 3: Another hike to the forest. Teacher shows pictures from a pine tree and children have to find it in the forest. They compare it to other coniferous trees. Now teachers asks them to collect only pine cones for the next activity.

Inside the activity continues with experiments. They say that you can predict weather with the pine cones. So they tried it out. Some of the pine cones were put to the water (to hot and cold water), some pine cones were left to dry on the windowsill by sun and some went to the dryer. After the lunch break and little sleep, they explored what had happened to the cones. They found out that in the water the pine cones stayed closed, and the ones under the sun and dryer had opened. So if the pine cone is closed it means that it is wet weather. And when the pine cones are open then it is dry weather! 

Afterwards everybody made lovely pictures for the mothers from the pine cones. The teacher cut the cones to suitable peaces, the children colored them and glued them with hot glue on the base from plywood which was also colored. Behind it they glued lovely things that the child had said about her/his mother.