Fantastic Fall!

Fall friends on the hunt for leaves

Coats, pants, toques and gloves - dressing more warmly is one way we start to adapt to the chillier autumn temperatures! We watched the squirrels, scurrying about trying to collect enough nuts to keep themselves fed during the coming winter. As we hiked to Cedar Hideaway, we stopped to listen to the Canada geese honking their way south. Everywhere we looked, we were surrounded by fantastic fall!

When we listened to the story, “The Stranger” by Chris Van Allsburg, there was a mystery to be solved. Why didn’t the land around the Bailey farm start to change when it was it time for fall? See if you can give your family clues from the story so that they can solve the mystery too.

So how are the trees and plants around us adapting to the fall changes? Today we played games and did some activities in order to discover the answer to this question. In the Jack Frost tag game, you pretended to be a tree with only a few leaves left on it. Were you able to keep any of your leaves or did you become dormant which means when trees stop growing to save their energy over the winter?

We also spent time searching for leaves, making leaf rubbings, identifying leaves, and discovering why leaves change colour in the fall. How did the black scratch paper activity help you understand what is happening to leaves in the autumn? Remember that leaves contain a green pigment called ‘chlorophyll’.

In library, Grey Squirrel read a book, "Squirrel's Family Tree" which explained how squirrels adapt during the fall. We were so amazed to learn that squirrels will shake any acorns they find in order to know if there is a weevil larva inside. If there is, they will eat the acorn right away for extra protein. 

Many plants also adapt to the changing autumn weather by releasing their seeds in the fall so that new plants will grow in the spring. We were all surprised to learn that plants release their seeds in different ways. Some are ‘poppers’ and some are ‘grabbers’. What other ways do they disperse their seeds?

We all agreed that there are so many fantastic things to celebrate about fall but here some of the other activities that we also enjoyed today. Pick out your favourites and talk about them with somebody at home.

One more thing that makes fall fantastic is being able to spend it outside with such great nature friends! Thank you for working together to make our day so special and fun!