Enrichment Ideas for Centers

These ideas are available to supplement existing center areas.

Unit 2: Fall Fun with Friends

Center / Materials / Activity
Art
/ Leaf Collages
Paper, a variety of fall leaves, glue / Leaf Collages
Students will use a variety of fall leaves to create a collage. Students may leave leaves whole or crush them to provide different textures for their collages.
Autumn Trees
White construction paper with a brown tree trunk drawn or pasted on, glue, tissue paper in autumn colors (red, yellow, orange, and brown), scissors / Autumn Trees
Students will represent the leaves changing color and falling from the trees by creating a picture using tissue paper. Students will snip and crumble tissue paper to create leaves on the tree as well as leaves falling to the ground.
Dress the Scarecrow
Scarecrow form, straw, buttons, fabric scraps, colored paper/ wallpaper cutouts, glue, crayons / Dress the Scarecrow
Students will decorate their own scarecrows by adding details to a basic body outline.
Blocks
/ Basic Exploration
Various sizes and shapes of foam/ wooden blocks, wooden puzzles, attribute blocks, various sets of people or animals, buildings, etc. / Basic Exploration
At this point in the year, students will be developing routines within this center. Allow them to explore the materials and build their own creations using blocks of various sizes, shapes, and colors. Always encourage rich language development in this center by providing students with vocabulary, asking them to describe what they are doing, and having them problem-solve using materials available.
Orchards, Farms, and Pumpkin Patches
Baskets, blocks, manipulatives of different sizes, shapes, and colors, farm or fence manipulatives / Orchards, Farms, and Pumpkin Patches
Students will extend on thematic unit activities by creating orchards, pumpkin patches, farms, etc and practicing harvesting fall fruits and vegetables.
Computer
/ Computer, internet connection, keyboard, mouse, speakers/ headphones / Peter Pumpkin Eater: Students can drag and drop to help Peter Pumpkin Eater make a house for his wife.
TreehouseTV: Students can choose games to play with characters from their favorite shows.

Down on the Farm: Click and drag to help with the harvest.

Starfall: Students can practice general literacy and calendar skills. (More activities are available with a subscription.)

ABCMouse: Teachers can customize lessons for students based on their needs and interests.
(free subscriptions available for classroom teachers)

Dramatic Play
/ Friendship Theatre
Variety of puppets, puppet theatre if available / Friendship Theatre
Students can use puppets to act out situations and encounters they might experience with friends, such as how to join in play, how to solve a problem, how to resolve an argument, etc.
Harvest Time
Real or plastic apples, pumpkins, nuts, corn, etc; dishes and utensils, silk leaves, small rake, gardening gloves, and bag; baskets, extra sweaters or light jackets, dressing boards / Harvest Time
Students can participate in autumn activities such as pretending to harvest apples, pumpkins, corn, etc. Students can pretend to make fall treats such as apple cider or pumpkin pie. Additionally, students may dress for fall weather and practice fall chores (such as raking leaves).
Scarecrow Dressing
Straw hat, overalls, flannel shirts, gloves, boots, etc / Scarecrow Dressing
Students will practice self help skills and gross motor activities by dressing as scarecrows and practicing standing and freezing in different poses to scare the crows away.
Language Games
/ Listening Line Up
Tape or cd with farm sounds, tape/ cd player, headphones; pictures of sound making objects (printed on cardstock if possible) / Listening Line Up
Students will play 3 sounds on the listenening device and try to line up pictures to match the order of these sounds.
Rhyming Toss
Large rhyming pictures (individual pictures or within a grid made with a poster maker), beanbags / Rhyming Toss
Students will try to match rhyming pictures by tossing beanbags to match pictures.
Gel Bags
Pre-Made gel bags: freezer bags (small or large) with enough colored hair gel (you can add food coloring or glitter to add more contrast) to provide a flat layer across the bag when the bag is laid flat. The bag should not be so full that it cannot be laid flat. Seal the bags, and reinforce the seal with colorful duct tape.
If desired, students could have large stencils, or cardboard cut into basic writing strokes to lay over or under the bags for guidance, but the students only need to use their finger to “write” and their hands to re-flatten the gel bag to “erase”. / Gel Bags
Students will use their fingers with gel bags to practice basic writing strokes and practices.
Library
/ Basic Exploration
Shelving system with purposefully selected and placed books (including fictional and informational texts). It is recommended that students have access to board books as much as possible at this point in the year. If there is a book that a teacher has multiple copies of, it may be adapted so that children can further interact with the book by adding Velcro and copies of pictures or by using hot glue to put dots on the bottom outside corners of pages to assist students in turning one page at a time. / Basic Exploration
At this point in the year, students will be learning rules and routines in various classroom areas. In the library center, students should practice choosing a book, engaging in the book using concepts of print (holding the book correctly, turning one page at a time, etc), and returning the book appropriately. Teachers are encouraged to stock the library with thematically related books that extend on children’s experiences throughout the classroom at any given time.
Autumn Recipes
Simple recipes for fall foods with picture cues (recipes may be glued to a folder with velcro beside each step so that students can match picture cues as they talk about the recipes, extra sets of picture cues for each recipe (laminated) with velcro on the back. / Autumn Recipes
Students will describe and recreate autumn recipes by using picture cues to describe and match the steps of each recipe.
Sensory Math
/ Acorn Counting
Ice cube trays, acorns, toy squirrel if available / Acorn Counting
Students can practice one to one correspondence and counting by putting acorns into holes so that the squirrels can find them.
Five LittlePumpkins
Small pumpkins or orange pompoms, gate (made from posterboard or popsicle sticks) with 5 spaces for pumpkins, “Five Little Pumpkins” poem / Five Little Pumpkins
Students will practice one to one correspondence by placing one pumpkin on each space of the gate as they say the poem.
Five Little Crows
Small crows or black pompoms on clothespins, scarecrow (hanging, made with folders and hanging from a clotheshanger) with 5 patches on sleeves, “Five Little Crows” poem / Students will practice one to one correspondence by placing one crow on each patch on the scarecrow as they say the poem.
Science
/ Leaf Rubbings
Collected autumn leaves or silk leaves, wax paper, peeled crayons / Leaf Rubbings
Students will examine and compare the attributes of autumn leaves by creating leaf rubbings.
Nut Sorting
Variety of nuts, pictures of each nut, containers / Nut Sorting
Students will observe the attributes of nuts by sorting them by type.
Apple/ Pumpkin models
Paper plates, wiki sticks, yarn, small black, brown or white pompoms / Apple/ Pumpkin Models
Students will make a representation of an apple or pumpkin that has been cut open by using materials to show the seeds, pulp, peel, etc.