The Preschooler

Seasons of a Tree

When I look out my window here in Pennsylvania, I see bare trees with snow on their branches.  They are barren, yet beautiful.  My children have come to learn that “the trees are sleeping for the winter”.  As spring approaches, the trees will “wake up”, and buds will fill the branches until soft, new leaves emerge.  In the summer, these leaves collect the sunlight and rain.  They shake and whisper in the breezes.  With fall, comes a beautiful array of reds, yellows, oranges, and browns that sweep across entire hillsides and valleys alike.

These changes in the trees are not only beautiful to look at, but they also signify the changing seasons.  They are an excellent visual representation children can comprehend and use to learn about the four seasons and the changes they bring.

The book, The Seasons of Arnold’s Apple Tree, by Gail Gibbons, offers a wonderful introduction to the seasons.  Throughout the story, children are taken through the life of an apple tree as it changes during one year. 

Have your child create their own tree using four copies of a bare tree (either hand drawn or photocopied off of the internet), white, green, pink, red, yellow, and orange tissue paper, and some glue.  As you reread the story, help your child rip the tissue paper into small pieces roughly 2 x 2 inches square.  She can then crumple each piece into a small ball, dip it in the glue, and press it onto her bare tree in order to create four different trees, one for each season of the apple tree. 

If your child gets tired, it is okay to stop and come back to the activity later.  You may even want to stretch out the activity over four days as little fingers may get tired quickly.

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Written by Laura on January 23, 2012