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Ideas for Pre-K & Preschool Teachers

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Tree & Leaf Science Activities, Tree Life Cycle for Preschool, Pre-K

By Karen Cox | Affiliate Disclosure

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Here are some Tree and Leaf Science activities for Preschool and Pre-K children.

Tree Leaf Science Activities Preschool Pre-K

Oak Tree Life Cycle Cards

This free printable set includes a book, sequencing cards and full color photos that can be used to show children the life cycle of an oak tree: from acorn, to seedling, to young oak tree, to full grown oak tree. These can be added to the science center and children can look at the book, arrange the cards in order, or put together the life cycle puzzle.

The photo cards print full page, but you can print them smaller as in the picture shown below.

Oak Tree Life Cycle Sequencing Cards and Book

Download: Tree Life Cycle

Leaf Symmetry

This activity is set up in my Science Center during our Forest theme unit in the Fall.

The wooden bowl contains unbreakable mirrors. I collected several leaves of different shapes and cut the leaves in half. Show children how to place the mirror on the cut edge of the leaf, and they will see what looks like a whole leaf.

Leaf Impressions with Play Dough

Children roll out the play dough, flat like a pancake and press leaves into the play dough. When the leaves are removed, they see the imprint of the leaf with the veins. This works best when you press the back side of the leaf into the play dough. The same activity can be done using clay. Press the leaves into a flattened piece of clay and allow it to dry. I’ve used Amaco Marblex self-hardening clay (affiliate link) and it works well.

Nut Sorting

This science center activity is great for the Fall, especially during a study of trees. Children use tongs to pick up each nut and sort the four types of nuts into the four wooden bowls. This activity integrates math, science, and fine motor skills.

Science Center Display: Things That Come From Trees

Nature collections are great for the science center. This is a collection I set up during our Forest unit because we learn all about trees, leaves, and animals that live in trees.

Things That Come from Trees: Science Display

For this display, I have a variety of tree nuts in jars. There are walnuts, hazelnuts, brazil nuts, and pecans in jars. There are some leaves, pinecones, and acorns collected from a tree near our school. One word of caution: when you collect acorns from outside, you should “quarantine” them for a few days by putting them in a sealed jar. Acorns sometimes have worms inside them.

In this photo, I have a tree “cookie” and other tree pieces are from our set of Tree Blocks. (I highly recommend Tree Blocks.) The pear tree branches have tiny flower buds on them. This was taken in the Spring. When the children noticed the buds on the pear tree, we brought these in to add to our science center. A display of “things that come from trees” can be used in any season of the year.


Things That Come from Trees: Science Display

Extend the Activity

Think of tree items from your local region that you could add to your collection. Your area might have peach trees or apple trees, and you could add the seeds and the actual fruit. You could include small branches from a variety of trees for children to compare. You could add a variety of leaves of different shapes and colors. You could include pine cones of different shapes and sizes. If you do not have a variety of pine cones in your area, they can sometimes be purchased in craft stores.

You will also like these resources…

Fall Life Cycles Bundle

Forest Theme Math &. Literacy Printables

Forest Math & Literacy

For more leaf and forest activities, check the Forest category page.

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17 Comments

About Karen Cox

Karen is the founder of PreKinders.com. She also works as a full-time Pre-K teacher in Georgia. Read more...

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Sarah Gillard says

    February 16, 2011 at 6:52 pm

    Thank you, thank you, thank you! I am so appreciative for the oak tree life cycle pics I found here. I have been searching and was ready to just find clip art and create my own. Thank you! You saved me a lot of time!:)

    Reply
    • Karen Cox says

      October 20, 2014 at 9:28 pm

      That’s wonderful to hear! Thanks Sarah!

      Reply
    • Nancy Finazzo says

      May 24, 2017 at 1:45 pm

      I’m am so happy I receive your newsletter. I decided to use the song from the book Rolling On for the finale of the PreK Musical at our Montessori Magnet school, here in Ft. Lauderdale and it was a huge it. About 80 PreK children now know this song and we have had such fun rocking to the music. Thank you for all your contributions. I have been teaching PreK for 30 years and love receiving new ideas.

      Nancy

      Reply
  2. Kathy McKinney says

    April 4, 2011 at 6:12 pm

    Thank you so much for sharing this. I am teaching Kindergarten for the first time and I am a bit overwhelmed so your Oak tree life cycle is very much appreciated.

    Reply
  3. Sonia Vargas says

    April 11, 2012 at 11:39 am

    Thank you soooo much. This is perfect for our plant unit.

    Reply
  4. Leslie says

    September 8, 2012 at 3:11 pm

    Thank you so much. Honestly, I have learn a lot from this website. Thank you for haveing a goal become a reality.

    Reply
  5. Karen says

    April 25, 2013 at 6:15 am

    Thank you for the time and effort you have put into this site. I coach Kindergym and often use ‘Prekinders.com’ for inspiration and resources when planning themes and activities.

    Reply
  6. shannon says

    June 1, 2013 at 5:00 pm

    THanks SO much for this great resource. Used it to teach sunday school about Christ’s life growing in us. Thanks again.

    Reply
    • Karen Cox says

      June 3, 2013 at 11:39 am

      Thanks, Shannon. Neat idea.

      Reply
  7. sherry says

    July 27, 2013 at 8:28 pm

    Thank you so much for the printable this will help my children know the cycle of a tree.
    You have alot of good ideas that are very helpful thank you.

    Reply
  8. Nancy says

    November 8, 2013 at 10:49 am

    Hi! Karen this is nancy . I am doing a lesson plan about leaves. I like your idea about going on a nature walk and collect leaves. The children will come inside the class and will put the fresh leaves they have collected n a tray and day by day they will see the changes n transfer the leaves to another tray. I am having a hard time with my objectives, instructional activity, procedures because they all have to match my standars. Do you have any ideas or sugestions. Thank you very much.

    Reply
  9. manisha shah says

    May 19, 2014 at 11:22 am

    Great work Karen. These cards are of immense use to a pre – school teacher like me.

    Reply
  10. ivriesterer says

    October 20, 2014 at 9:15 pm

    Greetings! I think the materials I have down-loaded from your site have contributed to the increased attention span of my kids.Thank you, thank you, thank you from the kids, my co-teacher and me!

    IVRiesterer

    Reply
  11. Victoria Alvarado says

    January 28, 2016 at 12:53 pm

    I rally love your great ideas. I use them in my kinder and day care site and kids en enjoy them very much!

    Thnaks a lot for the weekly news letter.

    Reply
  12. Anh Tran says

    April 9, 2016 at 7:40 pm

    Thank you for all your ideas, my toddler loves it!

    Reply
  13. Stephanie says

    September 28, 2019 at 6:07 pm

    When I went to the tree blocks link it said page not found. Any idea where I could get some like yours from?

    Reply
    • Karen Cox says

      September 30, 2019 at 7:55 pm

      Try this link: https://www.treeblocks.com

      Reply

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Glad you're here! You'll find hands-on learning activities, themes, and printables for Pre-K, Preschool, and Kindergarten kids. I'm Karen Cox, a Pre-K teacher in Georgia. I have taught 4-5 year olds for 20+ years! Read More…

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Welcome!
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Welcome!
Would you like to join my FREE weekly update newsletter? Join 85,000+ subscribers!
We collect, use, and process your data according to our Privacy Policy.
Don't worry - we never sell or share email addresses!