September Table Display

Yep, it's November and I'm only now getting around to sharing what our schoolroom's monthly display was all about in September!

I have a little table next to the couch in our schoolroom that I try to change the display on every month. I usually choose something related to the month itself, and because in central California where we live September is apple harvesting season, we had to go with apples!

I already had that fun and totally-fitting-for-a-schoolroom apple pouf from Land of Nod. But the stuff on the table was new for my kids, 4 and 7, to explore.

First, I checked out the book Apples by Gail Gibbons from the library. I love Gail Gibbons. Her books are packed full of information while still being fun, sometimes funny and colorful.

To the left of the book, you'll see this wooden lacing apple tree. The kids used this over and over again throughout the month and it's so good for their finger coordination and fine motor skills.

In front of the book is this wooden apple maze. Both kids, especially 7-year-old E, is always up for a challenge. And this high quality toy was just that!

You'll see white cards on both the top and bottom shelves. The top shelf cards are these Parts of an Apple nomenclature cards. The cards on the bottom shelf are about the life cycle of an apple.

To go along with the apple life cycle, we used this wooden apple life cycle layered puzzle. My son, 4, especially loved repeatedly putting this puzzle together.

We also had an apple taste test!

In the Gail Gibbons book, we read all about the various varieties of apples, so we thought we'd slice some up to see which ones we like best!

What's your apple go-to?

Interactive Spring Display

I decided to kick off Spring with an interactive display in our school room. I wanted the kids to be able to play, discover and learn... and here is what I included!

We don't have a garden, but I wanted E and R to see and become familiar with garden tools. They had a good time doing that with these FREE 3-part cards.

 I also thought they would have fun identifying various flowers. I love Toob, so I got these flower figurines to match up with these flower 3-part cards.

Last year, I purchased 3-part cards for the kids to learn the anatomy of flowers, leaves, roots and seeds so I had those out as well. But this year I added these Montessori botany puzzles which are kind of pricey (around $70 on Amazon) but it was a splurge and I know we'll get a lot of use out of these puzzles over the years.

I also wanted E and R to see the process of a plant growing. For that, we used this Sprout and Grow Window which allowed the kids to plant bean and pea seeds then watch as all the parts of the plant began to grow.

I also had out flower and leaf rubbing plates similar to these. And a handful of books about trees, flowers and spring.

We've taken a few nature walks as well and the kids each brought along a notebook with blank pages to draw or write about anything that stood out. We collected flowers on those walks as well and used a flower press to press them, then we glued them in their notebooks.

What do you like to do with your kids in Spring?