In this unit the color splashing kinders will look for signs of autumn.  What makes the leaves change colors? What makes the pumpkins grow?

What is the scarecrow's job?

They will engage in exploration and imaginative play with natural materials like leaves, squash, pumpkins and nuts. They will sort these objects by color shape and size. We will make a large leaf mandala and create a magic ring of leaves...a giant circle to dance inside under the blue October sky.

Collaboratively we will engage in creative art making in response to an art making problem like how do we preserve our fall leaves and memories.Can art represent a memory?

Through experimentation we will build skills in various media and approaches to art making. We will discover what two primary colors creates orange, through predicting and experimenting. 

We will also learn poems and songs that complement the season.

Outdoor Hour Challenge
Pumpkin Nature Study
There are several traditional pumpkin studies here on the Handbook of Nature Study:

• Autumn Series Pumpkin Study (2009) - printable notebook page available
• Crop Plants - Pumpkins -(seeds, vines, fruit)
• A new idea is to take a nature walk at a pumpkin farm. (October 2013 Newsletterhas a Pumpkin Farm Journal Page.)

Pumpkin Observations-Colors and Textures

• Use your magnifying lens to examine the parts of a pumpkin-skin, seeds, slime, stem. Record your observations, including its texture
• Use your crayons or markers to find just the right shade for the outside skin of your pumpkin. Create a nature journal page.
• Take photos of your pumpkin from all angles

Don't forget there is a Pumpkin Farm Journal Page and a Colors and Texture Grid Study in the October Newsletter.

1.  View the real pumpkins on the tables and talk about their forms and how we can represent the forms with circle or oval shapes. Students can practice drawing the shapes on a dry erase board first before beginning the project.

2.  After putting on aprons students draw their pumpkin onto a large constrcution sheet of paper.

3. In sets of 2 students work together to mix primary red and yellow to become secondary orange. (Later we compared all the different orange values we created.)

4.  Students then paint their pumpkins and let dry.

5.  Students cut out their pumpkin shapes and glue down onto contrasting colored paper. We used purple. Then they used a black oil pastel to draw simple geometric shapes for eyes, nose and mouth.

6. They glued on candy corn  to decoate their background with pattern. And they ate lots of them too!