Tu B'Shevat Theme: Do You Know the Parts of Trees?

Do You Know the Parts of Trees?

The bottom flaps open and close
with velcro to reveal a picture
of the parts of a tree!

We had just finished preparing a batch of homemade blueberry muffins when I sent my toddler to go play so I could safely pop the baking pan in the oven. Moments later as I was cleaning up, he came frolicking back in carrying a pine cone from his Nature Observation Station. He remembered painting it a few months ago when we were learning about Autumn. "No put in mouth!" he said, which is his way of saying it's not something we should eat. "You're right, but some animals do eat the seeds inside pine cones. They carry seeds from pine trees." He left the room, pine cone in hand and returned a few moments later with an acorn. "No can eat it!" he announced. "You're right. We can't eat acorns, but squirrels and chipmunks and other animals do. They are the seeds from oak trees." He was quite pleased, left again and returned in just another moment carrying a thick slab of bark we'd found on the ground in a nearby park this Fall. "What is it?" he asked. "That's bark from a tree. The bark protects the tree trunk."



This exchange was such a beautiful example of how a science/nature observation station can work to spark conversations and influence language development. It was also the perfect transition into our school activities today as I formally introduced the topic of trees and Tu B'Shevat!

The famous coconut tree of Chicka Chicka Boom Boom is one of our very favorite trees of all time! It's also a great way to tie in some letter, early reading and pre-writing activities into our tree theme.

Our Table Time activity this morning was one that combined a familiar and beloved children's book (Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr. & Jon Archambault) with pre-writing and name recognition skills. I found and printed the template on this great blog post, where you can find a variety of story stretcher ideas related to the book. I set letter stamps for each of the letters in my son's name and provided a written and stamped example. He had a lot of fun (and fine motor practice) stamping the letters of his name all around and up the coconut tree. He also enjoyed singing the little song I taught him to remember the spelling of his name!

To help introduce our theme, we began with a fabulous book we borrowed from our library, Janice May Udry's A Tree is Nice. My son loved curling up on my lap as we read and looking at the lovely alternating black and white and color pictures done by talented illustrator, Marc Simont. While he was still on my lap, I began singing him the little song I composed to help teach the parts of trees. You can sing it as a lap rhyme as well or act it out standing up!

Do You Know the Parts of Trees?
t.t.t.o.: Do You Know the Muffin Man? by: Michal Lipp

Do you know the parts of trees, the parts of trees, the parts of trees?
Oh do you know the parts of trees that help them grow and grow?

The roots, they hold the tree in place, the tree in place, the tree in place,
The roots, they hold the tree in place and soak up water, too!
[tickle/touch toes]

The trunk moves water up the the tree, up the tree, up the tree,
The trunk moves water up the tree and brings it to the leaves.
[touch hands to belly or hips]

The branches stretch up far and wide, far and wide, far and wide,
The branches stretch up far and wide to carry all the leaves.
[stretch arms up and out]

The leaves, they soak up the sunlight, the sunlight, the sunlight,
The leaves, they soak up the sunlight and help the tree make food.
[wiggle fingers and then rub belly at "help the tree make food"]

So now you know the parts of trees, the parts of trees, the parts of trees,
Yes, now you know the parts of trees that help them grow and grow!
We sang our way through this journal page, which I found and printed for free from Teachers Pay Teachers. If you are a teacher or home educator, I highly recommend utilizing the many amazing resources at teacherspayteachers.com. I found a lot of great materials searching for free pre-K items related to trees.

We finished our school time together with a fun gross motor game. I found these dry-erase dice at the Dollar Tree earlier in the school season. On each of the six sides, I wrote a tree-related action. You can play, too--and even make your own die by recycling a square tissue box or instead using index action cards.

Here are our tree actions:

1. Sway in the wind (sway side to side)
2. Wiggle your leaves (reach arms up and out, wiggle fingers)
3. Touch your roots (bend down and touch toes)
4. Curl up like a seed (crouch into Child's Pose, small and tucked in like a tiny seed)
5. Stretch your branches (reach arms up and out, stand tall on tip toes)
6. Stand BIG and TALL like a tree (stand up straight and tall, for a more advanced version, try standing on one foot with other foot lifted to toe or pressed below or above your knee as in Tree Pose)

Our weather outside was quite cold for a park visit on our first day and we are looking forward to some milder temperatures in the days to come so we can go on a Parts of a Tree Nature Scavenger Hunt at a local park and bring home some more additions to our Nature Observation Station. Until then, I have to make a like a tree and leave!

Happy Playing!