Collaborative Learning - Friendship Apple Tree

We love this community building exercise from Deborah over at Teach Preschool and think it would make a great addition to your September lesson plans! Not only does it give your kiddos a chance to get their hands messy, it will also provide them with an opportunity to practice name recognition and learn to work together with their new classmates.

Deborah and her kiddos started out by reading A.H. Benjamin and Gwyneth Williamson's “Little Mouse and the Big Red Apple”, a story about friendship and sharing. With the story fresh in their minds, reminding your students how Little Mouse's friends helped him get his apple safely home, invite your kiddos to work together to create a large friendship tree.

You might consider...

• Providing your kiddos with silk leaves purchased from your local craft store, inviting them to create the foliage on the tree with leaf prints, or having your students create the the tree's leaves by forming a 'collage' of hand prints.
• Offering your kiddos scraps of corrugated cardboard or crumpled recycled newspaper to create a textured trunk.
• Use actual apple stamps to create the apples on the tree.

Whatever materials you decide to use, we love that your students will learn about the importance of teamwork and that the final product will serve as a reminder that each student is a special part of the classroom community!