We sorta fell into this acorn unit. There was nothing on my calendar that said "acorn unit". It was one of those things that grew organically from our trips out into the forest. I watched Rémy and Sierra collect the acorns, float them, throw them, and bury them. It just made sense to lean in.
I wanted my kids to learn about acorns, all the incredible things that people throughout history have done with them, and their special place within their ecosystem. So here are the activities that made the cut - no worksheets or busy work. Each activity packed full of fun and serious learning. And while some may take a bit more time, every activity is totally doable!
PARTS OF AN ACORN FELT BOARD
First stop - anatomy of an acorn. I've found that it helps to get everyone on the same page when it comes to vocabulary. Even young toddlers can learn the most basic parts of an acorn so that as they are doing other activities they can follow along with what you are saying.
We kept it simple and focused on being able to identify the stalk, cupule, nut, and remains of style. I briefly touched on the interior of the acorn, but I know that it's something that we will circle back to when we do a deeper dive into seeds.
I introduced the vocabulary with the felt board, and then simply left the board out for them to play with throughout the unit.
FORAGING FOR ACORNS
We had been picking up acorns and storing them in our pockets for weeks, but it was time to get serious. I brought a big Home Depot bucket with us during our visits to the forest and we aimed to fill it.
We discussed acorn weevils and their larvae, and I showed them the telltale holes that are created by the insect. These acorns were not for gathering. I also showed them how to shake the acorns to check if they rattled. If they rattled, then there was air space inside and the acorn was probably bad. Sierra loved to find all the ones that rattled, and would come share them with me.
There were times where I had two fantastic foragers, bringing in lots of wonderful big acorns. There were other times where I had two foragers who were using their acorns to play, or had abandoned the task altogether. So it goes with a two year old and four year old. It was all part of the fun.
ACORN DYE
The first big acorn project we tackled was producing an acorn dye vat and creating gift napkins. This was a multistep process that took time. I love toddler and preschool activities that take a few days to complete. The kids get to really live with the learning for a few days, developing a sense of anticipation for the final product. It also helps to develop patience, showing how creating good things takes time.
I've documented the entire process in this blog post, so if you're interested in a preschool project that sits squarely in the space between art and science, give it a go!
ACORN STORYTELLING
Over the course of the unit, I introduced two interactive stories that featured acorns. They were both big hits, with the kids eager to hear the stories again and again.
The first story was, "The Gathering Squirrel," a story about a squirrel who finds a huge amount of acorns and nuts and needs help gathering and hauling off his treasure. The story includes a bead threading activity, allowing the kids to take part in the narrative. For a full breakdown of the story and materials, check out this post. I've also captured the story in this video here:
The second story was, "Little Bear's Acorn Shop". The story followed Little Bear as he collects the overabundant acorns that have fallen in front of his den, then decides to open up an acorn shop for the squirrels of the forest. The story touched on several basic economic principles, and also provided a lot of counting practice.
"Little Bear's Acorn Shop" was such a big hit that Rémy and Sierra spent a great deal of time playing within Little Bear's world. I saw this and it produced another fantastic activity...
ACORN STORE PLAY
To help Rémy and Sierra get into character, I created two felt crowns - one for the Little Bear character and one for a squirrel customer. Were the crowns necessary? No. But they loved them so much that they have wanted to wear them throughout the rest of our acorn unit.
Then, using a fort set that came in one of the Lovevery Kits, Rémy and Sierra helped build Little Bear's acorn shop. Once they had constructed their shop, they added baskets of acorns and a little coin bank. With this basic set up, they were off and playing.
They wanted to recreate the entire story, so I narrated while Sierra acted out the Little Bear parts, and Rémy acted out the squirrel parts (and also acted as the director much of the time). When this dramatic play was done, they went on to pretending to run an acorn shop. They switched rolls multiple times and then turned it into an acorn restaurant.
I was amazed at how many of the social nuances associated with sales that was put into their play. It was also a great opportunity to explore those economic and math skills that we had touched upon earlier in the storytime.
ACORN SENSORY BIN
When creating this bin, I noticed the percussive and sometimes metalic sounds the acorns made as I poured them into our copper bin. So I decided to embrace the noise and add elements that would produce quite a bit of sound. I found two vintage tins and my grandmother's old cake form. They were all beautiful, varying sizes for exploring differences in volume, and made fantastic sounds when acorns knocked against their sides.
With this bin, both kids spent the majority of their time loudly pouring acorns and then stirring them around. Sierra gave a good deal of focused attention to the thongs, and Rémy kept trying to create some kind of acorn tower. It was a perfect activity for a cloudy fall morning.
ANDY GOLDSWORTHY INSPIRED LAND ART
Our concurrent Art unit is focused on Andy Goldsworthy. As one of the most popular land artist, he is an easy and fun introduction to environmental art, ephemeral art, and ecological art. For a nice overview of the artist and his work, visit The Art Story.
Although I hadn't planned out the two units together, they are so completely compatible that they ended up meeting up at multiple points. I love when that happens.
During our trips into the forest, the kids created two pieces of art inspired by Goldsworthy's work. The first used a partially decomposed fallen tree to hold as many acorns as we could fit before they spilled out. The fun of this one was the fact that the tree base kept rolling over with the slightest push, so there were a few start overs. It was a great link to Goldsworthy, who often struggles with his materials.
The second piece was our version of the holes that the artist has created again and again. We first gathered an entire Home Depot bucket's worth of acorns. Then, with a small bucket acting as our hole stencil, the kids built up a small, round acorn hill. Rémy did the honors of removing the bucket and revealing the hole.
ACORN BOATS
Lately both Rémy and Sierra have been fascinated by floating things along the current of the streams we visit. All sorts of items are tested for buoyancy, and then sent along their way. So I thought it would be fun to create little acorn boats.
We actually created a few different versions of the acorn boat. The first variation had sails made from paper, decorated by the kids. These were the fastest. Next we tried felt sails. These were the cutest, but the second the sails got wet, the weight pulled the boat over. Not ideal sailing. The third version was created with leaves. This was the most durable because they could get wet without the sails falling apart.
This activity was an action packed, get-your-feet-wet adventure. They loved every minute of it. Here's a quick overview on how to create your own acorn boats:
ACORN FLOUR
The grandaddy of all the activities - foraging acorns, processing them into flour, then creating a delicious cake made from our foraged flour. Of all the projects on this list, I am proudest of this one, perhaps because I've always wanted to do it and never have.
I'm not going to lie and say this project is a breeze. It's not. Each step of the process is fairly easy, but getting acorns to the final point takes patience and time. Having said that, it's not too surprising that the bulk of the tedious tasks fell on me while the kids played and watched on.
But they did observe and pop over to lend a hand before running off again. They got a sense of how labor intensive gathering and processing food can be. That's a huge lesson, one that helps with discussions about farming, the economics of food, and food waste.
Our basic process went something like this: gather acorns, crack them all open, remove all the skins, leach out the tannins using a boiling method, dehydrate the nuts, grind the nuts into a flour, bake. Everything I needed to know, including a seriously fantastic acorn cake recipe, was found on the blog, Hunt Gather Cook. This post on eating acorns was a great starting point.
This project required a bit of elbow grease and time. Will we do it again? - heck yeah! The kids were so proud of the flour they made, and the whole family absolutely loved the flavor we found in the acorn cake (warm and nutty). We're excited to see what other goodies we can make with our flour!
ACORN READS
Books play a big part of every unit we explore. Our reading time helped do much of the teaching about acorns, oaks, and their place within their ecosystem. Here were some of the favorites:
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