My 3 year old interested in 'Seasons'

[Sienna-forever]

He saw that it was raining this morning, and wanted to know if it would brighten up today, it did and we have had a really hot, sunny afternoon.
We were talking about how in the winter it snowed a lot, and we had to wrap up warm to go outside and build a snowman! He was like 'I want it to snow NOW!' So I tried explaining to him about the different seasons, and how now is summer, so its time for enjoying the sunshine, he'll have to wait for winter for the snow.

It got me thinking to how I can come up with some sort of activity or something to explain the four seasons? Does anyone have any creative ideas?! I'm thinking something art/crafty hmmm?!

[elanorh]

There's always the old flashlight/orange (or ball) version - where you'd want to draw an 'equator' on it and mark the poles, then go in a dark room and show how the sun/flashlight hits as the orange/Earth rotates - this is a good way to learn about how the planet tilts, day length/night length etc. My mom did this with us when we were kids and I can remember it vividly to this day. We did a version of this with my dd when she was 5. And I described it to her when she was about 3 ..... She remembered it and asked me about it the next winter ("Why can't we keep the planet from tilting away from the sun, so that it stays warm all the time?").

Ask at the library about books about seasons. We have an OLD Golden Book (Four Little Puppies?) - where the puppies learn about what happens in each season, my girls love the book.

The Winnie the Pooh Encyclopedia of Nature has a good section about the seasons, too, if your local library has it (or if you want to buy it). Not cartoons really - pictures of things from each season and descriptions of it. Also pictures of weather, geological stuff, etc.

[Sienna-forever]

Thanks for the suggestions, the books sound good, I'll have a look when we go to the library on Friday.

I was awake last night thinking about this! I was thinking of making a big poster with DS, dividing it into four sections, and then drawing/painting pictures of things from each season, and letting DS 'stick' things on that relate to each season.

I'm thinking of painting the seaside for summer, and letting DS stick some 'sand' on for the beach, and then using little cocktail umbrellas as sun umbrellas!

Then for Autumn, we could paint trees and let DS stick some leaves falling off the trees/on the ground, paint some pumpkins, paint fireworks in the sky?

Christmas Tree for Winter, i'm thinking cotton wool snow man?!

Spring, Easter Bunnies, pictures of flowers, he remembers our tulips from Spring, and we have cherry trees that blossom each Spring, his birthday is Spring too, mmm cotton wool sheep and lambs! Got to love cotton wool!

Can't wait to get started!

[AAK]

Originally Posted by Sienna-forever

I was awake last night thinking about this! I was thinking of making a big poster with DS, dividing it into four sections, and then drawing/painting pictures of things from each season, and letting DS 'stick' things on that relate to each season.

Similar idea:
We once made four trees to show how they change for the season. For fall, we covered it with red, orange, yellow leaves (and put some on the ground)--for winter we had no leaves, but put some snow on the branches and ground, for spring, the new green leaves and a nest with a bird. For summer, we added fruit to the tree.

Amy

[Sienna-forever]

Thats a brill idea about how the tree changes for each season. We have a really special cherry tree that we planted in memory of our little girl.
In Spring, it has blossom
Summer, cherries (we had loads this year)
Autumn, leaves turn red, then drop
Winter, covered in snow

Excellent idea

[LuxPerpetua]

We're Waldorf-inspired so we do a ton with the seasons. I never really tried explaining them all in one pop but rather just let dd observe the different things we did as the year progressed. We have a nature table that we change each season, as well as seasonal garlands and seasonal playmats I've made from felt. We have a huge tree I made from felt that we decorate for each season. Right now it has green leaves, a hummingbird, a sunflower, a bunny, lots of birds, a butterfly, and a bumblebee. I made the leaves detachable with velcro so I switch them out for autumn colored leaves and apples in the Fall and then take them down and put up pulled cotton balls for snow in winter. In spring, we have little buds. We also read tons of seasonal books from our library. I highly recommend the picture books by Gerda Muller. I also made up a song called The Year Goes Round and Round:

The year goes round and round, the year goes round and round
First is springtime's baby leaves
Then it's summer's buzzing bees
The year goes round and round, the year goes round and round
Third is autumn's falling leaves
Last is winter's snowy breeze
The year goes round and round, the year goes round and round
With each season there's an end, but it will come back again
The year goes round and round, the year goes round and round

One thing we try to do is really immerse ourselves in each season and do the same things every year, like pick apples in autumn. And we talk about them, like, "I can't wait until it's Fall and we make apple cake again!". It's amazing how much dd has internalized everything we've done (she's 4.5). We also do lots of nature walks and outdoor activities so she can see how the world changes from season to season.

[Sienna-forever]

A nature table sounds like a good idea, Ds loves getting outside and collecting leaves, feathers, etc so I think I'll try that. Don't know where I'd put it through, as we don't have much space at the moment, hmm need to have a clear out I think!