Unit of Study

The Seasons Unit

The Seasons unit will provide many opportunities for the students to learn about our weather and the changes that occur during the year because they are exposed to different changes daily. The children will be allowed to explore the seasons and will be able to realize various activities to have contact with the natural world. Early childhood education has a single purpose: to train well-rounded people and students who know how to relate to themselves and their environment through learning. To achieve this, it must start with explaining everyday situations and natural phenomena that constantly build the world in which they live. A fundamental explanation is, for example, the year’s seasons for children. This unit will last four weeks; each week, the children will learn about a different year’s season and will work on understanding each season’s characteristics through a series of activities.

First Week

During the first week of this unit, we will be learning about the seasons and fall. This week the children will learn about the changes in our environment in different seasons of the year. I will also introduce the fall season in that week; we will talk about the changes that happen in our environment. The climate becomes milder, and the days and nights have the same duration.
The trees fall off until they don’t have any leaves, the weather changes, and the different activities the children do during this time of the year. The children will create a 3D collage with leaves of different shapes, branches, acorns, and pinecones. These hands-on experiences will help the students to observe and use what they are learning to develop an appreciation for our environment.

Second Week

During the second week of this unit, we will focus on the winter season. The children will learn that winter is the coldest season of the year and the changes that happen in our environment. We will talk about how the trees don’t have more leaves, the different changes in the weather, the animals hibernate, nights are longer and the days are shorter, the type of clothes people wear in winter, and the different activities they do during this time of year. This week, the children will make a snowman with cotton and branches. We will also invite the families of the children to come and make mittens made of an old sweater.

Third Week

We will focus on the spring season during the third week of this unit. The children will learn that the leaves come out again on the trees in spring, and flowers appear. The cold ends, the
heat days start, and the animals come out. The day and night have the same duration. During this week, the children will make a fruit skewer. The teacher will put in bowl different spring fruits in, and the children will cut them into small pieces for their fruit skewer. This activity will be held to promote healthy food and to learn about different types of fruit. As well, the children will get inspired by Van Gogh’s Sunflowers. The children will have to create their sunflowers painting using a paper roll that will be used as a stamp. They will tempera paint blue, yellow, red, and paper rolls.

Fourth Week

The last week will focus on summer. The children will learn that summer is the hottest season in the year and the changes that happen in our environment. We will talk about the type of clothes people wear in summer and their different activities during this time of year. During this week, the children will create a summer collage using sand, seashells, tissue paper, and watercolor.

To conclude the unit, the children will make a mural using the art collected weekly to represent the four seasons. We will invite the families of the children to come to help the children to make a mural outside of the classroom. While the student put together murals with their families, I will go around and ask the following questions:

  • What changes are there in the fall?
  • What activities can we do?
  • Why do we wear warm clothes in winter?
  • What happens to the trees in the spring?
  • How is the weather in the summer?
  • What activities do we do inĀ __________?
  • Which is the coldest season?
  • What is the hottest season?

Curriculum Map