The Giving Tree
I’ve mentioned this book before, but it’s been a long time. It still remains one of our favorites. I put together a lesson for my co-op class centered around it and thought I’d share…
I cut out little felt puzzle pieces of an apple tree and each child had their own felt board with which to build the puzzle and play. We assembled the puzzle all together at the beginning of class and as the story progressed, we took pieces away until all that was left was a stump, just like in the book. It seemed to go over really well. We spent some time talking about the story, and they took their puzzles home with them.
We also spent time at the end, studying (and eating!) an apple and what it looks like on the inside. We turned it into a stamp and, using red paint, put apple stamps on the envelopes that contained their puzzles. Also, before time ran out, I gave each of them a bag of “seeds” (they were really beans) to sort by color. There were black, white and green. This took time, but also seemed to be something they enjoyed. We ended up with a muffin tin full of colorful “seeds.” They were so proud.
Here is the whole book, animated on YouTube, and voiced by the author. Neat!
Here are some discussion questions. The kids in my kindergarten class had some really great thoughts!
I’ll be using this! : )
I got the book from the library. I have to get felt soon…and then, we’re set!
Thanks!
i have found so many uses for felt, amanda. glad you “felt” like doing this activity!!