Make a Changing Seasons Tree

Watching the seasons change can be a magical thing, but trying to explain the change of seasons to a young child can be a little bit challenging. A great way to do this is to let your child visualize the changes an apple tree goes through during the year. This activity provides a tangible record of the seasons changing that makes the concept easier to grasp. Recording the subtle differences in an apple tree that occur throughout the year provides your child with a better understanding of the effects of the seasons on plants and climate, while giving him a fun craft to work on at home.

What You Need:

• 4 pieces of poster board of the same size – about 8"x10"
• Brown, green, red, yellow and pink construction paper
• Glue stick
• Permanent marker

What You Do:

1. Help your child cut out 4 tree trunks. These need to have branches on them.
2. Help your child cut enough green leaves for two trees. Then, cut enough yellow leaves for one tree.
3. Next, cut out some pink flowers. These should be small and round, but you and your child can make them each different if you like.
4. Cut enough apples for one tree and more to be pasted on the ground during another season.
5. Now have your child glue the 4 tree trunks onto the four plaques of poster board (one for each season). Explain that each piece of poster board represents what the tree will look like at different times of the year.
6. Ask your child how he thinks the apple tree will look like in the summer - this season will probably be the easiest. This tree will have green leaves and apples on it. For each season discuss what he thinks the apple tree will look like and then let him go town decorating his plaque for that season.
7. Next will be the tree for fall with yellow leaves. Make sure that some leaves are on the ground and that some apples are on the ground as well.
8. Your tree for winter should have no leaves on it and no apples. If you have snow where you live you can cut some snow out of white construction paper and glue it onto the ground and the limbs of your tree.
9. The apple tree in the spring time will have green leaves and pink blossoms.
10. Help your child write Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter at the top or bottom of your plaques to label each one.

While you and your child are building your plaques cut an apple in half, make sure that you can see the seeds. Explain that in the spring the apple blossoms are pollinated by the bees so that they can turn into to apples in the summer. Inside are the seeds. In the fall the apples fall to the ground where the fleshy part of the apple is eaten by animals or becomes a part of the soil leaving the seeds in the ground for a new tree to grow one day. In the winter, the seeds are covered by the wet snow or rain, depending where you live. When the spring comes again the sunshine warms the seeds to help them grow into a new apple tree. When your child is finished with this activity, he'll not only have a better understanding of the different seasons, but he'll also learn a thing or two about plant life cycles.