It's Tree-Mendous!: Learning About Leaves and Trees

From Maples to Oaks, trees make up a large portion of the plantings of our towns and cities. They are beautiful, ethereal, and majestic. They are truly living history. Can you imagine that some of the trees we see today may have been around when Gold Fever struck America or the Gold Rush occurred? That's pretty amazing, right?

Just check out a couple of these tree facts:

Trees are give us oxygen!
Trees keep us cool by creating shady places to rest!
Trees are used for water purification purposes!

Check out more tree-mendous facts gathered from Arborday.org Tree Facts

Talking about trees, have you ever been to an arboretum? (AKA a tree museum) If one is close to you you should definitely check one out. I am lucky enough to live fairly close to the famous Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. Joy Morton of Morton Salt fame created the arboretum in 1922. It contains 1,700 acres of beautiful trees and plants.

They have art exhibits during the year, festivals such as an upcoming Cider and Ale Fest, a horticultural library, an adorable and magical  children's garden and provide tram rides on the Acorn Express. It is also a great venue for weddings, social, and business events.

I have visited the arboretum several times.I would like to show you my favorite photo from a Lego Block art exhibit they held in 2015. I couldn't believe how detailed each sculpture was! I wish I was that talented! This gorgeous Monarch butterfly looks so real.

The art exhibit they are currently holding at the arboretum is Troll Hunt by Thomas Dambo.

Learn more about the Morton Arboretum here: The Morton Arboretum


If you and your children/students can not travel to learn more about trees at this incredible "tree museum", why not take a look at my Trees and Leaves Unit?

This unit is especially for students in pre-k, kindergarten, and homeschool. I have included many developmentally-appropriate activities that will enliven this fascinating unit.

This unit includes:

How Many Leaves Should I Place on the Tree? Counting Mat

Counting Leaves and Number Cards

Leaf Sorting Mat (Heart-shaped Leaves and Lobed Leaves)

Leaves to Sort

Leaf Acrostic Poem

Leaf Shadow Matching

Leaf Rubbing Decorative Frame Art Project

What Lives In a Tree? (Animal Habitat) Worksheet 

Click on the link below the Leaves and Trees Unit  cover to view on my TpT store!

Leaves and Tree Unit

Lastly, remember to hug a tree today!

One Tree-mendous Treat: A Visit to the Morton Arboretum

Ladybug 

Spider 

Dragonfly 

Grasshopper 

Bee

Ant 

Old-Fashioned Water Pump

Windmill 

On the weekends, I like to recharge my batteries after a week of daycare dilemmas. This Sunday, I visited the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, Illinois. It was quite a delightful and educational day of buggy encounters, beautiful blooms, and warm and windy breezes.

One of the most fantastic sculptures I have ever seen were the gigantic insects painstakingly carved from numerous woods that were scattered across the stunningly beautiful grounds.

Flowers of every variety dotted the landscape and I explored a cute-as-a-button wonderland in the children's garden. This garden included three shopping carts loaded with a delicious bounty of gorgeous flowers and a fully functional water pump!

An adorable gift shop held a wide variety of woodsy and botanical inspired jewelry, books and clothing that were perfect for everyone. Their children's nook was filled with glorious picture books, t-shirts and much more.

As a preschool teacher this is a must-see site for young children interested in nature and fun. Remember, a walk through an arboretum today may result in a future botanist, horticulturist or arborist of tomorrow.