Acorn Discovery Table

Fall is upon on and the leaves are starting to fall. Acorns and other nuts are also dropping from the trees. On your next nature walk, bring in some acorns to observe more closely. Set up an acorn discovery table for your children to explore. This week’s Virtual Book Club for Kids is featuring Scaredy Squirrel by Melanie Watt. Be sure to check out all of the acorn and squirrel themed ideas at the end of the post. I get commissions for purchases made through the affiliate links in this post.

Acorn Discovery Table

Discovery tables are a great way to let children explore different items. Acorns make a wonderful manipulative as well. They are small so do take care to supervise your child and choose another activity for children who like to put things in the mouth.

Watch the video of how we use our acorn discovery table.

To our discovery table I’ve added acorns as well as a few other items for comparison. Download the Acorn Discovery Table Labels to add to your table (for your own personal or classroom use only.)

I write for the Learning Resources blog and they send me products in addition to being compensated. I’ve added one of their magnifying glasses to our nature table. Kids love using magnifying glasses to look at items more closely.

Incorporate early math skills into your discovery table. Can you count the acorns? How many acorns will it take to make a line this long?

Our Buggy™ Balance also sent to us by Learning Resources is one of my favorite things to add to a discovery table. My kids can play with it for such a long time. I love all of the skills they are practicing – fine motor, sorting, measuring, etc. I posed a challenge to add acorns to balance out the buggy weights.

Lily (age 3.5) had fun with this. She added acorns to balance the buggy weights, but she didn’t stop there. She continued moving acorns and bugs back and forth between balances.

Here’s another way to add measuring to your nature table. Practice measuring and sorting leaves.

More Activities from the Virtual Book Club for Kids

See more acorn and squirrel themed activities inspired by Scaredy Squirrel:

Acorn Alphabet Sensory Jar Game – The Educators’ Spin On It
Acorn Sharing Game – Witty Hoots
Squirrel and Acorn Ten Frame Printables and Activities – JDaniel4’s Mom
Acorn Fine Motor and Counting – Views From a Step Stool
DIY Song Cube with Fall Song Printable – My Storytime Corner
Fall Sensory Bin Acorns & Squirrels Color Picture Match – Sea of Knowledge
Acorn Color Sort – Teach Beside Me
Acorn Art – Messy Little Monster
Acorn Ramp Play for Toddlers – Toddler Approved
Help the squirrel find his acorn – Mama Smiles
Squirrel Brain Breaks – The OT Toolbox
Squirrel Action Rhyme – Preschool Powol Packets
Find the Acorns Printable Sight Word Game – Artsy Momma
Acorn Ordering and Sorting – Rainy Day Mum
Making Shapes With Acorns – To Be A Kid Again

Also stop by the Virtual Book Club for Kids Facebook page to see what others are sharing!

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