Yes, you read that right—tumbleweed! I no longer have tumbleweeds at my fingertips; however, when I was teaching in eastern Washington state, I sure did. Each fall big wads of dead weeds blew in from the desert. I never did figure out a way to use them in the classroom. They were interesting to look at, but that was about it.
What I wished for instead were big, beautiful fall leaves! We had a few fall leaves in that part of the country, but they were small and mostly various shades of brown. Not great for leaf investigations or art projects!
Now I live in North Carolina where the fall leaves are extraordinary and there’s not a tumbleweed in sight. If I’d known that when I was teaching, I would have gladly boxed up a tumbleweed for a North Carolina teacher in exchange for a box of colorful fall leaves.
I’m not exactly sure where I’m going with this; however, it seems there’s an opportunity for teachers across the country to connect and swap natural resources. Maybe teachers from Kansas and Florida could swap wheat and seashells! Is that goofy? Whatcha think? What kind of a swap would you make?
Happily,
Diane
I love this idea, being from Wyoming we have tons of tumbleweeds,milk pods and at times some beautiful wild flowers. Would love some fall leaves myself as most of the trees around here are elm.
I would love a box of beautiful fall leaves down here in South Texas. Having spent most of my life in Missouri, I miss the seasons.
Come to think of it, a box of snow would be great too! 😉
I would happily swap some Michigan fall leaves for some of those giant pinecones from North Carolina. They are huge. I love to make owls from them.
I live and teach in China, so I’d swap anything authentically Chinese for a box of fall (leaves, pumpkins, cider, donuts, etc!), or Crayola supplies, or books from The Mailbox! 🙂
Does any one know where I could get some picture cards to use for beginning middle and end sounds??
I would love to swap fall leaves, pumpkins, for something from another state. I live in Kansas and think it would be fun to work with others to make their classrooms more exciting. Blessings
Good morning, ladies! I’m glad to hear that you like my idea! It sounds to me like I may need to be sending out a few packages of fall leaves! 🙂
Kelly, I’m not sure what grade you teach; however, you might want to check out TEC61204, Literacy Learning Mats. This book contains laminated cardstock cards for rhyming pictures, colors and color words, beginning sounds, ending sounds, short-vowels, and short a word families. Hope that’s helpful!
Hello, I love the idea of swapping materials. I would swap some sunflowers and sunflower seeds from Kansas for seashells or starfish from the coast. It would also be fun to swap with Catie from China. My preschoolers love learning about the globe and earth. Swapping would be a good map activity. We could put push pins into each state or country that we swap with and the preschoolers would be learning social study skills!!!
I’d love to swap some seashells for some authentic fall leaves. How about it LaShaina?
I love the idea of swapping materials and I’m a preschool teacher in Maine…so we have fall leaves and snow!! I don’t think the snow will travel too well:) Please let me know what you would like!!
I would love to exchange clay soil for some sandy beach soil!
I live in the tip of texas so i will be glad to trade sea shells with any one for fall leaves and we have a lot of sand in south padre island just let me know who wants them
I would love an authentic tobacco leaf from North Carolina and anything from China. I have all sorts of Crayola supplies and anything you would want from Texas.
I’d love to switch a classroom in Michigan for one in, say, Culebra, PR!!! Any takers???
Great idea! I am from northern Alberta, Canada. I think it would be fun to swap some Canadian Maple leaves or Canadian mementos with U.S. or even China! Wow!
I love the idea of exchanging natural materials. I live in the middle of California and would love to exchange resources with anyone. I live about 30 minutes away from the ocean but in a valley where most lettuce, strawberries, and other vetgetables are grown. We really don’t have seasons but wet or mild weather all year round.
so if any one would like sand and sea shells just email me at beckysbabybarn@hotmail.com to exchange addresses and to see what we can get from each other
What a great idea!!! I would love to swap anything [fall leaves?]for a tumbleweed…or seashells!
Dear Anyone Interested,
Our theme for the year is Ranch and I would love to get a real tumbleweed to show the preschool class. I would gladly trade leaves or anything else you would like from northwest Ohio. E-mail me at childsworldpreschool@gmail.com.
Anyone want any snow from North Dakota??
What a great idea! Also, many children have parents who have traveled a lot(with or without them). I’ve found that by including a “Sneak Peek at the Week” section on my newsletter each week, it enables parents to have a heads-up about what we’re studying. Many times the children will volunteer to bring things in. Many parents love to help. 🙂
Kimmy i would like fall leaves we can trade i have seashells email me beckysbabybarn@hotmail.com