Kids Activity: Acorns Weights and Measures (23 things you can learn with Acorns, a scale and a ruler)

Fall is the perfect time to play with acorns. Charlee Ann, Alicia and I spent the afternoon coming up with plenty of ways to learn using acorns. We always try to find items outside or around the house to learn with and it is very easy to do.

Today we used some acorns that we had picked up last month on a walk, a ruler and a scale to come up with some fabulous ways to learn using acorns. Charlee and Alicia both really enjoyed the kids activity and I though I would let you know what we did so you could enjoy some learning time with your little ones.

What you need:

• Acorns
• Ruler
• Scale
• Any flat surface

What we did:

We started off the lesson using our kitchen scale (they have plenty of kitchen scales on amazon and some really cute kids scales to choose from). I have my eye on this really cool balance set on amazon that will make a great learning resource. 

What we learned

• The scale started off empty at zero.
• When you add an acorn to the scale the numbers on the scale go up.
• The more acorns (weight) you add the numbers go up.
• When you take acorns off the scale the numbers on the scale go down.
• If you add enough acorns (weight) to the scale you can max it out (Charlee thought this was pretty cool).
• We made sure to count the acorns as we put them onto the scale.
• Then we subtracted as we took them off.
• We weighed some with the acorn tops on and off and the ones with the tops were heavier.

Then we moved onto measurements using our ruler.

What we learned

• It took three acorns with the caps still on to hit 4 inches.
• It took 4 1/2 acorns with the caps off to hit 4 inches.
• Then we wanted to see how many acorns it took to make one foot.
• The acorns were longer when you measured then end to end instead of side to side.

Then we worked on counting and patterns.

What we learned

• We worked on making patterns with the acorns, top on then off then on then off.
• Then we worked on a harder pattern with 2 tops off then 2 on and so on.
• We counted out 20 acorns.
• Then counted to 20 by 2’s.
• We did some simple addition and subtraction as we pretended that the squirrel came by and ate some and then went and gathered more.

We finished off with a little pretend play.

What we learned

• Squirrels gather the acorns from the ground and in the trees and store them for the winter months.
• Squirrels are very busy collecting acorns.
• Acorns make good food for them to eat.
•  We buried them in a bowl of dirt and then had a snack. When we came back we had to remember where we had buried them (great for memory)
• We broke open the acorns to see what the squirrels eat on the inside.
• We talked about what happens to acorns that squirrels don’t find and how they turn into trees.

This kids activity was cheap and easy to do. There are plenty of ways to learn with things that you have around the house on a daily basis! I hope you and you children enjoy this acorn kids activity.

Click here for more awesome kids activities to do with your kids.