“A Tree is Nice” Preschool Literature Unit Study

This A Tree is Nice literature unit study is a great way to get your child outside and learning all about trees and nature!

A Tree is Nice is a Caldecott award-winning picture book that will teach young children about the wonders of the natural world of trees all around them through the simple text and beautiful illustrations.

Read the book, A Tree is Nice, aloud once each day and then complete a couple of the activities from the list below. You and your kids can go on a nature walk to look for trees and the other things in the book several times during the week.

Resources Needed for Your A Tree is Nice Literature Unit Study

A Tree is Nice by Janice May Udry

The Tree Book for Kids and their Grown-ups by Gina Ingoglia

The Magic School Bus Gets Planted: A Book About Photosynthesis by Joanna Cole

You may want to look for an online tree identification guide from your state’s conversation department like this one.

The printables for A Tree is Nice Literature Study (below)

Optional Resources

Tell Me, Tree: All About Trees for Kids by Gail Gibbons

I Can Name 50 Trees Today!: All About Trees by Bonnie Worth

Trees, Leaves & Bark (Take Along Guides) by Diane Burns

A Tree is Nice video read aloud

Additional, optional, resources in these posts based on your child’s abilities:

Tree Anatomy and the Apple Tree Life Cycle

Counting Tree Rings (these worksheets are included in this Unit Study bundle)

Trees Through the Year

Tree Investigation to Identify the Tree

Activities for A Tree is Nice Unit Study:

Science and Nature Study

Go on a nature walk and collect tree leaves from at least 5 different types of trees.

Identify the trees from which you collect leaves (using the bark, shape of tree, and shape of leaf).

When you get home, show the child how to draw two lines to make the tree trunk, then make a crayon rubbing of a leaf for the top of the tree. Label it with the tree species. Do this for each leaf you collected. Put them all together to make a tree book. Use the Tree Book printable for the cover of your book.

Label the roots, trunk, branches and leaves of a tree and color it in using the Tree Anatomy and Coloring Sheet found in the A Tree is Nice Unit Study printables.

Have a picnic under a tree and discuss photosynthesis and also how trees “breathe in” carbon dioxide and “breathe out” oxygen (just the opposite of animals). (Use the Magic School Bus book listed above to help with this)

Look at the leaves you collected under a magnifying glass. Notice the veins on the leaves. Talk with your kids about the veins and what they think the veins do. Do we have veins too? What do veins do in our bodies?

Take note of the different places you see trees.

If you are doing this unit during Autumn when the tree leaves are turning different colors, complete the “In the Fall, I see” worksheet (in the A Tree is Nice Unit Study printables).

Also while you are on your nature walk, observe what animals and insects live in trees. Complete the What Animals Live in Trees Venn diagram worksheet (in the A Tree is Nice Unit Study printables) either using the included animal flash cards or using toy animals that you have around your house. (Answers for the flash cards: In Trees: Iguanas, Squirrels, Cicadas, Vultures, Raccoons, Owls, Eagles, and Skunks. In Both: Monkey, Bear, Tree Frog, and Cougar. Not in Trees: Alligator, Whale, and Horse.)

Look for a fallen stick you can use for a walking stick.

Math

If you see a fallen tree, a stump, or a cut firewood log, look at the rings inside the wood. Count the growth rings in the wood. Use the Counting Tree Rings printables in the A Tree is Nice Unit Study printables.

Also, discuss the difference in width between younger and older trees.

Art

Some of the pictures in the book are black and white and some are full color. Why do you think the artist, Marc Simont, did it that way?

If it’s autumn, create a fun art project with yarn and these instructions for a fall yarn tree.

Social Sciences

Talk about how our year is structured around the four seasons and how some trees change with each season.

To show understanding of the four seasons, make a keepsake hand print tree for the current season (or one for each season!) using these instructions.

Reading and Language Arts

The word “Nice” has a silent e. Complete the Silent E Worksheet if your child is reading at that level. See if they can find any other silent E words in the book. (Answers: live, make, have, leaves, breeze, come, rakes, pile, apple, hoe, place, shade, house, little).

The word “Tree” has a long e sound. Complete one (or both) levels of the Rhyming Long E Matching pages.

Read about the third day of Creation, when trees were created. Use the Tree Copywork page (in the Unit Study bundle) to practice your very best handwriting.

Physical Education and Conservation

Climb a tree.

Plant a tree. (My state conservation department gives away free trees to plant every year and my local city also has a program where you can get one free shade tree to plant in your yard to help cool your house in the summer. See if you can find a similar program to get a free tree to plant.)

More Resources for helping your kids learn about trees and plants