Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. It's the start of a brand new school year and a time to really show the children how much fun your classroom can be with scrunching up leaves for art, leaf hunts and throwing leaves outside and leaves in the discovery table.
Art Activities
Books
Songs/Fingerplays
Center/Misc Ideas
Scrunched Leaf Tree
Scrunch up fallen leaves into small pieces. Then use a brush with watered down glue to glue them on to branches and ground of a barren tree.
Or You can trace the child's arm and hand as the trunk and branches of the tree and glue on the scrunched up leaves on that.
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf
Fall Leaves
THE LEAVES ARE FALLING DOWN
Tune: Farmer In The Dell
The leaves are falling down.
The leaves are falling down.
Red, yellow, orange and brown,
The leaves are falling down.
ALL THE LEAVES ARE FALLING DOWN
Tune: London Bridge
All the leaves are falling down,
Falling down, falling down.
All the leaves are falling down,
Let's rake them up.
Rake the leaves up in a pile,
In a pile, in a pile.
Rake the leaves up in a pile,
Let's all jump in.
Leaves In The Discovery Table
Let the children play with different colored fallen leaves in the discovery table.
Leaf Rubbings
Tape the corners of the paper over some leaves placed vein side up on table and let the children discover the magic of the leaves appearing on their paper as they rub their crayons sideways across it.
Clifford's First Autumn
PRETTY LEAVES
Pretty leaves are falling down,
Green, orange, yellow and brown.
Here comes one colored red,
Oops, it landed on my head.
Gathering Leaves From Outside
Have the children pick up pretty leaves outside to use in the classroom.
Leaf Cookie Cutter Prints
Let the children use leaf cookie cutters to paint different colored leaves on their paper.
Colorful Leaves
Why Do Leaves Change Color?
THE LEAVES ON THE TREES
Tune: The Wheels On The Bus
The leaves on the trees turn orange and brown,
Orange and brown, orange and brown.
The leaves on the trees turn orange and brown,
All around the town.
Verses:
The leaves on the trees come tumbling down,
The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish,
Sorting Leaves By Color
Have the children place the leaves of the same color in piles. Talk about the colors and even the mix of colors as you sort them. You can also let them keep the leaf if they can tell you what color it is.
Tissue Window Leaves
Let the children tear pieces of tissue paper and place on contact paper. Seal it with other side of contact paper and cut into leaf shapes to hang in your windows.
I Love Fall!
LEAVES ARE FALLING
Tune: Are You Sleeping?
Leaves are falling, Leaves are falling.
On the ground, on the ground.
Kick the leaves up all around,
Kick the leaves up all around.
Leaves falling down,
Leaves falling down.
Sorting Leaves By Shape
Have the children place them on pictures of leaves of the same shape. Talk about the trees that each leaf comes from and whether it has sharp points or curves.
Leaf Prints
Paint some leaves vein side up in a tray, then lay the paper on top of them and press.
Leaf Creations
Let the children glue different sized leaves arranged on paper in the shapes of people or animals.
When Autumn Comes
Let's Look At The Seasons
Autumn Days
LEAVES ARE FALLING
Leaves are falling softly down,
They make a carpet on the gound.
They swish, the wind comes whirling by,
And sends them dancing to the sky.
Floating Leaves
Take turns throwing one leaf or helecopter up in the air and blowing it to another person.