Celebrating Fall Leaves In The Preschool Classroom
Posted: Wednesday, October 22, 2008
by Stephany Springer
Fall is a great time of year because of all that is can offer little ones in the classroom. There are enough activities to last an entire day just on leaves alone. The crunch of the sounds, feel of their dryness, look of their color, smell of them burning on a full day and even the taste can ignite the passion in little ones. Here is a full day of activities celebrating Fall Leaves.
Counting and Sorting Leaves is a fun activity for young ones. Gather or cut out leaves in different shapes, sizes and colors. Teachers can call out the color red for instance, then allow the children to run around the room and gather the red ones. The teacher might have the children count all of the leaves that they found. Die cut leaves in different colors and allow the kids to put the leaves in a certain pattern.
Art time
Allow the kids to tear different colored construction paper into little pieces. Then copy a leaf onto white paper. Have the kids glue the different colors to the paper making their own leaf. Or do a leaf rubbing. Tape a thin sheet of tracing paper down over a leaf. Allow the kids to use crayons with no paper around them and color on top. They will be amazed at the leaf image that appears. Making mobiles can be fun and creative. Allow kids to decorate leafs. You might have them draw each member of their family on a leaf. Hole punch a hole through the leaf and tie some fall ribbon through and around a hangar. Finally, classroom trees are a lot of fun. Draw a tree on brown butcher paper, then let kids stamp their handprints in fall colors on the tree. Their handprints will look like leaves.
Nature Time
Leaves are so integral to nature. This center should be a cinch to plan for. Allow kids to go on a nature walk. Be sure to bring a paper bag so they can collect leaves. Be sure to allow time for the kids just to watch the leaves fall down from the trees. Use your water table to place leaves in water. The kids will like seeing them float as well as catching them in nets.
Drama Center
Raking leaves, of course. Raking leaves is a fun way for kids to pretend to be their mommies and daddies. Be sure to include a wheel barrow for them to put all the leaves. This is also a great center for the kids to get to pretend to be leaves. You can make the sound like the wind and they can float around the room before falling to the ground.
Story time
There are some wonderful fall books about leaves. One such book is The Leaves Are Falling One By One by Steve Metzger. Please let your kids act out the books or make them come to life by using leaves and acting it out yourself as you read. Other books include, I am a Leaf by Jean Marzollo; Leaves! Leaves! Leaves! By Nancy Elizabeth Wallace; Look What I Did With A Leaf! By Morteza E. Sohl and Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert.
Music time
Put on some classical music and let the kids dance around like leaves. These is also some great songs that we do every year in my classroom. The first one is to the tune of the Wheels On the Bus.
The leaves on the tree come falling down, falling down, falling down; the leaves on the tree come falling down all through the town.
The leaves on the ground go swish swish swish, swish swish swish, swish swish swish, the leaves on the ground go swish swish swish all through the town
We also put to music, "Picking up the leaves and putting them in the basket." We sing that. Kids love anything put to song. So just make a song up and they will stop, listen and be singing it before too long.
Snack Time
Allow the kids to use leaf-shaped cookie cutters. They can cut cookie dough and you can bake cookies during nap. Allow them to decorate with red and orange sprinkles or icing. You can also do bread and top with red or orange jam!
Leaves are a great theme in the classroom. The kids can learn to work together at the different centers and will soon develop a passion for fall as well! Please feel free to leave any other suggestions in the comments.
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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)Very creative and interesting idea's.
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