Language & Literacy
We read the story Fall
Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall. The children had collected a bunch of
leaves from a nature walk we went on, they choose a couple of leaves to
glue on their papers and make them into Leaf People/Creatures, just like
in the end of the story.
Another great story to read
along with this activity is Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert.
Songs, Poems, &
Rake the Leaves
(Act out as you say it)
I like to rake the leaves
Into a great big hump
Take two steps back
Bend my knees and JUMP!
Autumn leaves are
falling down, falling
Autumn leaves are
falling down, all through the
Rake them up into a pile
into a pile, into a pile
Rake them up into a pile
Before they blow around.
off the words "town", "around" etc. see iff the
children can come up with a rhyming word to end each line.
I am a Tall Tree
I am a tall tree,
I reach toward the sky,
Where bright starts twinkle
And clouds float by.
My branches toss this way
As the wild winds blow,
Then they bend forward,
Laden with snow.
When they sway gently,
I like it best.
Then I rock the little birds
To sleep in their nest.
this poem printed out on chart paper and ask a volunteer to point to the
words as you read through them and act them out as a group.
Five Little Leaves
Five little leaves so
bright and gay,
Were dancing about on a
tree one day
The wind came blowing
through the town
(cup hands at mouth and
make a big sing song whoosh sound)
Wooosh! (have the kids
say it with you)
One little leaf came
tumbling down (remove one leaf from the tree)
Four little leaves so
bright and gay.... (repeat poem)
One little leaf so
bright and gay
Was dancing around on
the tree one day,
That one little leaf
came tumbling down,
All goooooone! (Shrug
Leaves Felt Board Activity- Cut five leaf shapes
and a tree trunk shape from felt. Invite the children to come up and
remove a leaf after each verse.
a group time ask children what makes tree's so special? Talk about
how they give us food, air (oxygen) to breath, they are homes for
many animals, we use them for building our homes and for wood to build
other things, to make paper products, and they are pretty and fun to
climb. Tell them we will be talking all about trees this week.
Ask them if all the trees look the same? Is that good or bad?
Have some pictures of different trees to show them.
Tree Poem and Picture
and green construction paper, glue, a piece of tag board or a large piece
of construction paper.
Directions: Give the kids a bunch of green and
brown construction paper, show them how to tear pieces and make a picture
using the torn pieces. Tear a large rectangular piece for the trunk,
and longer skinny pieces for branches, and round irregular shape pieces
for leaves, have them glue them to the paper to form a tree. Ask
them why they like trees and copy it down and attach it to their tree
Ask the kids to tell you what color leaves are. Are they always
green? When do they change color? What colors do they change
to? Do all the trees have leaves that change? (no evergreens are
always green) Have a variety of leaves for the kids to look at point out
how all the trees are alike because they have roots, bark, branches,
trunks, leaves, yet they are all different, different sizes, different
colors of bark, leaves, different shapes, kind of like people... and isn't
it wonderful how we are all the same but different!
Math & Number Concepts
Sort leaves- Use
real leaves or make some different colored leaves out of
construction paper. You could also make up a few leafless trees each labeled a
different color for the kids to sort the leaves and place on the correctly
Leaf Creatures- Have a bunch of leaves out
for kids to make leaf creature pictures if they want by gluing them to
Sponge Painted Trees- Give the kids small
square sponges clipped to a clothes pin and let them sponge paint leaves all
over a tree trunk that is already drawn on a piece of paper.
Leaf Print Pictures
variety of leaves, brown, red, orange, yellow, green paint, construction
the kids dip leaves in the paint and press them on the construction paper
to make different leaf prints.
**This could also be done using
sponges cut into leaf shapes! We had some really pretty gold paint that
made these turn out extra neat. (It is kind of hard to see the gold leaf
in the picture it is the one next to the green one.)
Wax Paper Leaves
crayons a pencil sharpener or a cheese grater, wax paper, iron and ironing
board again! (once again great care should be used when using the iron
around the children)
kids make crayon shavings with pencil sharpeners or a cheese grater, let
them sprinkle them out over the wax paper, iron the paper together and
help the kids cut out leaf shapes from them... draw simple leaves for the
younger kids right on the wax paper with a crayon for them to cut out,
for older kids draw more complex leaves. ( this is a really good
small motor exercise)
idea is to paint them on the easel with small sponges clipped in a clothes pin.
We added the tag so that the children had a place to write their name. I
reinforced the hole with a clear hole reinforcement sticker.
These are pretty hanging in a window.
sheet of white tag board, small paint rollers (made for kids), or use a
fat paintbrush, brown and green paint, black marker.
Have the kids roll brown paint on the tag board to make a tree trunk with
branches, you may need to demonstrate first, have them roll from the
bottom of the trunk first and then turn the roller out to form the
different branches. Then have then dip their hands in green paint
and press them on the branches in different places. When dry on the
trunk print "(child's name) family tree" then print the names of
the family members on all the leaves.
Leaf Window Clings
vinyl (found in most craft and fabric stores), colored tissue paper- (red,
orange, yellow, brown , and green), freezer paper, iron and ironing board.
(Take great care to iron in a safe place where children will not have access.)
leaf shapes from the tissue paper of leaves like maple leaves and oak leaves...
draw some simple leaf shapes on folded up tissue paper for the children
to cut out, let the kids arrange some of the leaves you have cut
and some of the leaves they have cut on top of a piece of vinyl, cover
it with a second sheet of vinyl and smooth out to remove air bubbles.
Cover with a sheet of wax paper waxy side down. Use a dry iron on
medium setting and quickly iron over paper several times. Move the
iron quickly to avoid transferring the wax from the paper to the vinyl.
Allow it to cool a few seconds turn it over and repeat the process (reuse
wax paper) when it is cool cut the edges to be even, rub on clothing
to generate static and stick it to a window!
*** Adapted from
the Book Preschool Crafts by Janelle Hayes
Add small rakes, garden
gloves, baskets, and fake leaves to the dramatic play area.
Music & Movement
(Act out Tall Tree Poem)
Leaf Dancing- Play
some classical music and invite the children to pretend to be falling
leaves and move to the music. Give each child a fake leaf to hold and
move as they dance.
Experiment- Discuss with the
children the parts if a tree. If possible have a seedling available to
look at the trunk, branches, roots, and leaves. Explain to the children
that the roots have the job of taking in water for the tree, the trunk carries
the water to the branches which carry the water to the leaves, so that the
leaves can make food for the tree. Using a piece of celery or a carnation
flower you can demonstrate this phenomenon by placing them in a glass of colored
water. The water will move up through item and the color change will
Identification- Trace a variety of leaves on black construction paper,
cut them out and mount them on a piece of tag board. The kids can practice
matching the leaves to their shadows. Encourage the children to notice the
details in the different leaves. Label shadows with leaf names to promote
Sorting- Encourage the kids to sort leaves into categories based on
size, shape, color, or types of leaf edges (pointy, rounded, etc.)
Blocks & Building
Cover your blocks in fall
colored paper to promote more color matching and sorting!
Add a play tree house to the
Puzzles, Games &
Dipping Trees- Broccoli and veggie dip.