We LOVE Fall in our house! Maybe it’s because both our girls were born in the Fall. Maybe it’s because in the Fall we finally get a reprieve from the searing Houston heat. Or maybe it’s because of the hot chocolate and colorful leaves and cozy sweaters.

Whatever it is, when the first day of Fall rolls around, we do it BIG!

Fall Activities

This year, we had a little “Fall Party” with a couple of Genny and Nora’s friends. We did crafts, baked goodies, and ate tasty snacks! Here’s a look at what we did.

Leaf Mosaics

Materials:

-Cardboard (cut into small rectangles)

-Liquid glue

-Pencil

-A variety of beans sorted

-Paintbrush for glue (optional)

-Tray to hold the containers of beans (optional)

Preparation: Draw or trace a variety of leaf shapes (I also threw in a ghost!) with a pencil on each cardboard rectangle. Sort out beans into small containers and arrange so kids can reach them all. A tray to keep everything contained can help reduce mess!

Activity: Have each child paint or dot glue on their leaf, making patterns if desired, then place beans in desired method.

As with all activities we do, I value creativity and child-led interest over “pinability” (aka Pinterest-worthy photos). This activity was one that I found their ranges of creativity hilarious! Some made faces with the beans, some covered their leaf shapes with as many beans as they could, and some didn’t seem to care about boundaries at all!

Leaf Hats

Materials:

-Collected fall leaves

-Leaves cut out of paper (orange, brown, yellow, red)

-Other Fall-themed items (pine needles, acords, etc)

-Stickers (optional)

-Liquid glue

-Sentence strips (1 per hat)

-Paintbrush (optional)

-Stapler

Preparation: Draw or trace a variety of leaf shapes on papers then cut them out.

Activity: Have each child paint decorate his or her sentence strip with leaves and other materials. Use liquid glue to secure, and allow to dry before stapling hat together.

Leaf People

Materials:

-Collected fall leaves, acorns, pine needles, etc.

-Cardstock or stiff paper

-Liquid glue

-Googly eyes (optional)

-Crayons (optional)

-Hot glue (optional)

Activity: Arrange materials to create “leaf people”. Use liquid glue and/or hot glue to secure.

Other Activities

Make Pumpkin Pie

Make Pumpkin Spice Rice Crispies

(I use One Degree Organic rice crisp cereal because it is freeee of gluten and folic acid)

Take a Fall Walk

Collect leaves, acorns, pine cones, and anything else that reminds you of Autumn!

Read some Fall-themed poetry

Download my free collection of preschool-friendly poetry, including several seasonal poems such as “Thanksgiving” and “October”.

With each poem, I have Genny cut it out, glue it in her “School Journal” (Language Arts Notebook), and highlight any new or noteworthy vocabulary. Some poems, we choose to memorize over the course of a month!

Happy Fall, all!

Love, Emily XOXO