Preschool Projects for Autumn

I’m so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.
~ L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables

A collection of our favorite October activities: Games, Poems, Crafts and more.

Pumpkin Patch Game

Perfect for a cold and rainy Autumn afternoon.

After cutting 10 – 15 pumpkin shapes from orange construction paper, and glueing tiny green stems to each,  hide the pumpkins throughout a room. Then, with a bag in hand, allow your child to search for and collect the pumpkins.

There are lots of ways to extend and adjust this activity.

• After collecting pumpkins, count the harvest
• Allow children to decorate the pumpkins and collection bags.
• Rather than setting the children loose on an “easter egg” hunt, give them verbal clues to locate the pumpkins.  “Turn left, step back, look up…”
• Use the pumpkins in other activities like a memory game
• Write letters or numbers on the pumpkins to reinforce recognition

Falling Leaves

Read and act out the following poem.

Red, yellow, orange and brown,
(point to color cards or words on a wall)
Leaves are falling to the ground.
(pretend your fingers are leaves, reach up high and make them fall to the floor.)
We piled them up, oh so high.
(pretend to scoop up leaves and pile them high)
Then we jumped right in,
(pretend to jump in a pile of leaves)
My brother and I!
(point to a friend and then to yourself)

Pumpkin/Jack-o’-lantern Puppets

Cut two identical pumpkin shapes from orange construction paper. Decorate one with a jack-o’-lantern face and leave the other as a simple pumpkin. Glue these to the reverse sides of a craft stick to create the puppet.  Use the pumpkin side with this pumpkin poem.  Use the Jack-o’-lantern side with this jack-o’-lantern poem.

Make A Spider

Make a simple spider from construction paper.  Cut two circles, one smaller than the other.  Also, cut four long narrow strips of paper to be used as legs. While gluing the spider parts, share interesting facts about these animals.

Collecting Leaves

Go for a walk outdoors and let your kids collect a variety of leaves in a bucket or bag. Take the leaves inside and talk about their colors, shapes, and sizes. Use a magnifying glass if available.

A great extension to this activity is to help your little ones match leaves on the ground to standing trees.