Jumping in leaves isn't the only fall nature activity. Enjoy these nature themed activities and learning games for teaching preschoolers about nature.
Fall Activities
The most obvious sign of autumn is usually the falling leaves. Shade-giving summer trees turn powerful shades of orange, gold, red, brown and plum and fall to the ground. Raking leaves can be the basis of fall activities. One activity that preschoolers enjoy is jumping into piles of leaves. If Mom and Dad are raking leaves and want to keep pre-schoolers occupied, designate one leaf pile for jumping and work on the rest of the yard.
October foods include gourds, pumpkins, squash and apples. Aside from all of the wonderful cooking and baking educational activities, apple bobbing is also fun. Apples float because they're over 75% air. Many harvest parties and Halloween parties have an apple bobbing contest. A bucket is filled with water and apples float on top. Participants are to lean forward, using only their mouth, and try to catch an apple between their teeth.
Fall Pre-School Learning Games
For outdoor science lessons, take a nature walk with children and have each child collect fall leaves. Classifying leaves by their shape, size and color is a fun activity that draws on a child's math classification skills. Take note that maple leaves, birch leaves and willow leaves have a distinctive shape. Note, too, that different kinds of trees turn different colors. See if children can identify which leaves came from which trees. Consider making a "leaf bingo" game by photocopying some of the leaves onto bingo boards and then drawing a leaf from your basket to see who can get bingo first. Children can use acorns for markers.
Fall Preschool Crafts
Very dry leaves can be crushed into a fine powder and used like confetti or glitter. Write their name in glue and have children sprinkle the colored leaf granules onto their paper. When the excess is shaken off, they will have their name in a colorful leaf-crumbled pattern.
Leaf people can be made by gluing leaves to a piece of construction paper to make a person. A maple leaf can be a fairy's dress, long thin willow leaves can be arms and legs, and small rounded birch leaves can be faces.
Have each child choose one tree that can be seen from the window of the classroom. Use ripped paper or confetti (maybe leaf confetti) to create a collage showing what "their tree" looks like in fall. Repeat the activity three more times during the year, then put them together into a yarn-bound book of the seasons, to help preschoolers learn about nature's cycles.
October Pre-School
Celebrating Oktoberfest, playing learning games and fall activities are fun for children. Teaching children about nature is a fun way to incorporate outdoor science lessons and learning activities throughout the year. Whether you're jumping in leaves, bobbing for apples or working on nature craft projects, October's harvest-time activities are fun for pre schoolers and pre homeschoolers.
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