Leaves Theme--Preschool & Kindergarten
Leaves Theme--Preschool & Kindergarten
Autumn
In autumn when the trees are brown,
the little leaves come tumbling down
They do not make the slightest sound
but lie so quietly on the ground
Until the wind comes puffing by
and blows them off towards the sky.
Fingerplays/Songs
Fall Leaves
Have children act out the appropriate movements as they recite the poem.
Down, down,
Yellow and brown.
Fall the leaves
All over the ground.
Rake them up
In a pile so high,
They almost reach
Up to the sky.
Little Leaves
5 little leaves so bright and happy
We're dancing about a tree one day
The wind came blowing through the town
1 little leaf came blowing down,
4 little leaves, etc...,
For this fingerplay you can make colored leaves out of felt or tagboard on tongue depressors.
Printable Leaf Shapes (pdf)
Song
Art
Leaves on a Tree
Need: brown colored paper, leaves from outside, brown and black crayons, glue
Take brown colored paper and brown and black crayons. Draw a tree(may need to help the little ones).
Let the children pick out what colors and shapes of leaves they would like to use.
Glue the leaves to the paper. Final decorate the paper however you would like.
Contributed By: Kasey
Fall Tree
Need: construction paper, paper scrapes
Lay the construction paper the long way. Place a child's hand and arm(from the elbow to the hand) on the paper. Have the child spread his fingers and trace from the fingers to the elbow.
The fingers are branches and the arm is the tree trunk.
Give the children small pieces of construction paper in fall colors (yellow, orange, brown, red). Have the children cut out small pieces for the leaves of the tree. Glue the small pieces onto the tree branches and below the tree.
Leaf Rubbings
Tape leaves to the table. Lay typing paper over and have children rub with the side of a peeled crayon.
Fall Leaf
Cut large white paper in a leaf shape. Give each child a leaf shape paper. With droppers have children drop fall colored paint all over and then fold in half.
Leaf Suncatcher
Have children shave peeled crayons using a potato peeler (or pencil sharpeners )onto waxed paper. Cover with another sheet of waxed paper. Adult runs an iron over the waxed paper. Cut in leaf shapes. Punch hole, add string and hang
Make Leaf Prints
Need: Leaves, Ready-Mix Paint ,Paint brushes, Paper, Rollers
Collect several large leaves. Mix autumn colours. Paint the underneath of the leaf with paint. Carefully place the painted leaf onto your chosen paper. Cover it with newsprint and press hard with the paint roller. Remove the paper and leaf and you should have a leaf print. Repeat in other autumn colours and with other leaves. This makes a great backing for a display.
Contributed By: Julia
Falling Leaves
Need: leaf patterns, ribbon or a paper plate
Printable Leaf Outlines (pdf)
Color leaf patterns a variety of different colors. Cut out the leaves. Glue the leaves to a ribbon to hang from the ceiling. Insteand of ribbon you can cut a paper plate in a spiral pattern, tie a string at the top of the spiral and decorate it with the leaves.
Leaf Decorations
On large pieces of paper, let the children fingerpaint with bright fall colors. When the paintings have dried, cut leaf shapes out of the papers. Use to decorate your room.
Learning Centers
Sensory Table - Leaf Table
Give each child a paper bag and take the children for a walk. Have the children collect leaves in their paper bags. After returning to your room place all the leaves in the sand/water table. Add berry baskets (some children will tear up the leaves and place in the baskets for a play salad). Will make your room smell wonderful!
Autumn Leaves
Need: Tarp, room divider fences , bags of leaves
Section off a corner of your play area with fence dividers. I build my own with 4"x4" for ends with two by ones for the bottom and slats.
Staple a tarp up the dividers and along the floor to create a space to contain the leaves. Then fill that corner with tons of leaves. Give the kids play rakes and baskets and let them have at it. They love it. They can sort, roll in, throw up and try to catch, rake or whatever they like it all vacuums up easily at the end of the week or month.
Leaves need replaced as they break down. You can also string leaves from the ceiling over the bin to create a feeling of being under the tree.
Contributed By: Brenda
Science/Math
Sorting Leaves
Tape 3 or 4 leaves with common shapes onto different boxes. Set out a lot of leaves. Let the children take turns choosing a leaf and placing it in the appropriate box.
How Many Leaves?
Place several fall leaves in a plastic see through container. Have the children guess how many leaves are in the jar. Take the leaves out of the jar and count them with the children. Place a different number of leaves in the container each day.
Leaf Graphing
Prepare a simple graph by drawing a grid on a large piece of paper. Draw a different colored leaf in each of the left hand squares.
Place a pile of leaves in front of the children. Have the children sort them the leaves by color.
Then have the children help in counting all the leaves of one color. Find the matching colored leaf on the grahp and mark off one square for each leaf of that color. Continue until all the leaves have been counted.
Things to Do
Tips
If you know anyone in another State exchange leaves with them.
I have an aunt who teaches in FL and ever year she and I exchange boxes of leaves in the mail. They have pretty purple leaves and I send her pine cones and oak/maple leaves from GA.
We make a great language activity in our classrooms showing the chldren on the map where the leaves come from and why they are different.
We both have our pre k classes write/draw in journals and they write or draw some really great stories and pictures after this activitiy(and of course we e-mail the funny things they say back and forth to each other)
Contributed by: Dawn
Song
