Fall Activities for Preschoolers

Geographic Location

Fall brings to mind images of leaves changing colors, cool temperatures, and the change of seasons before the long winter ahead. While this is the picture that autumn paints in our minds, this may not always be a reality, depending on your geographic location.

Depending on your climate, consider the following fall activities for preschoolers:

• Nature walks
• Raking leaves, then jumping in!
• Fall gardening
• Fall festivals
• Visiting pumpkin farms
• Apple picking

Halloween Activities

Nothing says fall quite like Halloween. If you have a young child in your house, this is such a fun and exciting time of year. Check your area for fall activities for preschoolers that are specific to Halloween. Examples include visiting a pumpkin patch, taking a hayride, or checking out a corn maze. Also look for kid-friendly Halloween parties, trick-or-treating events, and other fun opportunities to wear your Halloween costumes.

Fall Festivals

While there’s always a good reason for a festival, perhaps no time is more fun than in the fall. Festivals usually include a variety of foods and activities that are specific to the season. You’ll find apple cider and donuts to be a mainstay of most any fall festival.

Apple Picking

While not every location has bountiful apple orchards, if you are fortunate enough to be near one, check it out. Preschoolers love the fun of picking their own apples off of the trees. Bring along a damp cloth to clean the apples in case your preschooler gets hungry from all of the hard work.

Nature Walks

While you can take a nature walk any time of year, walking in the fall provides a lot of opportunities for exercise and learning. The cooler temperatures make a fall walk more enjoyable without the heat of summer. Any seasonal changes you encounter during your walk are fun to point out – changes in leaf colors, animals, flowers, pine cones, and more. Take pictures or make drawings in a notebook to capture the experience.

Activities to Celebrate Fall

There are so many crafts and activities to celebrate the fall season, for example:

Colored Leaves

Cut out leaf shapes from construction paper, then drop autumn colored paint on each shape. Fold in half, then open to reveal a fun pattern. Make a number of leaves, and then glue them on to a cut-out of a tree trunk and branches. You've got your own fall tree!

Fall Stamps

Create unique stamps by cutting apples in half, dipping in paint, then stamping onto paper. You can also use autumn-themed sponge shapes to create a fall scene.

Pumpkin Decoration

No carving required! Preschoolers can decorate a pumpkin by painting it, then gluing pinecones, leaves, twigs, candy, buttons, or stickers to the pumpkin. Or, a fun face can be drawn onto construction paper, cut out, then glued to the pumpkin.

Fall Wreath

Trace your preschooler's hand on colored construction paper, then cut out in duplicate from a number of sheets of paper. Cut out a circle from the center of a paper plate so you only have the outside "ring" of the plate. Your preschooler can help glue the handprints all around the plate. For additional fall fun, glue items you have collected on a nature walk (leaves, pine cones, acorns, etc.).

Leaf Rubbing

This works best with leaves purchased from a craft store since real fall leaves can be fragile. Simply lay a piece of paper over the leaf, then rub with a crayon. The pattern from the leaf transfers to the paper. For even more fun, your child can color and draw on the paper, then "laminate" the sheet with contact paper for a fun fall placemat!

More Fall Activities for Preschoolers

Visit the following Web sites for more fall inspiration:

• FamilyFun.com
• Kids Domain Crafts
• PreschoolRock Seasonal Crafts
• Preschool Holiday Crafts
• First-School
• EnchantedLearning.com
• Preschool Express Art Station