Showing posts with label Autumn Leaves. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Autumn Leaves. Show all posts

Oct 11, 2013

Preschool Songs for Autumn: Leaves, Pumpkins and Halloween



Song #1

To the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down

Autumn leaves are falling down, falling down, falling down
Autumn leaves are falling down, red, yellow, orange and brown


Song #2

To the tune of Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star

I am a pumpkin, orange and round.
You will find me on the ground.
Sometimes big, and sometimes small,
You will find me when it's fall.
I am a pumpkin, orange and round.
You will find me on the ground.






Song #3

To the tune of I'm a Little Teapot

I'm a Jack-o-lantern, look at me
I'm as happy as I can be
Put a candle in, and light the light
Don't be frightened, it's Halloween night.




Song #4


To the tune of Sing a Song of Six Pence

First you take a pumpkin, big and round and fat

Then carve the top off, and that will make the hat
Then you carve the nose out, the mouth and the eyes
Show to the children for a Halloween surprise!


Song #5

To the tune of Frere Jacques


Trick or treat, trick or treat,
Halloween night, Halloween night
In our costumes playing,
You will hear us saying
Trick or treat, trick or treat

Sep 24, 2013

Preschool Fall Leaf Activities: Developing Math Skills




Young children love to go for nature walks and collect autumn treasures. This collection from the outside can then be brought inside for some fun indoor activities. The following article provides some suggestions on how to use leaves (nuts and other fall finds) in an early childhood curriculum to encourage the development of math skills in young children.


Sorting Autumn Leaves

The best way to start this activity in a preschool or daycare setting is to go for a nature walk with the group of children and allow them to collect the leaves. If this is not possible, then a collection of real leaves, or even paper or silk leaves, can be used. In small groups or in a large circle, the teacher can ask the children how these leaves can be sorted into groups. She/he can ask questions such as:

  • How could we put these leaves into groups?"
  • What makes these leaves the same and what makes these leaves different?"
  • What colors do we see?
  • Are some leaves bigger or smaller?
  • I wonder how many leaves we have all together?
  • I wonder which group of leaves is the biggest?


Simply stating these questions allows children to think about size, shape and color differences and begins the steps towards basic math concepts such as categorizing.

Depending on the age of the young children, they will need more or less guidance in their sorting choices. Once the groups have been decided upon, then the categories can be counted. For instance, if the children decided to sort the leaves by color, then all the red leaves will be counted and so on. Perhaps, the children will decide to sort the leaves by design or size. This decision can be left to the children or given by the teacher. After the small groups of leaves have been counted then a graph can be drawn on a paper by the teacher and this illustration posted in the room.


Felt Leaves on a Flannel Board




Another way of teaching children about sorting leaves is to use felt leaves on a flannel board. Each child can be given a leaf to bring to the board to place into the appropriate category or row at circle time. Afterwards, the children can then be asked to come back to the flannel board to remove a leaf according to the teacher's request, such as "please hand me the biggest red leaf on the board". This latter activity works well as a transition out of circle time. When the leaves are coming onto the board, the teacher can remind the children of the words used for sorting size: big, bigger and biggest as well as small, smaller and smallest. A further step is to ask the children to repeat these words to encourage language development.


Sensory Table for Fall Collections

Placing fall collections into a sensory table provides children a hands-on activity with the autumn leaves, nuts, pinecones and so forth. By placing containers with small compartments, such as muffin tins or ice cube trays, the children are provided opportunities to sort and collect. Finding opportunities in this free time activity to ask open ended questions further develops math skills in young children. Asking a child to count how many nuts they have found, for example, fosters math skills.


Fall Themed Sensory Table in Preschool


Math opportunities are abundant in an early childhood setting during all seasons through planned activities which encourage the development of basic math skills.