Fabulous Fall Activities for Young Learners

Family Tree

This is a great way to either teach or review family vocabulary. Have your learner draw a tree trunk with bare branches or draw your own template to photocopy. Hand out small brown leaves you’ve previously cut out from brown construction paper – of approximately 2 inches in length – and have your learner write the names of their family members and who they are. For example, they would write “Karen – sister”. Your learner will paste the leaves onto the branches, with grandparents at the bottom closest to the trunk, and younger members of the family on the outer branches. You can then have a “show and tell” session and ask your learners to show their family trees to others and talk about their families.

Apple Prints

You’ll need to gather these items: red apples, foam trays, red tempera paint and white construction paper. Cut a cross section of the apples and give your learner one apple half. Learners place one apple half on red tempera, then stamp it onto a sheet of construction paper. You may choose to use them as fall decorations, make pretty fall cards, etc.. You can even add in green and yellow apples with different colored paint and practice making patterns.

Outdoor fun

Why not have a lesson outdoors and enjoy the fall foliage? There are lots of things you can do outside:

• Tree vocabulary: roots, trunk, bark, branches, leaves, twigs, seeds, pine cones, etc…
• Tree bark rubbings: head outside armed with some sheets of thin drawing paper and crayons. Learners choose trees with rough bark, and stick their sheets of paper onto the trunk (use adhesive tape or thumbtacks) for some invigorating rubbing!
• Fun with leaves: there are countless crafts you can do with leaves. Leaf rubbings are great fun. Learners may also collect leaves for a collage. Also, learners can simply have a competition to see who grabs the most and have them practice counting, by 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s…