Fall is here! Are you looking for some seasonal magic to add to your classroom? The cooler weather, colorful leaves, and pumpkin filled fun make this season one of the best times for hands-on learning. Whether you’re working on fine motor skills, early math, or sensory play, there are endless ways to make fall come alive for your little learners.
Here are a few of my favorite fall-themed activities to spark curiosity and excitement in your classroom this season:
1. Leaf Sorting & Counting
Head outside for a little fall adventure! Collect real leaves (or use paper ones) and have students sort them by size, color, or shape. This simple activity builds classification and counting skills while giving kids a chance to explore the beauty of nature up close.
Teacher tip: Laminate a few leaves or use leaf cutouts so you can reuse them year after year in your math centers!
2. Pumpkin Investigations
Pumpkins are fall’s ultimate classroom favorite and for good reason! Let your students touch, measure, and explore them. You can:
- Estimate how many seeds are inside
- Measure the pumpkin’s height and width
- Compare small and large pumpkins
- Scoop and explore for sensory play
These investigations hit early science, math, and sensory skills all at once!
3. Fall Sensory Bins
Nothing says early learning like a sensory bin! Fill a tub with corn kernels, black beans, lima beans, colored cotton balls, mini pumpkins, acorns, leaves, or scoops, and let students explore textures and colors. Add small letter manipulatives or number cards to sneak in literacy or math practice, too. I get many of these at Dollar Tree or Michael’s craft stores!
Teacher Tip: Rotate your sensory bin bi-weekly with new themes like “Pumpkin Patch” or “Apple Orchard” or “Spooky Monsters”.
One of the many fall sensory bins. Check out more here.
4. Apple Activities
Apples make the cutest manipulatives! Try using apple cutouts or stickers to create simple AB or ABC patterns. You can also do color matching, stamping, seed counting and more! You can extend the activity by sorting by color, counting seeds, or even tasting different apple varieties and graphing the class favorite.
This is a great way to weave in early math and graphing while celebrating all things apple season.
5. Fall Art Activities
Let those creative juices flow with easy fall crafts!
- Acorn Art: Similar to marble art, but kids can collect acorns!
- Marble Art: Use black paper, pumpkins, or any fall themed shape. Students an choose a color. (See link for templates)
- Cotton Ball Dotters: Perfect for a quick and adorable bulletin board display. Have students dab around the outer part of the image! Such a fun fine motor opportunity.
- Tissue Paper Pumpkins: Perfect for fine motor! Use ripped paper and glue brushes or sponges to place the paper pieces on to their creation!
- Apple Stamping: Cut apples in half, dip them into paint and stamp away on paper!
- Fall Coloring Pages: Great for color exploration and oral language opportunities. Many free websites for these!!
These crafts help strengthen fine motor skills and encourage creativity plus, they make your classroom look so cozy and festive!
Tissue Paper Pumpkin
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