Preschool Fall Theme: Poem, Fingerplays and Activities With Leaves
Preschool Lesson Plan about Leaves
Circle Time:
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Questions:
- What happens in the fall?
- What happens to the leaves on the trees in the fall?
These questions should help establish what the children know about the fall season.
Songs:
1. All the Leaves are Falling Down
(sung to the tune of London Bridge) (By: Marissa)
All the leaves are falling down
Faling down, falling down.
All the leaves are falling down,
It is fall time.
They are yellow, red and brown,
Red and brown, red and brown.
They are yellow, red and brown.
It is fall time.
Take the leaves and crunch them up,
Crunch them up, crunch them up.
Take the leaves and crunch them up.
It is fall time.
2. Autumn Leaves (London Bridge) (unknown)
Autumn leaves are falling down, falling down, falling down.( arms up high like a tree then lower as song goes on )
Autumn leaves are falling down, (lower your voice)
Down to the ground (squat down and continue with this finger play)
1 little leaf, 2 little leaves, 3 little leaves today. 4 little leaves, 5 little leaves, Whoo! Blow them all away!
3. Poem The Dancing Leaves (sung to Clementine) (by: Vivian)
The dancing leaves
Are falling down
Orange, yellow, red and brown
They are dancing, they are dancing
They are dancing on the ground.
With their crispy and crunchy sound
They are the children’s delight.
Dancing, dancing all around
Bringing joy to everyone.
Cut a tree shape from brown paper, print the children’s hands on the branches. Ask children to dip their hands into paint. Use orange, yellow, red and brown paint.
4. Five Little Leaves (unknown)
Five little leaves so bright and gay (choose five children to be leaves)
Were dancing about on a tree one day (children twirl and dance)
The wind came blowing through the town (teacher pretends to be wind and blows very hard)
And one little leave came tumbling down (teacher touches one child on the head and as she/he does the child twirls to the ground)
Four little leaves… Three little leaves… Two little leaves…
One little leaf so bright and gay
Was dancing about on a tree one day
The wind came blowing through the town
And one little leaf came tumbling down. (all children are on the floor)
And then I came and raked them all up in a pile. (Teacher pretends to rake the leaves into a big pile. The children love to scatter at this point so you can’t rake them up.)
Language:
Recite a Leaf Poem
Here is a leaf that is yellow and brown. (hold up one finger)
Here is a leaf that Johnny found. ( hold up one finger on opposite hand)
Put them together and you’ll have two.
One for me and one for you. (point toward yourself then at a friend.)
Type this poem onto paper with drawings of leaves on it. Print enough copies of this for the entire class. Ask the children to color the leaves on the paper to match the leaves in the story. The children enjoy the fingerplay and coloring.
Start by reading the poem and doing the fingerplay. Then have the children recite the poem and do the fingerplay with you then the final part is to have the children color the leaves in their copy of the poem.
This activity is working on listening skills as well as following directions.
Math:
Take a pile of leaves give each child a small (handful) pile of leaves.
Ask each child to count the leaves. Next ask them to sort the leaves by color. Then ask them to match the leaves by shape.
This is working on basic counting, sorting, and matching skills.
Science:
Using poster board or cardboard (enough for each child), cut into a wreath shape have the children use fall items collected from a nature walk.
The children will choose items and glue them to their wreath.
Materials to use:
- poster board or cardboard (enough for each child)
- glue
- acorns
- leaves
- pine cones
- dried flowers
This activity is fun but also gets them thinking about what happens in the fall.
Art:
Print up an assortment of leaf pictures or fall leaf themed pictures for the children to paint or color. These pictures can be used in decorating the room.
This activity is fun, relaxing, and teaches them about the different trees and leaves on the trees.
Library Area:
The library area should display posters and have books and videos about fall and harvest time for the children to look at, read, and explore in order for them to learn more about the fall/autumn season.