Fall is a wonderful time of year to enjoy the beauty of nature and the outdoors. The colors, sounds and smells are a reminder that change is beautiful. Here are some simple art projects to help your preschooler appreciate the changes in season as well as be creative.
Leaf print. Fall is the perfect time to get outside and appreciate nature. Take your children to a park or your own backyard, gather up some nice fall leaves, and press them between two pieces of paper. Once you’re home, your children can use crayons or markers to decorate their leaf collages. Tip: For an extra sensory activity, let them dip their fingers in paint and dab it across the page.
Pumpkin spice salt dough. Create this easy fall craft with simple ingredients you probably already have at home: flour, salt, water (and maybe a little pumpkin spice if you want).
Toilet paper roll turkeys. This craft is sure to keep your kids busy for hours and cleaning out that bathroom closet will be well worth it once you see
You can take advantage of the weather outside by taking your child on a nature walk and collect leaves for a collage or to make leaf prints.
You can also collect things like pinecones, acorns and other small items from nature to use in an autumn collage.
You can also gather up pinecones and paint them, dip them in glue and roll them in glitter for a fun fall activity. Pinecones also make great fall characters when you use googly eyes and pipe cleaners for arms!
Another fun thing you can do with your preschooler is have them paint their hand orange or brown and place it on the paper to create an autumn tree. This lets them use their imagination while exploring colors and textures.
Using food dye, you can turn white glue into a fun paint that changes colors as it dries! This makes a fun craft that is also easy clean up!
Autumn Leaf Rubbing
Take a walk outside and gather some autumn leaves. Use a crayon to rub over the top of each leaf, covering it in colorful wax. Then press each leaf onto a piece of paper and watch the beautiful shape and color appear!
Apple Stamping
Use apples as stamps to make unique apple prints on paper! Cut an apple in half and dip it in red or green paint. Let your child make prints on paper with his or her hand-printing tool (the apple). You can add details with black paint or markers to make faces or stems.
Fork Painting
Using a fork to make lines is another fun way for your child to explore painting. Dip a fork in yellow paint and let your child place it on paper in different ways to create interesting designs! A fork dipped in brown paint will look like tree branches, while using a fork dipped in orange paint can be used
Leaf Painting: You will need leaves or leaf stamps and paint. If you have leaves, spread out some newspapers and let your child paint the leaf however they like! If you have a stamp, dip it in paint and stamp it on to paper. This can also be done with the back side of the leaf if you don’t have a stamp.
Stencils: All you need for this activity is scissors, paper, and things to trace onto the paper. Have your child pick out items from nature like leaves or flowers and trace them onto their paper. Then, help them cut out the shape so they can make stencils with them! They can use these stencils any way they want: painting over them, cutting out shapes using their new stencil, or gluing a whole bunch of shapes on to their paper.
Nature Bracelets: You will need twine and whatever found objects your child wants to use. Let your child pick out nature items like pine cones, acorns, small sticks, dried flowers etc. Then help them string
Activities for Preschoolers Fall
You’ll want to start planning for Fall activities for preschoolers now, because the first day of Fall is only a few weeks away. With school starting up again and the weather turning cooler, it’s time to think about how you can help your child prepare for the new season.
The good news is that there are a ton of fun activities that you and your child can do together! Some of these are best done in groups, while others can be kept simple, just between you and your little one. Here are some great fall activities to get you started.
Find a pumpkin and make markers to draw a face on it.
Take leaves and glue them to paper to make a collage.
Make a leaf rubbing with crayons!
Gather sticks and rocks, then glue them together to make a creature.
Make something out of candy corn.
This fall painting for kids using pumpkin seeds is a fun way to create art with nature!
This colorful pumpkin seed fall art is perfect for a fall craft or Thanksgiving craft for kids. Paint with pumpkin seeds and glue, then use the seeds to decorate your fall artwork! The kids will love this simple activity.
Thanksgiving Turkey Hat Craft – This cute turkey hat is perfect for kids to make as a Thanksgiving turkey craft, or a creative way to celebrate Thanksgiving in the classroom.
These adorable turkey tracks are such a fun Fall craft idea! Easy enough for toddlers and preschoolers, but older kids will also have so much fun creating these easy footprints.
Coffee Filter Jack-O-Lanterns – These coffee filter jack-o-lanterns are a super fun and easy Halloween craft idea. The best part? They look great when they’re done!
Halloween Cupcake Liner Wreath – This Halloween wreath is so easy to put together and would be great as a Halloween decoration on your front door or in your home all season long!
Pumpkin Seed Turkeys – This Thanksgiving turkey craft is simple and fun – perfect for little hands! Kids will love painting with pumpkin seeds and using them as decorations for fall.
Weaving with Feathers – This fun, fine motor activity can be done using feathers and yarn or pipe cleaners.
Spicy Pumpkin Pie Painting – Pumpkin pie is a delicious snack that can be enjoyed all year round, but it’s especially delicious during the Fall season!
Simple Fall Hand Print Tree – This cute little hand print tree will look adorable in your child’s room.
Fall Hand Print Art – Exploring Negative Space – This is a fun way to teach kids about negative space while also creating a beautiful work of art!
Corn Painting – Corn is a great vegetable to eat as well as paint on paper!
Small Group Activities for Preschoolers Fall
There are many options for seasonal small group activities for preschoolers in the fall, but there are a couple that stand out.
Leprechaun traps: Leprechaun traps are fun and help build fine motor skills. They also encourage creative thinking and problem solving. Have each child decorate their own cardboard box (shoeboxes work well) with glitter and paint. Then have them brainstorm how they might catch a leprechaun inside it. Maybe they want to put things inside that will attract the leprechaun, like gold coins or candy.
Build a scarecrow: Building a scarecrow is another activity that encourages creativity. It’s also great exercise! Have each child bring in a pair of old jeans and a flannel shirt from home. Then, take the children outside to stuff their scarecrow with leaves and hay before dressing it up (and making sure no one gets poked by sharp sticks or hay).
Play “Rainy Day: This is a good game for teaching kids about the weather. Have all the children stand up, and ask them whether they think it’s going to rain today or not. Then lead them through different actions depending on what they say: If they say it will rain, they should jump up and down while shouting “Rain! Rain! Rain!” If they don’t think it will rain, have them jump up and down while chanting “No Rain! No Rain! No Rain!”
Look at Leaves: Leaves are falling from the trees, which means there are plenty of them for you to look at! Ask your students what their favorite kinds of leaves are, then have each child select one leaf from outside (or cut some out of construction paper). Have them draw what they see on their leaf using crayons or markers—remembering that leaves come in many colors besides just green! Make sure everyone gets a turn sharing what they drew so everyone can learn something new about leaves.
Sensory Bottles
Sensory bottles are a great way to bring a sensory experience into the classroom. They can be made from almost any container and can be filled with items that are appropriate for the age of your students. For example, using water and food coloring to make a simple color mixing bottle is great for younger children. Add some glitter and small toys for older children.
Create a Centerpiece
This activity is great for older preschoolers or kindergartners. They can create a centerpiece for their holiday table with household items such as paper towel rolls, tissue paper, construction paper and glue. Give them each one paper towel roll to start and then provide them with different coloring materials such as markers, crayons, paint and glitter to make it their own.
Block Play
Children love building blocks. There are many different types of blocks available now that were not available when we were children. Large wooden blocks, plastic blocks, foam blocks and even ones that snap together are easy to find in most toy stores. Set up several stations around the room with various sizes of blocks and allow the children to build freely while they explore the different materials available to them. Make sure you have multiple stations so there is less likely to be conflict over who gets what.