Teachers can make learning more fun by incorporating seasonal activities into lesson plans. Below are a few ideas to help students stay engaged during the cool, crisp months of fall.
Art
Autumn on Paper
What You Need:
- White Construction Paper
- Leaves (Gathered by Each Student, Individually)
- Pencils
- Paint
- Paint Brushes
1. Encourage children to gather various leaves to bring into class. Request that they choose leaves of different sizes and from several different species of trees.
2. Have the children trace the leaves and paint them. For grades K-3, just have them paint the leaves different colors; however, for grades 4-6, have students do their best to replicate the actual colors in the leaves they collected.
Create a Fall Wreath
What You Need:
- Paper Plates
- Scissors
- Leaves (Gathered by Each Student, Individually) or Fabric
- Glue
1. Have the students gather fallen leaves (or provide the students with fabric leaves).
2. Cut a paper plate into a ring.
3. Glue the leaves around the paper plate to create a wreath (Grades K-3).
Math
The Pumpkin Project – Math Measurement Experience
This project is similar to the Tummy Measure Game that is played at baby showers and is ideal for elementary school students.
What You Need:
- A Huge Pumpkin
- Yarn
- Scissors
- Post-It Page Marker Notes
- A Marker
- Use an enormous pumpkin to create math measurement experiences. If the entire student body is invited to participate in the project, place the pumpkin at a location in the school that is visible to all students. For example, place the pumpkin in or near a communal area (e.g., cafeteria, the main office or media center, etc.). If a single class is the only group participating in this project, place the pumpkin inside the classroom itself.
- Have each student “guesstimate” the size of the pumpkin. Cut each student a piece of yarn the length that he or she believes would fit around the pumpkin’s widest part. After all the students have made their guesstimates, have each student bring the piece of yarn up to the pumpkin and try to wrap it around its widest part.
- Following the measurement, the pieces of yarn should be separated into three categories, too short, too long and just about right.
*Prior to starting the measuring process, have the students write their names on a Post-It page marker. These will be used to label each child’s piece of yarn directly before it is categorized: Simply place the student’s yarn on the tacky portion of the page marker (Grades 1-3).
Other math projects include:
Guess the weight of smaller pumpkins and then weigh them to see which student guessed the closest (without going over).
Place candy corn and/or mellowcreme pumpkins in a jar and have the students guess how many of each are inside.
Language Arts
Fall into Poetry
Have students write a variety of fall poems (Grades 3-5).
Acrostic:
LEAF
L ovely
E legant
A s they
F all
Cinquain:
Fall
Cool, crisp
Full of fun
Dress up for Halloween
Autumn
Rhyming:
The leaves came tumbling to the ground.
I heard a loud sound.
No one could be found.
