Whether you call it autumn or fall, celebrate this beautiful season with a week of play-based, hands-on leaf activities!
This article includes simple ideas for process art, music & movement, literacy, maths, science, sensory play and more — all easy to set up and perfect for early learners.
Process Art and Crafts
Here are some art activities that will encourage creativity and free expression:
1. Nature Collage
Children go on a nature walk and collect natural items such as leaves, twigs and seeds. Arrange and glue them onto cardstock.
2. Leaf Stamping
Press real leaves into paint and stamp them onto paper. Use leaves of different shapes and sizes, and paint in the colours of autumn: red, orange, brown and yellow.
3. Fingerpaint Autumn Trees
Provide an outline of a tree trunk with branches, or have older children draw one themselves. Let children dip their fingers into paint and press finger “leaves” onto the branches. Provide red, orange and yellow paint and encourage the children to fill their trees with different-coloured leaves.
4. Leaf Rubbings
Place a sheet of white paper over a leaf and rub over the whole leaf with a crayon. Watch how the patterns and outline emerge.
5. Paper Trees
Collage torn paper pieces to make colourful fall/autumn trees.
6. Blow Painting
Place a few drops of watery paint onto a sheet of paper. Give children a straw and have them blow through it to move the paint across the page, creating swirls and lines that look like leaves blowing in the wind.
Remind children to blow through the straw only and not suck the paint up through it.
Music and Movement
Explore the sights, sounds and movement of fall leaves with these simple songs, games and movement activities.
7. Leaf Play
This activity is a must-do during this season, and your children will absolutely love it!
Give your children time to play – really play – in the leaves that have fallen down. If you don’t have enough at your school or centre, ask the children to collect them during the week before this and bring in a bag filled with leaves each.
Let them throw the leaves in the air, stamp in them, roll in them and make piles to jump into.
8. Collect Leaves
After playing with the leaves, have the children collect them and put them into bins or tubs to use for art and sensory activities. They can take turns raking the leaves or gathering them in their hands.
9. Instrument Play
Invite children to use rhythm sticks to make the sounds of wind blowing through the trees. They can tap, shake, or rub the sticks together softly and then more loudly to mimic gentle breezes and strong gusts, exploring how the volume and tempo change the “windy” effect.
10. Leaf Dance
Play soft music and have children twirl scarves or ribbons, pretending to be leaves blowing in the wind.
11. Autumn Leaves Are Falling Down
Sing this to the tune of London Bridge is Falling Down, while the children pretend to fall like leaves.
Here are the lyrics:
Autumn leaves are changing colours, changing colours, changing colours.
Autumn leaves are changing colours all over town.
Repeat the verses with: Autumn leaves are falling down; Take a rake and rake them up; Make a pile and jump in.
12. The Leaves on the Trees
Sing this song to the tune of The Wheels on the Bus. Make up any lyrics you can think of:
The leaves on the trees are falling down, falling down, falling down
The leaves on the trees are falling down, all over town
The leaves on the trees are orange, yellow, red; The leaves on the trees are changing colours; The leaves on the ground go crunch, crunch, crunch.
13. Five Little Leaves
Teach your kids this fun counting song with actions. The song counts backwards from five:
See the full collection of fall songs for preschoolers, with lyrics, actions and videos.
14 Leaf Balance
Work on the skill of balance by having children walk with a leaf on their head, being careful not to let it fall off. Have a leaf balancing competition.
15. Move Like a…
Stand tall and be a tree; let your branches sway in the wind, be a leaf falling off a tree and swirling around in the air; lie on the grass.
Literacy and Stories
Build language and early literacy skills with leaf-themed stories, storytelling and vocabulary activities.
16. Leaf Man
Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert is a visual story that encourages kids to use their imagination.
17. The Leaf Thief
The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming is such a fun read about a squirrel who loves counting the leaves on his tree and tries to figure out why his leaves are going missing.
18. Story Retelling
After reading Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert, encourage children to collect real leaves and use them to recreate scenes or characters from the story. They can arrange the leaves on paper to form their own “Leaf Man” and tell what adventures he might go on next, building imagination and storytelling skills.
Maths, Science and Sensory Play
Explore fall leaves through hands-on maths, simple science investigations and sensory play.
19. Why Do Leaves Change Color?
Play this fun video from SciShow Kids. It’s a great, simple explanation of the science of leaves changing colour:
20. Leaf Sorting
Go on a leaf colour hunt to find leaves in a variety of shapes and colours. Sort them afterwards by colour, size or shape.
21. Leaf Graphing
Draw a graph on the board or a large sheet of paper showing how many leaves of each colour were found.
22. Measuring Leaves
Compare the lengths and widths of leaves using non-standard units of measurement such as cubes or sticks.
23. Leaf Patterns
Create AB or ABC patterns using different coloured leaves. Children can also glue the leaves onto paper to display their repeating pattern.
24. Leaf Inspection Station
Set up a Leaf Inspection Station where children can closely examine leaves with magnifying glasses. Encourage them to notice details such as veins, edges, shapes, and textures.
25. Indoor Leaf Bin
Fill a tub with dry leaves and add scoops, tongs and containers for fine motor play. They can pour, collect, scoop and crunch the leaves.
Here is the full set of fall sensory activities for more ideas.
26. Hide-and-Find
Hide letter cards, numbers, and small animal or insect toys inside the bin for the children to discover.
27. Clay Impressions
Press leaves into playdough to reveal the details on them. Make this permanent by using clay, then let the children paint their impressions and take them home.
Learning about autumn leaves is a wonderful way to celebrate the season through play and discovery.
Next, explore more seasonal fun with these pumpkin theme activities, Halloween theme activities, or browse the full list of preschool themes and activities for year-round ideas.