Curriculum: Autumn/Fall

Books about Fall:

Seasons Board Book by Chris L. Demarest
Fall (the Four Seasons) by Maria Ruis
One Fall Day by Molly Bang
Here Comes Spring….and Summer and Fall and Winter by Mary Elizabeth Murphy
It’s Fall (Celebrate the Seasons) by Linda Glaser
Mouse’s First Fall by Lauren Thompson and Buket Erdogan
Fall is Not Easy by Marty Kelley
Count Down to Fall by Fran Hawk and Sherry Neidigh
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert

Fall Songs

“Autumn Leaves” (tune: “London Bridges”)

Autumn Leaves are falling down, (hold hands in the air and float them down like leaves)
Falling down, falling down
Autumn leaves are falling down,
Falling to the ground.

Sweep the leaves and put them here, (pretend to sweep and place leaves in a file)
Put them here, put them here!
Sweep the leaves and put them here!
Welcome, Autumn!

Jump right in and have some fun, (stand up and pretend to jump in a pile of leaves)
Have some fun, have some fun!
Jump right in and have some fun,
Welcome, Autumn!

“Leaves are Falling” (tune: “Frere Jacques”)

Leaves are falling, (either use hands or real/artificial leaves to float to the ground)
Leaves are falling,
All around,
All around!
Autumn winds are blowing,
All the leaves are falling,
To the ground,
To the ground!

“A-C-O-R-N” (tune: “BINGO”)

There is a nut that squirrels eat,
Squirrels eat, squirrels eat!
There is a nut that squirrels eat,
And acorn is its name, oh!
A-C-O-R-N, A-C-O-R-N, A-C-O-R-N,
And acorn is its name, oh!

As you sing the verses, replace each letter with the word “crunch!” instead of a clap.
An optional activity is to have a squirrel hand puppet or paper puppet on a popsicle stick to “eat” either a real or paper acorn or one of the letters from the word acorn as the song progresses. Allow the children to take turns crunching the acorn.

Center Modifications

Tactile/sand/water table:

*Real or artificial leaves
*Small branches (have students help you gather them)
*Straw or yellow or orange Easter grass
*Red, yellow, orange, and brown shredded paper
*acorns
*Red, yellow, or orange colored water and artificial leaves

Homeliving/Dramatic Play Center:

*Buckets/bags of artificial leaves
*Toy rakes, shovels, wheelbarrows
*Work gloves
*Lightweight jackets
*Clothes for doing “yard work”

Block Center

*Lincoln Logs
*Buckets of shredded paper
*Unit blocks
*Forest animal toys (deer, squirrels, bears, etc.)

Art Center

*Paints in fall colors
*Magazines with fall pictures (leaves, etc.)
*Playdough in a variety of fall colors with “fall” scents, such as pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, vanilla
*A variety of leaves, acorns, and sticks for painting
*Shirt boxes for rolling acorns in paint
*Red, yellow, brown, orange construction paper and shredded paper
*Cookie cutters in a variety of fall shapes (leaves, acorns, squirrels, etc.)

Boardmaker* Symbols to Print (or pictures to search on Internet if you don’t have Boardmaker) and Sign Language to Learn*

*Leaf
*Tree
*Fall/Autumn
*Acorn
*Squirrel
*Cool/Cold
*Wind
*Colors: Red, yellow, brown, green, orange

*If you do not have the Boardmaker-Dynamically Speaking Pro software by Mayer-Johnson available at your school, I recommend that you speak with your principal/school director about obtaining it. It is not terribly expensive and is absolutely irreplaceable for making visual symbols, picture schedules, and social stories-both for children with disabilities and without.

*For simple preschool signs, I recommend the book Sign With Your Baby by Joseph Garcia