I didn't appreciate the seasons until I had my children. Its something about having children that gives you a new take on life. As a mom, you experience the joys of things through your child's lens. I'm so excited that my youngest is now 2 so hes able to do so many things this year that he was unable to do last year.
Fall season provides so many unique sensory experiences. Take a nature walk and take in the sight and sound of crunchy leaves. Explore pine cones and count acorns. Engage the senses in using fall themed items in your sensory activities. Here's a simple collection of fall themed sensory bin fillers that your kiddo will surely enjoy.
Sensory Rice Fillers
Candy Apple Scented Rice (Learn Play Imagine)
Scarecrow Sensory Bin (Pre-K Pages)
Sensory Recipes
Pumpkin Spice Latte Scented Oobleck (Learn Play Imagine)
Sensory Activities
Apple Sensory Cards (Stirthewonder)
Painting with Nature (Glitter on a Dime)
Family Fun Ideas
The previous blog post has more than a week's worth of sensory bin ideas that are straight from the Dollar Store. Play doesnt have to be expensive! Just fun!
Fall Themed Sensory Bin (Available 10/22)
This is my newest sensory bin which is available October 2022 as part of my monthly sensory bin subscription. Each sensory kit comes with 5 digital printables that enhance learning and fun! Ages 3-7. Click here to purchase.
School Themed Sensory Bin (past sensory bin)
Pumpkin towers & Can it fit inside
Stem Activities
When my oldest was this age he loved building with objects and paper towel rolls. I decided to try it with my youngest. I modeled how to balance the pumpkins on top of the paper towel roll and then I let him try it. Inside of him building a pumpkin tower he decided to put the mini pumpkins inside of the tubes. Either way it was a great cognitive and reasoning activity! I learned a long time ago to leave activities open ended to get a better value for my children. This is important for 2 things- keeping an interest in the activity and providing a learning opportunity meaningful to my children. As a parent, its important for me to allow my children the space and opportunity to learn. I feel that if I always provide an intention behind the activity it may stifle their individuality. This doesnt mean that I dont have an intention - it just means I have an open mind for more than one activity to present itself. My children teach me as much as I teach them.
Pumpkin Seed Exploration
We bought some cute pumpkins from Walmart and opened them up to explore the insides. The pumpkin seeds were counted- we have almost 300 seeds!!!!! Then, placed in a bin to be washed. Later on in the post, you will see us washing the pumpkins. He sat there scooping the seeds for about 20 minutes. This was a great activity as the baby (well my 18 month old) was sleeping. Another win-win. I did feel bad he missed out on the activity.
Find the Letter P for Pumpkin
The next day I decided to use the momentum from our pumpkin exploration activity to do this pumpkin themed letter find. You can use stickers, dot markers or manipulative to mark the correct letter. We used candy pumpkins to mark our answer.
I like this activity because you can increase the difficulty as your child learns. It is also a great instrument to measure your child's progress without using formal assessment.
level one- I only put that letter to build recognition for the letter. Adding more letters at this point can cause confusion and frustration. Set your child up for success.
level two- Add more letters but do not add letters that look similar to the chosen letter. Letters such as p.d,q,b are confusing when placed together. Only add these letters once you feel your child is up for the challenge.
level three- I would present this to an advanced preschooler or a kindergarten who has much experience with letters.
Pumpkin Washing
The pumpkins we picked were so dirty. My little boys could not wait to wash their pumpkins. I wish they were this enthusiastic in cleaning their rooms!
Corn Craft
This corn craft is perfect for fall. We used a pencil eraser to make the corn prints on the paper. You can also use a q-tip or similar sized object to make the corn.
Traditional Apple Prints
Search for Letter P
I did a version of this with my oldest, youngest (he was 1 at the time) and my toddler class. I paired this with candy pumpkins because candy is a good motivator. We used candy pumpkins to indicate the location of the letter p.
5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Fence
My son loves the baking soda and vinegar activities. I do them for every theme. The facial expressions are priceless. I just love the excitement he has! I just learned from one of my Instagram profiles, At Home with Frankie that dish soap makes the explosion even better. Watch our video for the full tutorial.
Fingerprint apples are one of my favorite activities. You can also use a q-tip to make your apples instead of your fingertips. Watch the tutorial here.
Toddler/Preschool Math Activities
The Apple Counting Mats can be laminated or placed inside of a dry erase sleeve. Use a plastic magnet number or write in the number using a dry erase marker. For added fun, use a die to randomly select the number to count. We used black beans and tweezers for our activity. This incorporates fine motor development into your activity so you now have 2 for 1 ! The download link is below
apple counting mat
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Download PDF • 1.73MB
Free Fall Letter/Number Matching 1-20 Activities
Fall Letter and Number Matching Activity
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Download PDF • 447KB
Have a budding reader? This emergent reader from Fun a Day is a great Thanksgiving Themed literacy activity. Fun- A - Day has a ton of Free Math Printables for preschool and kindergarten that your child will love! These Free Pumpkin and Fall Preschool/Prek packs will keep your child learning through fall break. This Halloween memory game is good to share with a partner. Mama's learning corner has a Fall Worksheet Packet for Preschool-First Grade.
Toddlers and preschoolers love sticky crafts. Visit STICKING IT TO FALL CRAFTS!
The color wheel is a great marriage of science and art. Explore the Fall color wheel activity here. After the color wheel, visit toddler & preschool math sorting activities by
Fall Tree Craft Using Dot Markers
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