Falling for Fall for Toddlers - Part 2

Isn't it awkward to feel like fall is coming to an end already? There is a month left of it and yet, because the leaves have all fell out and the temperatures are now nearing the freezing point at night, I feel like winter's practically here! :) Well, in case you have any use for these fall activities, here's a few more I put together for my toddler...

Outdoors : Mushroom hunting in the backyard

For fall week, a lot of my activities were "recycled" from Adrian's last year. Of course, he was a preschooler so some couldn't be used as they were too advanced but most fitted the toddler curriculum as well such as this mushroom hunting activity. Of course, we only did the hunt, and did not complete the math portion (each of the mushroom has dots from 0 tot 10) but she still loved looking for the mushrooms in the yard with her little basket. It was great for visual skills improvement considering the quantity of leaves we had in the backyard and it was also awesome to be outside with something new to do! :) For more info on how I made these little polka dot mushrooms, refer to last year's post.

Sensorial : Brown Stairs

During our first week of school, the Pink Tower was presented so we moved on to the Brown Stairs now. I figured it fitted nicely into our fall colored themed week. The cat on top was actually Zahavah's "tester"/control of error helper. To make sure her stairs were in the right order and not gapping, cat would crawl down... :) (It was sometimes a bumpy ride...)

Math: Sorting fall items

Sorting items is a great way to prepare for math. I combined pinecones, acorns, glittery foam fall leaves and mini styrofoam apples together in a small basket and then put one of each in a plate. Zavaha then had to sort the remainder of the basket. She loved that I used the acorns and pinecones she picked herself. :)

Art: Thumbprint Fall Tree

Could not resist making this one again. Well, not that "I" did it but my child did. Adrian was the artist last year and this year, Zahavah was (not that Adrian didn't show interest in making a new one upon seeing this one!). I simply printed a tree template (forgot I had my nice templates from last year!), provided red washable paint as well as yellow and later, these two were mixed with fingers to make orange. I must say I provided only red at first, then only yellow and finally we combined both. It was our way to keep the colors somewhat clean! :)

Art: Apple Pie Play Dough

Here's another "oldie" from last year. For Zahavah, it was a new activity though and she enjoyed it. She loves play dough and if we add props, it keeps things new and entertaining. We used styrofoam mini apples, a plastic rolling pin, plastic knife, mini foil plate and of course, play dough. Being short on time, I did not make my own dough but an apple pie scented dough would have been such a great sensorial experiment! I had originally seen this idea on Counting Coconuts a few years back.

Outdoors - Leaf Scavenger Hunt

A scavenger hunt! Yay! Yet another activity to get the kids outside and moving. My kindergartner was home that day and enjoyed participating as well although he did the same activity last year! :) I prepared a sheet featuring 4 brown leaves, 1 orange, 3 green, 1 red and 2 yellow. Handed a bag to each child and we went leaf picking. It wasn't so easy for Z as she doesn't count yet so I had to help her keep track but she loved her colorful bag of leaves and picking a specific color of leaves. 

Math - Sorting Fall Leaves

Fall is not my favorite season but I think it's only because I do not really have a favorite. :) Each season has its perk and fall's best feature is indeed the change of colors in my opinion. Both Adrian and Zahavah love jumping in the leaves and looking for specific colors. During our leaf scavenger hunt we of course brought back several leaves and we later on sorted them by color. Math is a math readiness skill Zahavah will be working on a lot this year and sorting by color is just one of the possibilities. An older child might want to go beyond and sort by leaf shape or leaf size as well...

Language : Reading Fall themed Books

What? Only two lonely books for fall? Well, unfortunately, seasonal books are a tough find around here. I did try to borrow the very few I saw listed at our local library but they were already out so I had to rely on my own supply. I guess it's time to increase the fall library! :) That being said, Zahavah, really liked these two books photographed above! We read them several times and still do almost daily. I like that Ten Red Apples (by Pat Hutchins) brings in numbers. Adrian was quick at picking up math and started counting to 10 when he was a mere 18 months old but Z is more free-spirited and simply enjoys the little pleasures of life. She'll need to be presented numbers and this book is a nice way for her to be acquainted with numerals. It also features farm animals and their noises so the appeal for toddlers is there from the start. Mouse's First Fall (by Lauren Thompson) is a jewel in terms of vocabulary. The length of the book is just right, the illustrations are beautiful and the wording is quite descriptive. It's great to enrich a tot's vocabulary. Also not pictured but well liked was The Busy Little Squirrel (Nancy Tafuri). It also features animals and several noises and a busy squirrel gathering food for the upcoming winter.

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Today, I'm happily linking up to

Montessori Monday, The Kids Co-Op, Show-and-Share Saturday, Link & Learn, TGIF, Share it Saturday, Mom's Library, The Sunday Showcase, Sun Scholars's For the Kids Friday,  Tuesday Tots, Preschool Corner &5K, We Made That.

If you would like me to link up with you, please don't hesitate to ask, it might take me a week or two, but I generally do!