Leaf preschool lesson plans

Leaf themed preschool lesson plans. Arts and crafts, games, math, science, group time activities, songs and snack ideas.

Autumn is a great time to teach children about leaves.
Theme Goals:
Leaves are all around us.
We eat leaves.
Leaves change colors, usually from green to red, orange, yellow and brown.
Leaves can be found on trees.
Leaves fall to the ground and we rake them up.

Books from Amazon.coom:

Lesson Plan books

• Everything for Fall: An Early Childhood Curriculum Activity Book
• Science for All Seasons-Fall: Easy-to-do Thematic Science Activities: Preschool-kindergarten
• Totline Busy Bees ~ Fall ~ Fun for Two's and Three's
• Totline "Cut & Tell" Scissor Stories for Fall ~ Original Stories, Paper Plate Cut-Outs and Patterns
• Big Activities for Little Hands: Fall

Books to Read:

• Mouse's First Fall
• Fall Is Here!: Counting 1 to 10
• Arthur Jumps into Fall (Arthur (8x8))
• Fall Leaf Project (Ready-to-Read. Level 1)
• Fall Leaves (Scholastic Reader Level 1)
• Fletcher and the Falling Leaves
• Look What I Did with a Leaf! (Naturecraft)
• In the Leaves

Art:

Leaf Collages
Cut out different leaf shapes out of fall colors and have the children glue the shapes onto another piece of paper.

Leaf Rubbings
Have the child place a leaf under a piece of paper, and rub the paper with crayon, and the leaf shape will appear. This works much better with green leaves.

Leaf Prints
Obtain a leaf for each child. Have the child paint the vein side of the leaf. Press the leaf onto a piece of paper to create a leaf print.

Leaf Hands
Trace your child's hand onto a fall color of construction paper, and cut it out to make it look like a maple leaf.

Leaf Tree
Use brown construction paper for the trunk of the tree, and tape up fall leaves to the wall to make a huge fall tree in your classroom.

Leaf Painting
Have the children paint, using leaves as paint brushes.

Beautiful Leaves
Place small amounts of colored water in small plastic cups. You can create this water with either food coloring and water or watered down paint. The children will then apply the water to a coffee filter by dipping it in the cups, using a paint brush or using a plastic eye dropper (or pipette).
Allow to dry, then cut out the coffee filter to the shape of a leaf.

Leaf Glitter
Find some old brown leaves. Have the children crumble them up and use them as glitter. You could even paint them before you crumble them to make different colored glitter.

Leaf People
Have the children glue a leaf on a piece of paper, and draw legs, arms, and a head to create a person.

Leaf Mobile
Have the children attach leaves to a hanger with different lengths of string to create a mobile. Hang around the classroom.

Torn Paper Tree
Have the children make a torn paper tree with brown paper for the trunk, and red, orange and yellow paper for the leaves. The children should be supplied with the paper and glue. they should tear the pieces of paper into the shape they want it to be.

Leaves
Supply each child with a piece of white paper and instruct them to paint it using red and yellow paint. they may mix the paints to create orange. Allow the papers to dry, then flip the papers over and draw leaf shapes on the back for the children to cut out. Have them cut out the leaves. You may then:
- Have them make a leaf mobile
- Have them glue them onto a piece of paper for a leaf collage
- Hang them from the ceiling
- Have them glue them onto a piece of paper with a trunk to make a tree
- Put them up on a bulletin board
- Hang them from a classroom size tree.

Leaf Wreath
Take the children outside and have them collect leaves, twigs and acorns. Cut out the center of a paper plate and have the children paint it brown. After the paint is dry, have the children glue their leaves, twigs and acorns to the plate.

Science, Math and Games

Collecting Leaves
Have the children collect different kinds of leaves.

Leaf Graph
Have the children count the number of leaves they collected from each type of tree, and graph the results.

Leaf Sort
Have the children sort the leaves they collected by color, size or type of leaf.

Leaf Blow
Have the children blow a leaf across a table with a straw. Have a leaf race. See who can blow their leaf across the table first.

Leaf Seriation
Find pictures of different stages of a tree's life, in summer, spring, winter, and fall. Have the child arrange the pictures in order. (note children may start with any season)

Leaf Count
Have the children count how many leaves they have collected

Leaf Count II
Make pictures of trees with different numbers of leaves on the trees. Have the children count the number of leaves on the tree.

Leaf Match
Set out two of each kind of leaf and have the children find the matches.

Leave Sticker Match
You may be able to find leaf stickers. Make sure that you have at least two identical sheets. Place two identical stickers on one index card. One on the left side and one on the right. Then cut the card in half in a funny shape. Follow with all the stickers. Then set out the cards and ask the child to pick out one, then find it's match. Next, place the cards together.

Leaf Match Up
There are many ways to set this up depending on the skill level or the particular skill you wish to work on. Try these different set ups:
- Cut out leaf shapes from different colors of paper. Give each child one leaf. Ask the children to find one person with the same color leaf.
- Cut out leaf shapes from different colors of paper. Cut the leaves in half using a puzzle type cut, like zig zag or interlocking pieces. Give each child one half of a leaf, and ask them to find the person with the other half. Or Give the children two pieces and have the children make a circle, with one child that has one match on one side and the other match on the other side. You may end up with 2 or more circles depending on how the leaf pieces are distributed.
- Cut out leaf shapes from one color of paper. Cut the leaves in half using a puzzle type cut, like zig zag or interlocking pieces. Give each child one half of a heart, and ask them to find the person with the other half.
Or Give the children two pieces and have the children make a circle, with one child that has one match on one side and the other match on the other side. You may end up with 2 or more circles depending on how the heart pieces are distributed.
- Cut the leaf shapes from one color of paper. Label one set of leaves with numbers, i.e. if you have 20 children, label the leaves with the numbers one to ten. The other half, draw one dot on one, two on another, and so on until ten. Give each child one leaf and have them find the child with their match.
- Cut the leaf shapes from one color of paper. Place matching stickers on two leafves. Give each child one leaf and have them find the child with their match.
- Cut the leaf shapes from one color of paper. Cut the leaves in half using a puzzle type cut, like zig zag or interlocking pieces. Place matching stickers on each half of a leaf. Give each child one leaf half and have them find the child with their match.
- Place matching leaf stickers on separate index cards. Give each child a card and ask them to find the child with their match.

Try all the above, but in a file folder format. Glue one part of the leaf to the file folder and laminate it's match.

Leaf Match II
Collect four or five leaves. Trace their shape onto a piece of paper. Place the leaves on the table next to the paper and have the child place the appropriate leaf over the tracing.

Leaf Fall
Make a pile of leaves and let the children fall or jump into the pile of leaves.

Bean Bag Toss
Obtain a large piece of cardboard. A large, unfolded box works well. Cut One or two leaf shapes out of the cardboard. Paint the cardboard orange, red and yellow. When dry let the children throw bean bags through the leaf shaped holes.

Leaf Hop
Cut out large leaf shapes from colored paper. Laminate them and cut them out. Place them on the floor and ask the children to hop from one leaf to another. These may also be used at seat markers for group time.

Leaf Hide and Seek
Have all the children hide their eyes while you "hide" a leaf in the room. (It should be placed in plain view) Tell the children to find the leaf, but not touch it. Once they spot it they should sit back down in their spot. The first one to sit down again will get to hide the leaf.

Leaf Hide and Seek
Play the game the same as above, except hide the leaf. Then tell the children individually whether they are "hot" or "cold" to the relation of the leaf. Allow the other children to have a change to hide the leaf, and tell children whether they are "hot or cold". It may be a good idea to discuss the meaning of hot and cold before you play this game.

Leaf Fishing Game
Tie 3 feet of string to a wooden spoon. Attach a magnet to the end of the string. Cut and laminate many different colored, and sized leaves from construction paper (not too big though). Attach a paper clip to each leaf. Spread the leaf shapes on the floor and let your child try to catch the leaves. Have them try to catch the red leaf.. or the biggest leaf. For a twist, label the leaves with letters or numbers. Ask the children to catch a specific leaf, or ask them which leaf they caught.

Leaf Sorting
Collect many different sizes, shapes and colored leaves. Have the children sort the leaves by size, shape or color.

Leaf Sizing
Collect many different sized leaves. Have the children place the leaves in order from smallest to largest.

Snack Ideas

Eating Leaves
Discuss the food that we eat that are leaves, like lettuce, or cabbage. Have the children try these food items.

Leaf Cookies
Obtain a leaf shaped cookie cutter (click here to buy them from Amazon.com)and have the children help you make leaf cookies. Decorate them with red, orange, yellow and brown frosting.

Leaf jello
Obtain a leaf shaped cookie cutter. Make jello jigglers from yellow, red or orange jello.

Field Trips

Collecting Leaves
Have the children go for a walk and collect leaves.

Nature Center
Visit a Nature Center to view the different kinds of leaves that are on the trees.

Dramatic Play

Raking Leaves
Let children help you rake the fall leaves, they can rake with smaller rakes, or help you place leaves in bags, or what we do is bury them in our garden, so our garden is heathier the next year.

Raking Leaves II
Supply the children with smaller rakes to add to the dramatic play area. Let them pretend they are raking leaves.

Leaf Fall
Have the children pretend they are leaves falling from a tree.

Squirrel
Have the children pretend that they are squirrells getting ready for winter.

Group Time

Talk About Leaves
Talk about the leaves you have collected. Name the types of trees that they came from. Have the children pick out their favorite.

Leaves song:
By chicky-ma-ma
(sung to row, row, row your boat)
Leaves, Leaves, falling down,
Falling on the ground
Red and orange,
Yellow and brown
Falling on the ground.

Leaves
Place leaves in the sand and water table for the children to feel and play with.

Fall is Here
by chicky
Sung to "Where is Thumbkin?"
Fall is here
Fall is here
Yes it is
Yes it is
We can see the leaves change
Then they fall on the ground
Blow away
Blow away

Falling Leaves
by chicky
Sung to "Mary had a little lamb"
Leaves are falling on the ground
On the ground
On the ground
Leaves are falling on the ground
Red, yellow, green and brown.

This Is the Way
Written by Amber Leigh
Sung to "Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush"
This is the way we crunch the leaves, (march in place)
Crunch the leaves, crunch the leaves,
This is the way we crunch the leaves,
One early autumn morning.

This is the way we rake the leaves, (make raking gesture)
Rake the leaves, Rake the leaves,
This is the way we rake the leaves,
One early autumn morning.

This is the way we bag the leaves, (pretend to bag the leaves)
Bag the leaves, Bag the leaves,
This is the way we bag the leaves,
One early autumn morning.

Another Leaves Song
By Amber Leigh
Sung to "The Wheels on the Bus"
The leaves on the tree fall on the ground (wiggle fingers and bring hands down)
on the ground, on the ground
The leaves on the tree fall on the ground,
All through the Fall.

The leaves on the ground go crunch, crunch, crunch (march in place)
crunch, crunch, crunch; crunch, crunch, crunch
The leaves on the ground go crunch, crunch, crunch
All through the Fall.

The moms and dads will rake the leaves, (make raking motion)
rake the leaves, rake the leaves
The moms and dads will rake the leaves,
All through the Fall.

One autumn day we'll jump in the leaves (jump up and down)
jump in the leaves, jump in the leaves,
One autumn day we'll jump in the leaves,
Then the fall is done.