A leaf mural is a creative activity that supports creative development and teaches children in child day care centers about seasons. Begin by introducing the children to the concepts of autumn/fall. Read age appropriate board books and picture books that feature the season fall. Take the children on a nature walk. Discuss the signs and symbols of autumn. Let the children collect fall items like leaves, acorns and pine cones. Discuss the colors, textures, smells.  Bring them back to the class and sort all of the items. You may save these items for other fall crafts.

Fall Mural Materials

• Large and small leaf patterns (several for each child)
• Construction paper
• A variety of tempura paint in fall colors (gold, brown, orange, and red)  in shallow dishes
• Painting sponges
• Coarse salt
• Bulletin board letters which spell “It’s Autumn” Or “Welcome to Fall”
• Bulletin board

Activity Preparation

• Cut out leaf patterns
• Cover the craft table in butcher paper
• Distribute leaf cutouts and stamps
• Put paint in shallow dishes
• Add salt to the paint and mix well

Activity Procedures
Invite the children over to the craft table.  Let them know they will be creating a leaf mural. Demonstrate how to dip the sponges in the paint and sponge paint the leaves. Let the sponge paint their leaf cutouts. Arrange the leaves randomly on the bulletin board. Add the bulletin board title of your choice.

Autumn Leaf Mural Lesson Objectives

Objective 1
To provide the opportunity for expressive activities through by allowing children to create designs on leaves using a sponge.
Verbal Cue A: Today we are going to color the leaves!
Verbal Cue B: I have lots of colors for you to use the leaves to make a design.

Objective 2
To encourage spontaneity in material usage by allowing the children to choose colors and to mix the colors they choose
Verbal Cue A: Which colors would you like to use first?
Verbal Cue B: I like the way you have chosen your colors!

Objective 3
To introduce textured materials by adding coarse salt to the paint to be used by the children.
Verbal Cue A: Would you like to add salt to the paint?
Verbal Cue B: Let’s see what it looks and feels like after we add salt to the paint.

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Children in your daycare center can learn gross motor skills by practicing and by participating in activities which involves hopping, jumping, and climbing. Activities that involve tossing, catching and kicking objects are also great examples of activities that promote the development of gross physical motor skills.

Activity Materials List

• One large turkey cut out
• One large piece of sturdy cardboard or poster board
• Glue or tape
• Scissors
• Crafting knife
• Small beanbags

Activity Preparation

Purchase a large piece turkey cutout. You can also create one out of construction paper. Draw, color, decorate and cut out turkey. Tape or glue the turkey to a large piece of poster board.  Next cut a hole through the mouth of the turkey cutout and the poster board large enough for the beanbags to pass through.  Place small beanbags for tossing in a box or other open container. Lean the turkey against a wall.

Activity Procedures

Invite the children over to the area. Explain to them that you are going to feed the turkey. Demonstrate for the children how to toss and kick the beanbags into the turkey’s mouth. Let the children take turns feeding the turkey by tossing or kicking the bean bags into the turkey’s mouth.

Gross Motor Learning Objectives

Objective 1: To provide the opportunity for projectile management through tossing the bean bags into the goal (the turkey’s mouth)

• Verbal Cue A: Let’s toss the beanbag toward the turkey!
• Verbal Cue B: Can you throw the beanbag into the turkey’s mouth?

Objective 2: To develop spatial relationships using the prepositions forward and backward, inside, outside, and straight ahead in verbal cues.

• Verbal Cue A: Kick the beanbag straight ahead into the turkey’s mouth.
• Verbal Cue B: Can you toss the beanbag forward?

Objective 3: To provide the opportunity for projectile management through kicking objects into the goal (turkey’s mouth)

• Verbal Cue A: Can you try to kick the beanbag in the turkey’s mouth?
• Verbal Cue B: Let’s kick the beanbag toward the turkey?

This “Feed the Turkey” activity will help enhance young childrens’ gross motor skills by tossing and kicking as well as develop spatial relationships. It will also support Thanksgiving curriculum and lesson plans. Do not keep score or enforce rules that promote competition as this is not a competitive activity.

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Preschool teachers and daycare providers have the opportunity to promote creative development by providing art activities that explore an array of media and materials. Creative art activities should also encourage imagination.

This Halloween Cookie Cutter Art lesson plan includes the materials list, preparation instructions and procedures for this activity. Also included are age appropriate learning objectives and an example of the simple supporting verbal cues required to encourage participation and support learning in a child day care center.

Halloween Cookie Cutter Art Materials List

• Cookie cutters in a variety of Halloween shapes
• Construction paper (one for each child)
• Tempura Paint (in a variety of colors)
• Shallow containers (i.e. pie tins)
• Glitter
• Butcher Paper

Activity Preparation

• Cover a craft table with butcher paper
• Gather all the materials
• Pour tempura paint into pie tins
• Place all materials on the table

Procedure for Activity

1. Invite the children over and tell them that you will be making Halloween pictures on construction paper using cookie cutters dipped in paint.
2. Show the children how to dip cookie cutters into the paint.
3. Press the cookie cutter on the construction paper to create a design.
4. Encourage children to make their own designs on their construction paper.
5. Add glitter to the paints.
6. Continue stamping until the design is complete.

Halloween Cookie Cutter Design Objectives

Objective 1

To provide the opportunity for expressive activities through cookie cutter art by having the children create designs using cookie cutters.

• Verbal Cue A: Today we are going to create Halloween designs using cookie cutters!
• Verbal Cue B: I have lots of colors for you to use to make a design.

Objective 2

To encourage spontaneity in material usage by allowing the children to choose their desired colors and to mix the colors they choose

• Verbal Cue A: Which color would you like choose first?
• Verbal Cue B: I like the way you are mixing your colors!

Objective 3

To introduce textured materials by adding glitter to the paint in which the children will dip their cookie cutters.

• Verbal Cue A: Let’s add glitter to the paint.
• Verbal Cue B: Let’s see what it feels like after we add glitter to the paint and the paint dries.

Halloween Cookie Cutter activity adapted from “Cookie Cutter Prints” on the Preschooleducation.com website.
*Reference: Creative Activities for Young Children by Mary Mayesky [Delmar Cenage Learning, 2001]

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Celebrate Thanksgiving in your daycare center by reading age appropriate stories that focus on the symbols of Thanksgiving and by implementing Thanksgiving themed activities.

Consider the following reading lists and resources for free Thanksgiving worksheets, coloring pages, and handwriting practice sheets for your child care center:

Reading List

Thanksgiving Board and Picture Books Baby-Age 3

Happy Thanksgiving, Emily by Claire Mauserel and Susan Calitri [Puffin, 2004]

Turkeys Never Gobble by Joan Holub and Jennifer Beck Harris [HarperFestival, 2002]

Happy Thanksgiving (Wee Board Book) by Wendy Cheyette Lewison [Grosset & Dunlap, 1993]

My First Thanksgiving Tomie dePaola [Grosset & Dunlap, 2008]

Turkey Time! by Kelly Asbury [Price Stern Sloan, 2000]

Corduroy’s Thanksgiving by Lisa McCue [Viking Juvenile, 2006]

Spot’s Thanksgiving by Eric Hill [Putnam Juvenile, 2003]

Hello Kitty: A Day of Thanks by Higashi Glaser [Abraham Brooks for Very Young Readers, 2005]

This is the Turkey by Abby Levine and Paige Billin-Frye [Albert Whitman & Company, 2000]

Thanksgiving Parade by Jodi Heulin and Kelly Asbury [Price Stern Sloan, 2000]

Five Silly Turkeys by Salina Yoon [Price Stern Sloan, 2005]

Thanksgiving Early Readers Ages 4-8

Turkey Trouble by Wendy Silvano and Lee Harper [Marshall Cavendish, 2009]

1, 2, 3 Thanksgiving by W. Nikola-Lisa and Robin Kramer [Albert Whitman, 1991]

Albert’s Thanksgiving by Leslie Tryon [Aladdin, 1998]

Gus, the Pilgrim Turkey by Teresa Bateman and Ellen Sasaski [Albert Whitman, 2008]

One is a Feast for a Mouse: a Thanksgiving Tale by Judy Cox and Jeffery Ebbeler [Holiday, 2008]

Run, Turkey, Run! By Diane Mayr and Laura Raider [Walker, 2007]

Thank You, Thanksgiving by David Milgrim [Clarion, 2003]

The Night before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing and Tammie Lyon [Grosset & Dunlap, 2001]

Thanksgiving is for Giving Thanks by Margaret Sutherland and Sonja Lamut [Grosset & Dunlap, 2000]

10 Fat Turkeys by Tony Johnston and Richard F. Deas [Cartwheel, 2004]

Thanksgiving Parade Surprise by Cecile Schoberle and Kristina Stephenson [Little Simon, 2000]

Pilgrim’s First Thanksgiving by Ann McGovern and Elroy Freem [Scholastic Paperbacks, 2003]

The Perfect Thanksgiving by Eileen Spinelli and JoAnn Adinolfi [Square Fish, 2007]

The Story of the Pilgrims by H.L. Ross [Random House for Young Readers, 1995]

Free Thanksgiving Preschool Worksheets and Printables

There are many worksheets for fall that you can print out and use for your lesson plans and activities. Worksheets should include coloring pages like those on ABCTeach’s website, handwriting worksheets, and printable craft patterns.

The following websites provide free Thanksgiving printables:

ABCTEach: Thanksgiving Coloring Pages

First-Preschool: Free Printables for Thanksgiving

DLTK: Thanksgiving printables for preschoolers and worksheets for school aged children

Christian Preschool Printables: Thanksgiving Bible Crafts for Preschoolers

KidZone: Thanksgiving Math Activity Worksheets

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Cognitive Development in Preschoolers

Cognitive development focuses on developing functions of the brain such as thinking, learning, awareness, judgment, and processing information. According to developmental psychologist Jean Piaget, children go through several stages of cognitive development and learning activities for toddlers and children should correspond to the appropriate developmental stage.

Pumpkin sorting is a cognitive activity for preschoolers that helps them learn and practice the skills of classification, relationships, and counting. This lesson plan includes preparation instructions, procedures, and materials list for this activity. The lesson plan also includes age-appropriate learning objectives and examples of the simple supporting verbal cues necessary to encourage participation and support learning in child care centers.

Activity Materials

• Large Felt Board
• Orange Felt
• Pumpkin templates (optional)
• Scissors

Activity Preparation

Trace pumpkins in various sizes (some large and some small) on a large piece of orange felt. You may also use pumpkin templates to trace the pumpkins on the felt. Cut the pumpkins out the felt. Arrange them randomly on a large felt board.

Procedure

Invite the children over to the felt board. Explain to them that they will be sorting pumpkins and arranging them biggest to smallest. Encourage the children to place the pumpkin cut outs in graduated order from biggest to smallest. After they are arranged encourage the children to sort into two categories, placing big pumpkins on one side of the board and small pumpkins on the other. Next ask them to count the number of pumpkins in each group.

Objective 1: To develop an understanding of classification by encourage children to sort pumpkins by size

• Verbal Cue A: Can you sort the pumpkins into big and small?
• Verbal Cue B: Let’s put the big large pumpkins on this side of the board and the small pumpkins on the other side.

Objective 2: To teach about relationships using the terms small, big, and bigger

• Verbal cue A: Let’s arrange all of the pumpkins in order from big to small.
• Verbal Cue B: Which pumpkin is bigger? This pumpkin or this pumpkin?

Objective 3: To introduce the number concept of 1-10

• Verbal Cue A: Let’s count the number of small pumpkins
• Verbal Cue B: How many large pumpkins are there?

By participating in this pumpkin sorting activity, young children will learn important cognitive skills such as sorting and classification, spend time becoming familiar with the symbols of autumn, and have great fun.

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Reading List

Autumn Board Books and Picture Books (Baby – Age 3)

Dappled Apples by Jan Carr and Dorothy Donohue [Holiday House, 2001]

Leaf Baby: Baby Seasons Board Books by Mary Bridgid Barrett and Eve Chwast [Red Wagon Books, 1998]

Autumn by Gerda Muller [Floris Books, 1994]

Fall: Seasons Board Books by Chris L. Demarest [Red Wagon Books, 1996]

5 Little Pumpkins by Michael Scott [Hyperion Books, 2003]

One Fall Day by Molly Bang [Greenwillow books, 1994]

Pumpkin Baby by Jane Yollen and Susan Mitchell [Key Porter Books, 2009]

Acorns Everywhere by Kevin Sherry [Dial, 2009]

Early Readers Ages 4-8

Clifford’s First Autumn by Norman Bridwell [Cartwheel, 1997]

Why Do Leaves Change Color? By Betsy Maestro and Loretta Krupinski [Collins, 1994]

In November by Cynthia Rylant and Jill Kastner [Sandpiper, 2008]

Corn is Maize by Aliki [Collins, 1986]

We Gather Together by Wendy Pfeiffer and Linda Beck [Dutton Juvenile, 2006]

Autumn An Alphabet Acrostic by Steven Schnur and  Leslie Evans [Clarion Books, 1997]

When Autumn Comes by Robert Mass [Henry Holt & co., 1992]

Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Elhert [Harcourt Children’s Books, 1991]

Fall (Four Seasons Series) by Nuria Roca [Barron’s Educational Series, 2004]

Arthur Jumps into Fall by Marc Brown [LB Kids, 2006]

Fall is Here by Elaine W. Good [Good Books, 1969]

Leaves by David Ezra Stein [Putnam Juvenile, 2007]

Pumpkin Soup by Helen Cooper [Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2005]

Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arnosky [Putnam, 1996]

Free Autumn Preschool Worksheets and Printables
There are many worksheets for fall that you can print out and use for your lesson plans. Worksheets should include coloring pages, handwriting worksheets like those on First-Preschool’s website, and printable craft patterns. For older children, try DLTK’s autumn worksheets which are appropriate for school aged children.

The following websites provide free fall printables:
First- Preschool: Autumn Coloring Pages
DLTK:  Autumn activities for Kids
KidZone: Autumn Themed Resources
PrintActivities.com: Fall Activities
Apples for the Teacher: Autumn Coloring Book Pages

Autumn symbols and themes include leaves, pumpkins, corn, scarecrows, apples, wheat, harvest, cornucopia, sunflowers, trees, acorns, pinecones, and wreaths. Building lesson plans around these symbols help teach young children in daycare centers about autumn, fall, harvesting, and thanksgiving.

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Daycare providers can create a Thanksgiving lesson plan filled with fun, educational activities.  First provide children with a brief summary of the meaning of Thanksgiving.  It is appropriate to discuss the story of Thanksgiving and the spirit of thankfulness, along with the symbols associated with Thanksgiving with the children in your licensed home daycare.  The traditional Thanksgiving symbols include turkeys, pilgrims, Indian corn, autumn leaves, and cornucopia. Your Thanksgiving lesson plan should include activities in a variety of areas of development.

Thanksgiving Craft for Preschoolers

Salad Spinner Turkeys
Materials:
Paper plates
Salad spinner
Brown Water based paint
Yellow water based paint
Orange water based paint
Light brown construction paper
Pipe cleaners in orange yellow and red

Instructions:
Place a paper plate inside of the salad spinner. Drop teaspoons of different colored paint inside the salad spinner. Replace the salad spinner lid and turn the handle of the spinner to create a pattern on the paper plate. Let the paper plate dry completely.  This will be the turkey’s “feathers”. Cut out the body of a turkey from brown construction paper. Using pipe cleaners, create a beak, waddle, and legs for the turkey. Attach the turkey’s body to the paper plate.

Thanksgiving Cognitive Activity for Preschoolers

Thanksgiving Matching Game
Cut out pairs of items from felt that symbolize Thanksgiving. This can be turkeys, corn, pilgrims, fruits and vegetables (harvest), pumpkins, ducks, autumn leaves or anything that represents Thanksgiving.   Place them randomly on a felt board, and then let children match the pairs of Thanksgiving items on the felt board.

Thanksgiving Circle Time Activity

Old Tom Turkey Flannel Board Activity*
Materials: Flannel board, Felt turkey, felt duck, felt hill

Flannel Board Story:

“Old Tom Turkey lived on a hill,
–gobble, gobble, gobble.
If he’s not gone, he lives there still,
–gobble, gobble, gobble.
A duck came by and said hello,
–quack, quack, quack
–gobble, gobble, gobble.
Goodbye now, friend, it’s time to go.
–quack, quack, quack
–gobble, gobble, gobble”.

Thanksgiving Cooking Activity for Preschoolers

Turkey Pin Wheels
Ingredients:
Whole wheat tortillas
Cream cheese
Turkey slices
Cucumber
Shredded carrots

Let the children spread whole wheat tortilla with cream cheese and add turkey slices, shredded carrots, and cucumber. Next, roll the tortilla using stick toothpicks to hold the roll in place if necessary. Using a knife, cut the roll into 1-inch slices.  Arrange on a platter and serve.

*Old Tom Turkey Flannel Board story Adapted from Providers N Friends

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Children’s books are usually categorized by genre and reading level. First books are divided into three categories: Fiction, folklore or poetry, nonfiction. Nonfiction books are books of information.  Folklore and poetry include folktales, mythology, tall tales, nursery rhymes, verse and epic literature.

Fiction books for children are then divided further into categories by reading level: Board books, picture books, easy readers, transitional books, and chapter books.  Infants and toddlers and preschoolers in child care centers are interested in board books, picture books, and easy readers.

Board Books

Board books are soft books for infants and young children with rounded edges. In addition picture books may have pop-up feature or flaps or a variety of textures for young children to explore.

Classic Board Books

The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle [Puffin, 1994]

Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown and Clement Hurd [HarperCollins, 2005]

The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss and Crockett Johnson [HarperFestival, 1993]

Picture Books

Picture books pair art with story. Some picture book pages may only have a few words while others may have a few paragraphs. Picture books are intended to convey ideas through art and to stir the imagination.  Picture books are usually 32 pages. To select exceptional picture books for your childcare center, choose picture books that integrate outstanding text and excellent illustrations.

Classic Picture Books

The Tale of Peter Rabbit by Beatrix Potter [Warne, 2002]

Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What do you See? Bill Martin, Jr. and Eric Carle [Holt and Co., 2008]

Madeline by Ludwig Bemelmans [Viking, 2000]

Make way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey [Viking, 1965]

Harold and the Paper Crayon [HarperCollins, 1998]

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats [Puffin, 1976]

Polar Bear Express by Chris Van Allsburg [Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Trade, 2009]

Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak [HarperCollins, 1998]

Easy Readers: As children develop reading and comprehension skill they move on to easy readers. They help children build the skills of children are just beginning to learn to read. Easy readers marry exceptional pictures with simple sentences.

Classic Easy Reader books

Little Bear by Elsa Holmelund Minarik and Maurice Sendak [HarperTrophy, 1978]

The Cat in the Hat by Dr. Seuss [Random House, 1957]

Frog and Toad are Friends Book and CD by Arnold Lobel [HarperCollins, 2005]

Henry and Mudge by Cynthia Rylant [Aladdin, 2006]

Bread and Jam for Francis by Russell and Lillian Hoban [HarperTrophy, 1993]

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Hanging Halloween Spiders

You will need: black tempera paint, medium Styrofoam balls, wide black pipe cleaners, plastic wiggly eyes, a needle, fishing line, and tape.

Directions: Paint Styrofoam balls with black paint. Let dry completely. Next cut the pipe cleaners in half and stick four pipe cleaners in each side of the Styrofoam balls. Then, glue two eyes on each spider. Thread needles with fishing line and spring fishing line through each spider. Then Hang spiders by the string by taping them to the ceiling.

Halloween Cognitive Activity

Bat Sorting

Bat sorting teaches young children both classification and counting. For this activity you will need to cut both large and small bats out of black construction paper. You can use a template or draw them freehand. You will also need two containers. Ask the children to sort bats the bats into large and small placing the small bats in one container and large bats in another. Next ask the children to count the total number of small bats and the total number of large bats. Ask them which number is larger.

Halloween Cooking Activity

Pumpkin Milkshakes

As a special holiday treat, try Pumpkin Milkshakes. In a blender, blend ¼ pint of vanilla ice cream, ¼ cup of milk, 1.5 teaspoons of vanilla extract, and 4 tablespoons of fresh pumpkin pureed. Pour into frosty glasses and top with fresh whipped cream and a dash of nutmeg or cinnamon. Children will have fun pouring ingredients into the blender and scooping whipped cream. You can also make your own fresh pumpkin puree with the children.

Halloween Circle Time Activity

5 Little Pumpkins Finger Play (similar to 5 Little Monkeys)

“Five little pumpkins sitting on a gate;

The first one said, ‘Oh my it’s getting late.’

The second one said, ‘There are witches in the air.’

The third one said, ‘But I don’t care.’

The fourth one said, ‘I’m ready for some fun!’

The fifth one said, ‘Let’s run and run and run.’

‘Wooooooo’ went the wind,

And out went the lights.

And the five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.”

Halloween Books for Preschoolers

Consider adding the following books to your child care resource center and reading them during your Halloween unit.

Halloween Treats:  A Touch-and-Feel Book by Tom Arma [Grosset and Dunlap, 2000]

Candy Corn by Kelly Asbury [Price Stern Sloan, 2001]

What is Halloween by Michelle Medlock Adams and Amy Wummer [Candy Cane Press, 2007]

Baby Strawberry’s First Halloween by SI Artists [Grosset and Dunlap, 2007]

It’s Halloween, Dear Dragon by Margaret Hillard [Modern Curriculum Press, 1980]

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First School Preschool Lesson Plans: First-School provides free, fun preschool lesson plans, and activities for early childhood education. Here you will find printable crafts, a wealth of worksheets, and a host of other free preschool-related resources for preschool age children. There are also preschool materials lists and lesson plans categorized by theme.  All activities can be modified to so that they are developmentally appropriate for the age group. [First-school.ws]

Enchanted Learning: Enchanted Learning offers creative, fun, and educational early childhood education materials. Print out lesson plans, worksheets, crafts and activities for preschoolers in a variety of categories. The site is user friendly, colorful, and includes printable books, tracing and cutting templates, games, rhymes and jokes. While this is a free site, members have access to print-friendly and ad-free pages. [Enchantedlearning.com]

TLS Books: TLSbooks.com provides free workout sheets for preschoolers in a variety of categories. There are shape, number, pre-math, concept, letter, fine motor skills, thinking, and color worksheets made specifically for preschool aged children.  There are also teacher resources, reading tips, and craft ideas.

Gayle’s Preschool Rainbow:  This site is great for both early childhood educators and parents.  While the Resource Room is members-only and fee based, Activity Central provides a wealth of ideas for lesson plans and activities. There are free craft ideas as well as ideas for circle time activities, rhymes, songs and finger plays. [Preschoolrainbow.org]

KidZone: If you are looking for free, high-quality worksheets for Pre-K in a variety of categories, KidZone is a great place to start. There are worksheets for alphabet recognition and printing practice, basic skills worksheets, math worksheets and reading worksheets.  There are also lesson plans that have been submitted by website visitors. [Kidzone.ws]

Curriculum books and software can be costly for licensed daycare providers.  Instead of investing in expensive activity books and lesson plans for your child care resource center, consider searching the internet for lesson plans and activities that are free of cost. As an alternative, early childhood educators can join a membership site for a small yearly fee in order to have access to additional, superior material. Please keep in mind that it is legal for individuals or organizations to make copies of website materials for individual or classroom use only, but reproducing these materials for the purpose of commercial use is strictly forbidden.

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