October Lesson Plan Activities

Fall and Halloween Ideas for Preschoolers and Early Elementary Kids

Oct 1, 2009

Fun leaf, pumpkin and acorn activities to go with any fall, Halloween or October lesson plan.

Fall is in the air, the season of festivities has begun, and there are so many things that can be done in the classroom to learn and have fun with the seasons change. These fall and October theme ideas are just a few to provide enjoyable, educational opportunities for preschoolers and early elementary children.

Fall and Halloween File Folder Games

Using File Folder Game Instructions, paste different pumpkin faces inside the folder. Make it simple or challenging by using several different shapes for the noses, eyes and mouth, with one difference or many differences. Make two sets of each pumpkin face so a child can match the loose piece to the face in the laminated folder. Refer to the picture for an example.

This is a great phonics or spelling game that can be made for any literacy level, be it preschool or early elementary. For first graders, a file folder game focusing on spelling can be made fun using acorn cutouts. Decide which kind of words to focus on, “-an”, “-at”, “-en” or several others. Six of two word endings should be picked. In this example, “-at” and “-an” words. Label each acorn cutout with a letter to go with your words. Have a picture for each word pasted next to the blank spaces and a child will use the acorns to spell the word. Refer to the picture below for an example.

Fall and October Math Games

Introduce leaves by reading a fun book and singing songs. Have small leaf cutouts and discuss all the different colors seen in the fall. The teacher will be the tree and have the leaves fall down. The children must gather as many as possible, and sort them by color.

Graph the results for each child on how many brown, red, yellow, or orange leaves have been collected. Discuss which child has the most of each color, which has the lesser number, and count the total number of leaves for a class count.

To further the leaf activity using the same leaf manipulatives, tie a string from one object to another to make a horizontal line (or clothesline). Have clothespins available and instruct the children to hang the leaves in a pattern. This also helps fine motor skills. Refer to the picture below for an example.

Halloween Pumpkin Activities

Focus on the Halloween aspect of October by introducing pumpkins to the children. Have a bowl of golf tees and play hammers with a pumpkin for them to hammer the tees in. Carve open a pumpkin and use it as a sensory table object for the children to explore. Read books going over the growth of a pumpkin from a seed to a plant and have roasted pumpkin seeds or pumpkin bread for a snack.

Create a pumpkin face on orange paper and draw puzzle lines to eventually cut and make puzzle pieces. Set at a table for children to piece together (after laminating).

Have several pumpkins cut out in orange felt, and many different types of facial pieces out of black felt like: circle eyes, triangle eyes, happy eyes, sad eyes, different shaped noses, and different kinds of mouths. Place the activity at a table and encourage children to see how many different faces they can create.

Whether it’s reading seasonal books about leafs, pumpkins, squirrels or scarecrows, singing songs, experimenting with new senses at the sensory table, doing table activities with file folder games, or playing an themed game, fall is a great time of the year to put personal creativity to work and come up with exciting, new or old things to enjoy in the classroom.

The copyright of the article October Lesson Plan Activities in Preschool is owned by ChristaCarol Jones. Permission to republish October Lesson Plan Activities in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.