Preschool Education & Everything Preschool

Fall may be a terrific time of year for fun crafts but you don’t want to be so focused on the fun that you forget about the great educational opportunities that the season presents. Sure, it’s great to carve pumpkins and make Thanksgiving turkeys out of construction paper during these months. But in addition to these arts and crafts, you can come up with a number of different fall activities which give your children great educational skills. In fact, there are fall activities to cover all of the basic school subjects and then some.

Here are some educational fall activities for each subject:

Do you use the terms “fall” and “autumn” interchangeably? If so, you are just like most other people in America who agree that the two words are meant to mean the same thing (the season that comes after summer and before winter). But there is another school of thinking which says that autumn and fall are two subtly different seasons. How many people agree with this depends on where in the country you are living. In some places, the seasonal shift between the two is too subtle to warrant a difference in the name. But in other places, such as New England, there is an obvious difference between autumn and fall and people will tell you that this means there are five seasons instead of four.

Fall is a terrific time to incorporate leaf crafts into kids’ daily activities. You can take kids outside to get some fresh air and physical activity while they collect the leaves. Then you can come indoors again and keep them busy with the crafts. Leaf crafts are fun and they also help to build motor skills in young children. Plus leaf crafts can be used in conjunction with learning other lessons like how the seasons change.

There are many different leaf crafts for kids and you can probably think up many more on your own but here are a few to get you started:

• Leaf rubbings. Take a leaf and place it on a table or desk. Cover it with a blank piece of paper. Kids can use charcoal or crayons to rub over the paper and the impression of the leaf will come out. This will seem magical to young children who can then draw or decorate the new leaf. A variation on this is leaf tracing.
• Leaf scrapbook album. Use construction paper and yarn to create a scrapbook. Kids can glue their leaves to each page to create their own album. One variation on this is to create a fall story, writing the text underneath each leaf on the page. Another variation is to have children glue one leaf on each side and to describe what is the same and what is different between the two leaves that are facing each other.
• Leaf Strings. For this you’ll need string or yarn and the leaves as well as a hole puncher. Punch holes in the tops of the leaves and then string them to make a decoration. Eventually, the leaves will crumble and fall off; you can use this to reinforce lessons about the changing of seasons and the way leaves fall off of trees.
• Leaf Wreath. All you need for this one is the leaves, some glue or tape and a paper plate or other round shaped object. Have the kids glue or tape their leaves to the plate to create a wreath (cut out the center to make it more wreath-like). Add decorations such as ribbon, glitter or coloring. Variations on this leaf craft include the Thanksgiving Wreath in which you write “things you’re thankful for” on the leaves or on the center of the plate where there aren’t any leaves.

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October just might be the most fun month there is as far as fall preschool themes go. It’s early enough in the year that there are still plenty of outdoor activities that can be done with preschoolers. It’s also early enough in the year that you’re not suffering the stress of the upcoming winter holidays so you can relax some and really enjoy creative lessons with your kid(s). But it’s a busy month with a lot of fun kid-oriented activities (mostly centering on Halloween) so there are plenty of different things that you can incorporate into the day to keep things fun and interesting.

Fall is a great month to take your preschooler on a hike. Hikes are great because of the obvious physical exercise that they give to your child. They are also a terrific way to teach kids about nature. Kids can learn to interact appropriately with the plants and animals that live in your area and can gain an appreciation for the world around them. Hikes can also be used for many different lessons including teaching the skill of observation, learning about the culture of people who once lived in the area where you are hiking and starting to understand about the weather and terrain. Plus, taking your preschooler on a hike is a great bonding experience.

• Song for Rosh Hashanah - ecewebguide.com has some really cute Rosh Hashanah Songs for Preschoolers. Teach your children all about the Jewish Holiday Rosh Hashanah through Music. Kids will have fun learning… it doesn’t get much better than that.
• Stuffed Round Challah - Here is a craft you can do with your Preschool children perfect for Rosh Hashanah. Make a stuffed Round Challah… you will find all the details you need for this Rosh Hashanah craft here.
• Rosh Hashanah Activities For Young Children at JewZ.com - Here are a couple of great Preschool Rosh Hashanah activities that you can do with your children at home. Stop by JewZ.com and learn how to make an Aluminum Foil Shofar and Your Own Greeting Cards for the New Year.
• Preschool by Stormie – Find not only Preschool Rosh Hashanah Crafts, but also some Rosh Hashanah History.
• Shofar Blasts - There are three types of shofar blasts that you hear during Rosh Hashanah.If you are curious what the Shofar sounds like when blown check out the Shofar Page at Akhlah.com. Here you can learn all about the shofar and what sound it makes when blown.

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