Kindergartners will welcome the autumn/all. They will practice recognizing letters, adding, subtracting and using the =, <, > signs. Children will also make a rowanberry necklaces or bracelets.

Educational aids:

cards with letters, a rainbow parachute, boxes, leaves, 4 templates of Miss Autumn/Fall, cards with numbers, graphic signs (<, >, =), classical music, conkers, an ‘Under The Big Tall Chestnut Tree’ song, a bag, rowanberry, an ‘Autumn leaves are falling down’/‘Fall is Here’ song, a thread, a sewing needle, a ‘Scarecrow’ song.

Description of activities:

*Before the class the teacher (in a way so that children cannot see this, e.g. during breakfast), hides conkers in different places in the room.

1. ‘People to people’ – greeting children – the teacher asks children to form pairs and greet each other with the indicated body part e.g. feet. Children touch each other with their feet and other body parts, indicated by the teacher. When the teacher says: ‘People to people’ children have to change pairs. This activity is repeated 3 times and each time children greet each other with 3-4 body parts.

2. ‘Miss Autumn/Fall’ – introduction to the topic – the teacher places cards with letters (more than is needed to form the words: ‘Miss Autumn/Fall’) on the carpet. Next, he/she says words which start from a given sound and children choose and arrange suitable letters:

M – mother, mouth, miracle
I – ice, idea, iron
S – strawberry, sock, shoes
S – sea, salad, season

A – ant, alligator, ape
U – umbrella, universe, unicorn
T – toes, table, tea
U – uncle, underground, uniform
M – milk, map, music
N – neck, number, nose

F – fox, frog, fish, 
A – ant, alligator, ape
L – lion, lemon, lamp
L – list, little, learn

Children read the slogan together and the teacher says: ‘Autumn/fall reminds me of…’ with proposition of the completion e.g. ‘Autumn/Fall reminds me of colorful leaves and cold mornings.’ Next children one by one say the sentence and their completions. We continue the activity until all children say it. At the end the teacher says: ‘The autumn/fall reminds me of…’ and adds a proposition of the rest of the sentence e.g. ‘The autumn/fall reminds me of colorful leaves and cold mornings.’ Next children one by one say the same sentence, finishing it as they wish. The activity is continued until all volunteers say their sentences. At the end the teacher sums up: ‘Autumn/fall is one of the four seasons of the year. Evenings are long and cold. There is often fog in the morning and in the evening. The weather can be changeable. Today is the first day of the astronomical autumn/fall – from today each day will be a little shorter than the previous one and nights will be longer. The first day of the meteorological autumn/fall is always on the 1st of September.’

3. ‘Falling leaves of Miss Autumn/Fall’ – movement activity – the teacher makes children hold the rainbow parachute. Next, the teacher places leaves on the rainbow parachute and children tighten and move it, trying not to make the leaves fall down on the floor. The activity lasts about 5 minutes – the teacher can ask children to move the parachute fast/slowly/gently/strongly.

4. ‘Where is more?’ – a math activity – the teacher puts four templates of Miss Autumn/Fall on the carpet. On each template the teacher creates a dress made of leaves (each dress consists of a various number of leaves). Next, the teacher asks the children: ‘Which dress has the biggest amount of/the fewest leaves?’ (the teacher encourages children to estimate and then count the leaves). One of the children is chosen to count each set and match a card with a right number to each of the sets. Next, the teacher points to two dresses of Miss Autumn/Fall and asks: ‘On which dress can you see more leaves?’ The teacher chooses a child who answers this question and matches the card with the right sign (<, > or =). The teacher asks the same question 7-8 times. Then he/she asks the children to clean up and put the leaves in a container.

5. ‘A dress for Miss Autumn/Fall’ – a movement activity – the teacher sticks a template of Miss Autumn/Fall to the wall/board and puts four containers with leaves in various places in the preschool room. Children move to the rhythm of classical music, e.g. an ‘Autumn’ music piece by A. Vivaldi. As the music stops playing each child takes one leaf from one of the containers and puts it on the Miss Autumn/Fall template. In this way children create the Miss Autumn/Fall dress. To stick leaves they can use tape/glue sticks or a special mass. The activity is continued until children make a beautiful colorful dress.

6. ‘An autumn/fall math’ – a math activity – the teacher places colorful leaves and cards with numbers and math signs on the carpet. Next, he/she invites children one by one to resolve simple content tasks. Children illustrate the answers with the use of the leaves and by arranging cards with numbers and math signs.

• Tom has three yellow leaves and four red leaves. How many leaves does Tom have?
• Christina has two green leaves and three yellow leaf. Her brother, Mark, has five orange leaves. Who has more leaves – Christina or Mark?
• Sophie collected eight leaves on the walk. She gave Anna five leaves. How many leaves has Sophie got now?
• Hannah collected seven leaves in the forest. Next, she went to the park and collected three leaves. How many leaves does Hannah have?

7. ‘Hidden conkers’ – a movement activity – the teacher divides children into 5 groups by giving them leaves in the same colors. Then he/she plays the music, e.g. an ‘Under The Big Tall Chestnut Tree’ song and children have to find conkers – as much as possible. The activity lasts until all conkers are collected. Next children sit in groups on the carpet and count the conkers (they can choose a card with the right number). They compare the number of conkers they have in their collections with the collections of other groups and reward the team which collected the biggest number of conkers with applause.

8. ‘How many conkers can you feel?’ – an educational and math activity – the teacher puts conkers in a bag and places the bag on the carpet. The chosen child has to count the conkers – if he or she can, he or she does it only with the use of touch, without pulling them out. All volunteers try to do the same thing.

9. ‘Rowanberry’ – a movement activity – the teacher places rowan balls in various places in the kindergarten room. Then he/she says children should not to eat them, because raw rowan balls are poisonous and may cause vomiting and dizziness. Children try to sing the ‘Autumn leaves are falling down’/‘Fall is Here’ songs and move to the rhythm of this song around the kindergarten room. As the music stops playing they collect the rowan balls. The activity is continued until all rowanberry balls will be collected.

10. ‘A rowanberry necklace’ – a motor skills activity – the teacher tells children that they can make beautiful necklaces or bracelets from rowan balls – for themselves or as a gift for someone e.g for a mother, a sister, or a friend. Next, the teacher asks selected children to place materials on the tables and invites children to sit by the tables. The teacher should pay special attention to children in order to keep them safe during using the needle. After children finish making necklaces or bracelets they clean up the tables, sit on the carpet and present their necklaces/bracelets.

1. Put the thread in the needle.
2. Insert the black dot that is visible on the berry with the needle – the needle should come out at the opposite side of the berry; otherwise, the berry may not hold the thread properly.
3. When all the berries are put on the thread make a knot at the end of the thread.

11. ‘Scarecrow’ – a movement activity – children stand in a circle with the teacher who plays the music and moves according to the lyrics of the song. Next, they can try to sing the song unaccompanied and do it faster and faster.

Scarecrow

Scarecrow, scarecrow turn around.
Scarecrow, scarecrow touch the ground.
Scarecrow, scarecrow reach up high.
Scarecrow, scarecrow touch the sky.
Scarecrow, scarecrow bend down low.
Scarecrow, scarecrow touch your toes.

12. ‘What is your favorite season?’ – an educational activity – children sit in the circle on the carpet and repeat the names of four seasons together with the teacher. Next, the teacher asks the one of the children: ‘What is your favorite season and why?’ and he or she answers. The teacher encourages children to answer the question by creating a full sentence: ‘My favorite season is… because…’. The activity is continued until all the children answer the question.

13. ‘Welcome, autumn/fall!’ – going to the nearest park/forest – children and the teacher go to the nearest park/forest to welcome autumn/fall.

Attachments:

An A3 template for the ‘Where is more?’ and ‘A dress for Miss Autumn/Fall’ activities – to be printed on two A4 paper sheets

Pages:

1. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8AN0jWNrJA&ab – classical music for the ‘A dress for Miss Autumn/Fall’ and ‘Spinning leaves’ activities
2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q8MLDfdaho&ab – an ‘Under The Big Tall Chestnut Tree’ song for the ‘Hidden conkers’ activity
3. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPm7JTGIHcA – an ‘Autumn leaves are falling down’ song for the ‘Rowanberry’ activity
4. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Snv4xXzFrlQ&ab – a ‘Fall is Here’ song for the ‘Rowanberry’ activity
5. http://www.kiddiefoodies.com/crafts/diy-rowanberry-necklace-fine-motor-skills-activity-kids – an idea for the ‘A rowanberry necklace’ activity
6. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=geFvOfBQNbE&ab – a ‘Scarecrow’ song for the ‘Scarecrow’ activity