Fall Learning Activities with Leaves and More

I know it’s not technically fall yet but I’m so ready, and there are a lot of great ideas for learning with fall items like leaves and acorns that you should have in mind when the time comes. Here are (more than!) a few to get you started. Check out this article on the best STEM gifts for kids.

I’d love to know if you incorporate natural materials into learning during the fall or any other time of year!

Fall STEM

Leaf Chromatography — remove the color from leaves — Schooling a Monkey

Measuring Leaves — And Next Comes L (she also has a great math tray using fall materials)

Tracing the Veins of a Leaf — Go Science Girls

Counting Nature — Mom Explores the Rockies

Subtracting with Ten Frames — Leaf Theme — Life Over Cs

Math Activities Using Natural Materials — The Usual Mayhem

Activities for Little Learners

Leaf Number Sort and Alphabet Leaf Activity — A Dab of Glue Will Do (check out this great list of fall books for littles, too)

Fall Sensory Bin — Ms. Jones’ Creation Station (also grab her colors of fall printable coloring book for emergent readers)

Acorn Fine Motor Activities — Little Bins for Little Hands (don’t miss her fall discovery table, sensory bottles and fall slime, too!)

Fall Sight Word Flashcards — Look We’re Learning (also fall play dough mats)

More Fun Activities

Tree Leaf Collection — with identification cards — Preschool Powol Packets

Leaf Identification Printables — Look We’re Learning (also check out Scarecrow Syllables for second graders and her All About Leaves printable pack)

Next Plan Idea:

Leaf Reading and Writing Activities

The celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is important throughout Mexico and other parts of the world. Her feast day is Dec. 12, and the celebrations honoring her appearance to Juan Diego in 1531 begin a few days before that.

Whether you celebrate yourself or just want to share about the celebration at home or in your classroom, Las Mañanitas: The Beautiful Celebration of Our Lady of Guadalupe is a good place to start. The book, by Ernesto Joel Vega Rosales and Jeanette Gonzalez Seneviratne, with illustrations by Dana Sanmar, tells the story of a family’s celebration of the feast day in both English and Spanish.

They prepare with a novena, which is nine days of prayers and preparations. The children, Lucia and Pablo, are given special outfits made by their grandmother that look like what Juan Diego might have worn when he saw Our Lady. The book describes the prayers that are made each day, such as a prayer for respect for life, for families and for the indigenous people of the Americas, to name a few.

As told in the book, Juan Diego was a native Mexican born near modern day Mexico City. His given name was Cuaauhtlatoatzin, which means “He who speaks like an eagle.” When he converted to Christianity his name was changed to Juan Diego, and as he walked to church he passed a hill called Tepeyac. One day he heard the birds singing especially beautifully and a voice called him to go to the top of the hill.

There he saw Our Lady of Guadalupe, who asked him to tell the bishop she wanted a chapel built in her name at the foot of the hill. The bishop asked for a sign that Juan Diego really saw her, and later she had him collect flowers that she blessed and take them to the bishop. When Juan Diego dropped the flowers, an image of Our Lady could be seen on his cloak, which is still on display in her basilica to this day.

The feast day is celebrated as mañanitas, which includes singing, indigenous music and dancing, and children presenting flowers to Our Lady. Juan Diego is remembered today as being humble, brave and faithful, and was the first indigenous American made a saint.

The book is colorful and tells the story in a clear way, and it’s fun to have it both in English and Spanish if you teach Spanish or speak Spanish at home or in the classroom. It’s a great way to learn the basics of the celebration and the story of Juan Diego and why he is still remembered today.

About the book: 40 pages, paperback, published 2024 by Loyola Press. Suggested retail price $14.99.

Next Plan Idea:

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