Falling Into Autumn

by | Oct 17, 2015 | All EYFS, Creative Area, Discovery Area, Finger Gym, Home-Made Resources, Light Play, Malleable Area, Maths Area, Outdoors, Printables, Sensory, Small World | 16 comments

Falling Into Autumn

Sorry for no blogpost last week – things have been a bit hectic. We’ve been up to our eyes in ‘autumn’ for the last fortnight anyway, so it makes sense to share it all in one post. The transient art activities we enjoyed a couple of weeks ago (shared here) resulted in quite a few discussions about the silk leaves we were using & we went out on a little walk around our school field & wooded area to find some real ones. We had a lovely time, which is why I thought they might enjoy a few other autumn-inspired activities. Here are a few of the opportunities I set up…

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Exploring Autumn Goodies

Exploring autumn goodies from Rachel (",)

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Stretching, Threading & Balancing at the Finger Gym

Out came a few homemade goodies – made by my lovely hubby. The threading post is new (just dowelling rods into a log slice), but you’ve seen the geoboard & golf tee balancing thingy before.

Stretch, thread and balance with natural materials at the Finger Gym from Rachel (",)

Stretch, thread and balance with natural materials at the Finger Gym from Rachel (",)

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Pushpins in Leaves

The children love this fine-motor activity…

Leaf outlines and pushpins (free printable) from Rachel (",)

These are hand drawn leaves but if you’d like to download a copy you can do so here: 

Leaves for pushpins from Rachel (“,)

Hole Punching Leaves

Hole punching leaves from Rachel (",)

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Threading Leaves onto Sticks

Threading leaves onto sticks from Rachel (",)

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Fine Motor Fun with Conkers

Fine Motor Fun with Conkers from Rachel (",)

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Autumn Walk

Autumn walk from Rachel (",)

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Maths Opportunities

Sorting and counting on an autumn-inspired table from Rachel (",)

Counting on Leaves (& Pattern Making)

Counting and sorting with an autumn feel... from Rachel (",)

Apples & Leaves on Trees

Counting onto trees (free printable) from Rachel (",)

You can download these trees if you want a copy. They’re a bit ‘wonky’ as I’m still waiting for all my technology to be set up in school & had to hand draw them with the mouse, but you’re welcome to a copy if you think they’ll be useful:

Trees for the maths area from Rachel (“,)

Sorting Leaf Beads

I’ve had these leaves for years, but you can find similar on eBay if you search acrylic leaves. You can buy the same trays from Amazon…

Sorting leaves from Rachel (",)

Sorting Autumn Coloured Buttons

Sorting Autumn coloured buttons from Rachel (",)

Counting onto a Number Grid

Counting leaves onto a number grid (free printable) from Rachel (",)

I’ve shared this grid before, but you can download a copy here if you’d like to: Grid for counting from Rachel (“,)

Counting Acorns

Counting acorns from Rachel (",)

Autumn Counting

Autumn counting from Rachel (",)

Matching Shades of Colour to Autumn Leaves

Matching shades of colour with autumn leaves from Rachel (",)

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Autumn Sensory Bowl

Autumn Sensory Bowl from Rachel (",)

Autumn Sensory Bowl from Rachel (",)

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Exploration on the OHP

Shapes & Laminated Cellophane Numbers… 

Shapes and laminated cellophane numbers on the OHP from Rachel (",)

Leaves

They look so beautiful!

Leaves on the OHP from Rachel (",)

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Autumn Leaves & Minibeasts

Minibeasts and Autumn leaves from Rachel (",)

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Autumn Dough

Invitation to create leaves…

Autumn dough from Rachel (",)

Invitation to create ‘trees’…

… with pipe-cleaners & buttons…

Invitation to create play dough trees with pipe-cleaners and buttons from Rachel (",)

Leaf Imprints in Play Dough

Leaf imprints in play dough from Rachel (",).

Printing Leaves

Leaf prints set-up from Rachel (",)

Printing leaves from Rachel (",)

Leaf prints from Rachel (",)

They are now looking pretty, hanging from a branch – although it’s tricky to capture on a photo…

Leaf prints from Rachel (",)

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Painting Sunflowers

Painting sunflowers from Rachel (",)

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Transient Art

Autumn Inspired

Autumn inspired transient art from Rachel (",)

Autumn inspired transient art from Rachel (",)

This little girl chose to embellish the picture on the tile & then add a frame…

Adding transient art to a tile (the child chose to add the frame) from Rachel (",)

Decorating Leaves

Decorating leaves from Rachel (",)

Decorating Bark Pieces

Decorating bark pieces from Rachel (",)

Tap the Magic Tree

(I love this book!)

Tap the Magic Tree on the light panel from Rachel (",)

Leaf skeletons and glass pebbles on the light panel from Rachel (",)

Leaf Man

Another fab book!

Leaf Man Transient Art from Rachel (",)

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Decorating Leaves

We started to use the Sharpies pictured here, but they didn’t work very well, so we had a go with chalk pens instead. I forgot to take a photo of the chalk pens. Sorry! :-/

Decorating leaves from Rachel (",)

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Small World Play

Woodland Animals & Fairies

I am still keeping my small world area fairly simple as the children learn to look after the resources & tidy up after themselves. Here we have woodland animals, fairies, wood slices & homemade toadstools…

Simple set-up for woodland animals and fairies from Rachel (",)

Farm

I changed it into a farm as a result of some observed outdoor play…

Down on the farm from Rachel (",)

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Classroom Signs

There are a few of this these type of signs available on the internet. These are ones I made using Highway Code signs a few years ago. The ‘tidy’ signs are very handy & the children like to be able to save an unfinished creation with the ‘Work in progress’ signs. There are two versions of the work on progress – a ‘flat’ one (four on the page) & one that you can fold (two on the page)… 

Classroom signs (free printables) from Rachel (",)

If you wish a copy, you can download them here: Classroom signs from Rachel (“,)

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Autumn Fun Last Year

You can see some of the other ways I have explored autumn-inspired activities with the children here. 🙂

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Thanks for reading & sorry for the ‘bumper’ post – autumn has so many rich opportunities!

Autumnal treasures ready to explore from Rachel (",)

Looking forward to exploring these treasures next week…

Don’t forget that you can also find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter &  Pinterest. 

Would love you to come & say hello! 🙂 

– Rachel (“,)

Montessori Monday Link-Up

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16 Comments

  1. Robyn on 17/10/2015 at 8:43 am

    This post was absolutely amazing, so many brilliant ideas!

    Reply
    • Rachel (",) on 17/10/2015 at 9:11 am

      Thank you so much, Robyn! 🙂

      Reply
  2. Rachel on 17/10/2015 at 1:27 pm

    I always love your ideas and thank you for sharing 🙂

    I haven’t seen ‘Tap the magic tree’ before – did you use actual twigs on the light box or are they drawn? Thanks

    Reply
    • Rachel (",) on 17/10/2015 at 1:33 pm

      Thank you!
      Tap the Magic Tree is a fabulous book! We used real twigs on the light panel – last year we used a mirror as a base ☺️

      Reply
  3. Tina Markey on 17/10/2015 at 2:57 pm

    Great blog, fab ideas!

    Reply
    • Rachel (",) on 17/10/2015 at 3:00 pm

      Thank you, Tina! 🙂

      Reply
  4. Barbara on 17/10/2015 at 5:15 pm

    Wow! This is an amazing post! Thank so SO much for all the wonderful ideas.

    Reply
    • Rachel (",) on 17/10/2015 at 5:16 pm

      Thank you very much for the lovely comment, Barbara! 🙂

      Reply
  5. Marie on 18/10/2015 at 9:57 pm

    Wow beautiful as always Rachel – you have covered so much within your provision.

    Reply
    • Rachel (",) on 19/10/2015 at 4:15 am

      Thank you Marie 🙂

      Reply
  6. Jane on 19/10/2015 at 9:52 am

    My teaching partner and I discovered your site this summer and have used many of your ideas in our set up for the new school year. We love how you incorporate nature into the learning opportunities.
    We are curious about where you find the tabletop mirrors?

    Reply
    • Rachel (",) on 19/10/2015 at 10:46 am

      Thanks for the lovely comment, Jane!
      I’ve been lucky enough to find the standing mirrors in charity shops. The small ones that the children use (in transient art etc) are nearly all from Ikea.

      Reply
  7. Tammy on 05/08/2016 at 5:10 pm

    I love your ideas: My daycare enjoyes the items I put out from your ideas :). Thank you for Pinterest where u share your items on. You are better then going to classes I have to take for hours

    Reply
    • Rachel (",) on 05/08/2016 at 5:50 pm

      You can pin directly from my blog too, if I don’t choose the images you like for Pinterest, Tammy.
      Thanks for the lovely comment! 🙂

      Reply
  8. Janet Stooke on 29/08/2017 at 1:22 pm

    Thanks so much for sharing all of your ideas! Can’t wait to use them in my kindergarten class!

    Reply
    • Rachel (",) on 29/08/2017 at 2:31 pm

      You are very welcome! 🙂

      Reply

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