Fall Theme Inspirations

Summer is coming to an end, and the Autumn equinox is almost here. Soon the leaves will be changing color, frost will be covering the ground in the mornings, and our cars will be frozen in their driveways each day before we heat them up to go to work. Children find this changing of the seasons fascinating. There are so many things a teacher or parent can do to help encourage their exploration, and discovery of the season. For one thing you could simply go outside for a walk and take a look around. Comment on the differences between the trees, the grass, and even the skies. You could set up a fall themed treasure hunt. Decorate your home with fall colors, and so much more. Here in Vancouver it almost seemed like fall came on way to quickly. Especially since summer came so late, but either way it's another new season with new things to explore, and new ideas to teach. Here's some ideas to get your home into that fall feeling, and amplify your children's enjoyment of the season. As well as a few activity plans for your children to explore on their own.

Decorations are a great way of bringing in that fall feeling, and one way of making a great decoration is by simply collecting some natural materials from your own backyard. Leaves, twigs, and stones make a great tool for creating some neat decorations, and your children will love the fact that they can bring these things inside to explore further as you make some interesting displays with them.

At lot of schools, and centers you'll find that as fall passes by they'll be decorating their doors and windows with fall art, and ideas. This is a great way of getting your children to notice the changes in the season. Every time they look out the window or pass through that doorway they'll see the beautiful colors, and themes you've put up for them to enjoy, and they might even want to help you to decorate them further.

Fall Themed Entrance

Materials: Orange, Brown, and Red Paper. Scissors, Tape, Pencil Crayons, Glitter glue and String.

Procedure: Draw some leafy templates on the colored paper, and invite your children to cut them out. If you don't feel like drawing then collect some leaves from outside, and have your children make some leaf rubbings. Then invite them to cut out the individual leaves, and tape them around an entrance. Use one colored piece of paper to write something like, "Leaves are Falling," and tie it into a door hanger with some string. Have your children decorate it with glitter glue, and leafy cutouts, or even use real leaves. Tie a few of the leafy cut outs to the tips of some strings, and tape them up around the top of the doorway like a curtain. This simple idea is a great start to welcoming in the new season. You can do this in a doorway, up a staircase, and in your windows. Surrounding your home or classroom with an artsy, fall feeling.

There are two ways you can do this. One - Put up a tall brown paper trunk on one wall, and use some leafy ideas for decorating it. Two - Use some empty wrapping paper rolls to create a tree trunk with brown tape, and soft garden wires. Then invite your children to makes leaves to place at the ends of the wires to create your own indoor tree. This idea of placing a home-made tree indoors is great for all year round. As the season changes so can the leaves you place on the tree. You can even place some cotton balls here and there to create a snowy effect for winter.

Seasonal Tree

Materials: Brown Construction Paper, Tape, Scissors, Black Pencil Crayons, Fall colored paper.

Procedure: Cut out a tree trunk from the brown construction paper and tape it to a wall. Make it small enough for the children to reach to to the top. Draw some lines on the trunk with the black pencil to create a bark-like look. Invite the children to either make some leaf rubbing that they can cut out, or draw some leaf templates on the colored paper for them to cut. Have them tape the leafs all around the top of the tree trunk, and even place some near the ground to create a fall colored tree. Children will have lots of fun with this, and if you should choose to adjust the tree as the seasons change it makes a great display for visually showing your children the changes of the seasons from a trees point of view.