Finger rhymes are lots of fun for little kids! They get to be active participants as they move their fingers to act out the rhyme. According to Reading Rockets, rhymes are important for young children because they help develop an ear for our language. Both rhyme and rhythm help kids hear the sounds and syllables in words, which helps kids learn to read! Check out my RHYMES page for more fun action and finger rhymes, as well as other cute poems.
I love the Five Little Pumpkins finger rhyme and wanted more finger rhymes to do in the fall so I made up one about leaves. I think it turned out pretty fun 🙂 Get your fingers ready to act out Five Little Leaves with me! I also changed the lyrics of If You’re Happy and You Know and made a fall edition version by adding fall activities–catch falling leaves, stomp on the leaves, and sweep the leaves!
FIVE LITTLE LEAVES
Five little leavesfalling from a tree. (hold up 5 fingers)
The first one says,“You can’t catch me!” (wiggle thumb)
The second one says,“There’s a chill in the air!” (wiggle pointer finger)
The third one says,“But we don’t care!” (wiggle middle finger)
The fourth one says“Hello” to the ground. (wiggle ring finger)
The fifth one says,“We make a crunching sound!” (wiggle pinky)
Whoosh goes the wind,blowing all around. (wave hand around)
And the five little leaves landsafe and sound. (hand open flat, palm facing up)
Your preschooler will have so much fun making this coffee filter fall leaves craft. The leaves are easy to make — you just have to color them and spay with water 🙂
Supplies Needed:
This craft doesn’t need require many supplies, which it makes it one of my favorite go-to activities!
Coffee Filter Fall Leaves Craft supplies: markers, spray bottle, coffee filters, and scissors
You Will Need:
-coffee filters
-markers (make sure that they are NOT permanent)
-spray bottle (with water)
-scissors
How To Make Coffee Filter Fall Leaves:
leaf designs
The first thing I did was draw leaf patterns on the coffee filters. You can trace leaf designs that you like if you do not want to free hand draw it. I recommend drawing with a marker, not a pen. I tried a pen for one and you could see the ink outline, whereas the outlines I drew with a marker disappeared.
color in your leaves
Then my son and I colored in our leaves. It is important to use markers that easily wash off of surfaces because the color will bleed through the coffee filter. Don’t worry about how your leaf looks because once you spray it with water, the colors will run together and any design you had will be gone.
After coloring the leaves, I cut them out. I wish I had made my stems a little thicker, but it turned out okay.
Now it is time to spray the leaves! This is my son’s favorite part 🙂 Once you begin spraying the coffee filters with water, the color will immediately bleed onto your surface. We chose to spray ours on the grass. If you don’t have an outdoor area that you can make a mess on, then make sure that whatever surface you are using is cleanable, or put wax paper under your coffee filters to catch the run off. We learned that the more water your spray, the less vivid the colors are. Experiment with lightly versus heavily spraying your leaves and see which way you like best.
Coffee Filter Fall Leaves Craft
We left our leaves on the grass to dry in the sun. They dried in about 20 minutes (it was a warm morning). They turned out pretty neat 🙂 We are happy with our leaves and can’t wait to make more of them. I want to make a leaf garland to hang in our house!
More Fall Fun
If you would like some fun, fall-themed books to read after you make your coffee filter leaves, then check out my FALL post.
Looking for more fall activities? Check out my APPLE post, which has book suggestions, STEM activities, and a find-the-differences worksheet. My son also recently made PUMPKIN FIZZ, which was a super fun science experiment to tie in with our fall-theme.
There are so many great fall-themed books for preschoolers that it is hard to narrow down a list. Here are some preschooler-approved books that I have read to my own son, as well as to the library’s preschool storytime group over the years. After checking out fall-themed books, try the fall activities for preschool.
Preschool Books
Fall Books:
1. Hedgehugs: Autumn Hide-and-Squeakby Steve Wilson — The Hedgehugs are two absolutely adorable hedgehogs who happen to be best friends! My son and I love all of their stories. In this adventure, the Hedgehugs make a new bat friend. The friends play a game of hide-and-seek, hiding in cute, fall-themed things, such as leaf piles and pumpkins.
2. The Squirrels Who Squabbled by Rachel Bright — Rachel Bright is a fantastic author! My son and I love her books, and I have read several of her stories to the library’s preschool storytime group, who agree that she rocks! In this book, squirrels, Cyril and Bruce, get in a fight over the last acorn. In a story similar to the Ant and the Grasshopper, one unprepared-for-winter squirrel is ready to do battle for the last acorn. The squirrels’ squabbles lead them on a hilarious adventure!
3. Aaron Loves Apples and Pumpkinsby PD Eastman — Fall is here and Aaron the alligator loves everything about it. He loves the yummy apples, pumpkins, football, Halloween costumes, and spending time with his friends. When his friends go apple picking, Aaron tells them that he knows a better was to get the apples down; he shakes the tree so hard, that all of the apples fall down on Aaron! Oops 🙂 Now all of the apples are down and Aaron and his friends can enjoy them together. This book is part of the beginning reader series, I Can Read. It has short sentences with not a lot of words per page. It is a good choice for kids who are learning to read.
4. Ouch by Ragnhild Scamell — In this story, an adorable hedgehog gets an apple stuck on its back. Now hedgehog can’t fit into its den and winter is coming. The hedgehog’s animal friends try to help and get the apple off, however each attempt ends up with more things getting stuck to the poor hedgehog. After squeezing, and swimming, and rolling around, hedgehog and friends are running out of ideas. Fortunately, along comes a goat with a big appetite and eats all of the things that are stuck on hedgehog!
5. A Unicorn Named Sparkle and the Pumpkin Monsterby Amy Young — Lucy and Sparkle have fun doing autumn things together. They visit a pumpkin patch, explore a corn maze, and play games. Things get a little too spooky for Sparkle, who is afraid of a pumpkin monster. Lucy, who enjoys being scared, learns that not everyone likes to be a little scared. This is a sweet story about two friends who learn to respect one another’s feelings. Plus it ends with an awesome rainbow from Sparkle’s magic horn and yummy treats for the friends to enjoy together.
6.Otis and the Scarecrow by Loren Long — Otis the tractor has several wonderful stories for preschoolers to enjoy, In this fall-themed one, the farmer introduces a new scarecrow to the farm. Everyone is excited to meet the scarecrow! But when they see him, the scarecrow’s frown drives them all away. Otis worries about the friendless scarecrow and in an act of compassion, Otis includes the scarecrow in the animals’ quiet game.
Fall Leaves Books:
Fall Leaves Stories
1. We’re Going on a Leaf Huntby Steve Metzger — This rhyming story is a fun leaf-hunting adventure. Preschoolers love Steve Metzger’s books and the silly sound effects that he skillfully incorporates into the story. This one will become a fall-favorite! Have your own leaf hunt after the story to continue the fun 🙂
2. Leaf Manby Lois Ehlert: This book is a visual treat! The pictures are actual leaves and Lois Ehlert’s signature die-cut pages are fantastic. Leaf Man is beautiful tribute to nature and preschoolers will delight in Leaf Man’s wind-blown adventures.
3. Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson: In this beautifully illustrated book, we meet a young fox named Fletcher who is unaware that some trees lose their leaves in the fall. Fletcher is determined to save the leaves from falling off of his favorite tree. Unfortunately each one of his ideas fail to keep the leaves on the tree. After the last leaf falls off the tree, Fletcher carries the little leaf home to his den. He puts it into a nice cozy bed for the night. When he returns to his tree in the early morning, a beautiful sight is waiting for him. His tree is covered in sparkling icicles! His tree reassures him that all is fine and that Fletcher is free to enjoy the beauty in front of him without worry for his tree.
4. Leaf Trouble by Jonathan Emmett: Learn about the changing of seasons with two cute little squirrels in this story. Worried about the falling leaves, a brother and sister squirrel unsuccessfully try to put the leaves back on the tree. Mommy squirrel teaches them all about fall and reassures them that new leaves will grow in the springtime.
5. There Was an Old Lady Who Swallowed Some Leavesby Lucille Collandro: The silly old lady is back in this fall-themed story. She goes on a stomach-filling journey, gobbling up fall items (a pumpkin, a rope, and some leaves). Preschoolers will laugh away at all of the silliness going on in this book!
6. When the Leaf Blew Inby Steve Metzger: This fun picture book is about an autumn leaf blows that into a barn causing a cow to sneeze. The sneeze sets off a series of barnyard events in this silly tale that will have preschoolers asking you to reread it over and over again!
For more fall-themed books and activities for preschool, check out my APPLE post.
Fall Activities for Preschool:
Crafts:
Leaf Stick Puppets–Go on a leaf hunt and collect leaves to make stick puppets.
Coffee Filter Leaves — Make your own beautiful fall leaves out of coffee filters, markers, and water. This is a fun and simple craft for kids to make to usher in the fall season.
Pumpkin Handprint Craft — I love handprint crafts! They preserve your little one’s prints and you get to look back at them years later and ooh and ahh over how tiny they were. Plus, this craft is a great way to personalize the fall season.
STEM:
Pumpkin Fizz —
Incorporate fun, seasonal STEM activities into your preschooler’s education with this fun, fall-themed science experiment — Pumpkin Fizz.
Apple Counting–
Check out my preschool Apple Counting Activity for an interactive, hands-on way to practice counting! I made numbered flashcards and an apple tree for you to print off and use for your little one; all you will need is to add some pompoms (to be apples) or some other small objects to use for counting.
I Spy–
Have fun counting all of the pictures in the this fall themed I Spy game. After you count how many of each picture you find, write the number in the box.
