I’m obsessed with owls and crafts, so why not combine them into a cute pompom owl craft! This craft is fun and easy for little kids to make — all they have to do is color and glue. Print off the free owl template and then let your child’s creativity design a cute owl craft.
First print the free owl template. Color your owl completely as the background will show between the pompoms.
You can draw your own eyes or use googly eyes. Preschoolers tend to love googly eyes (my son does) and look for any excuse to use them! We found these orange-colored googly eyes at Michaels craft store.
Glue your pompoms all over the owl’s body. Mix and match colors and sizes, make patterns, and have fun using your creativity! Depending on how much glue you use, your pompom owl craft might take a while to dry.
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)
It’s spooky season and young children want to get in on the fun! Here are eight fantastic witch-themed stories that are not scary, but add a fun, spooky element to reading time. Grab your broom and be prepared to read these over and over again! Be sure to check your public library for these books. My son and I also made lists of our favorite MONSTER stories, SKELETON books, and BAT stories to share too!
This is one of my favorite books! My son and I love this rhyming story about a kind witch who keeps losing things as she flies through the night. She repeatedly has to stop and look for her missing things. While searching for her belongings, she also finds new friends. Soon her broom is full as the witch, a cat, a dog, a frog, and a bird soar through the night. Suddenly a hungry dragon appears and captures the witch! It looks like this might be the end for the witch, but her friends come to her rescue and chase the dragon away 🙂
A girl and her cat move into a haunted house! Turns out this little girl is actually a witch and she knows exactly what to do with ghosts! This is a fairly short book, with not a lot of text per page. The illustrations are done in orange and black and really capture the reader’s attention. Your preschooler will enjoy studying the pictures and seeing the witch’s creative uses for ghosts.
Tom Fletcher’s “Who’s in Your Book” series is so much fun! Each book is interactive and filled with super cute illustrations. My son really enjoys these stories and we read them over and over again! In this book, the little witch has landed in your book and she is making a huge mess. Stop her! Oh no, now she cast a magic spell! Help defeat the spell by using your finger as a wand. Follow the steps to save your book!
Author Jane O’Connor of the Fancy Nancy series introduces you Lulu the witch. Lulu is so excited to start school! Her first day goes great — she loves her teacher (Miss Slime) and her broom flying lesson. She likes all of other witches in her class, except for one. Sandy Witch does everything better than Lulu and Lulu is feeling frustrated. A rivalry ensues until both little witches come down with lizardpox. Lulu and Sandy both return to school covered with spots, afraid their classmates will make fun of them. Sandy and Lulu bond over their spots and become friends afterall.
This is a cute story about an imaginative little girl. While it is an older story, my son still likes it! In the book, this little witch has a problem — she just can’t get her spells to turn out right! She looks the part–she has a black witch hat, and a witch nose, and pointy witch shoes, and a cat–but no magic. Turns out the reason little witch can’t do magic is because she’s really a girl playing dress-up.
I love counting books! They are a fun way to incorporate math into preschoolers’ learning. Preschoolers will love the pictures of the witches flying past other “spooky” creatures like skeletons and mummies. The illustrations are bright and cheerful without being scary. Examine each picture closely and try and find the owl and cat hidden in every scene!
Mrs. Blackhat is a witch who loves the color black so much that everything she has is black. Along comes an orange cat. What is Mrs. Blackhat supposed to do with a cat that isn’t black? She tries to cast a spell (with hilarious words like “toilet trouble”), but nothing works. Find out what happens to the cat by checking out this fun, rhyming story from your library!
The “How to Catch” series is wildly popular with young children with their rhyming stories and bright illustrations. In this book, a real witch comes to the neighborhood on Halloween night to steal all of the candy. Oh no! The Catch Club kids set all sorts of zany traps to try and catch her before all of the candy is gone. Each trap-gone-wrong will get your child giggling as the witch escapes. I love that the kids use household items like cardboard boxes, so anyone reading this book can get ideas to make their own traps and continue the fun at home!
Disclaimer:
Check your library for these and other witch-themed stories. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading 🙂
Fall is a magical time when the leaves on trees change colors and eventually fall off the branches. Looking at the beautiful colors and collecting leaves are lots of fun! Preschoolers love to explore and naturally curious about the world around. Read these stories about the changing of the leaves and learn why trees lose their leaves in the fall.
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.
2. 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.
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! Be sure to check your library for this one!
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!
The silly old lady is back in this fall-themed story. She goes on a stomach-filling journey, gobbling up fall-themed items (a pumpkin, a rope, and some leaves). Preschoolers will laugh away at all of the silliness going on in this book!
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.
Every day Squirrel counts the leaves on his tree. One day, a leaf goes missing and Squirrel sets off to find the missing leaf. Along the way, Bird joins in and the two friends discover who the mysterious leaf thief is! This is a beautifully illustrated story about the natural changes that occur in the fall season.
Disclaimer:
Check your library for these and other fall leaves stories. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading 🙂
LEAF STICK PUPPET
Continue the leaf fun by making Leaf Stick Puppets–Go on a leaf hunt and collect leaves to make your stick puppet pals.
Squirrels are so busy in the fall, running around and gathering food for winter. They are fun to watch, and read about. My son and I picked out 10 of our favorite squirrel stories to share with you. We found all of them at our library, so please check your library for these great books!
At some point every kid has wanted to stay up past their bedtime–doesn’t matter if they are boys or girls or squirrels! In this beautifully illustrated story, the three little squirrels want to stay up late and play with the owls. However, the squirrels all fall asleep during their late night playtime and their dad brings them back to bed. How are the young squirrels and the owlets going to be friends if they are awake at different times? They come up with a brilliant plan to exchange letters! If you enjoyed this one, check out the other squirrel stories in this series.
Squirrel is busy preparing for winter and has no time to play. The other animals keep asking squirrel to take a break with them, but squirrel is too busy gathering food. This book is a great look at what squirrels eat and how they “squirrel away” food for winter. My son loves pouring over the illustrations and finding other busy squirrels in the background.
This is a funny book about two friends, a squirrel named Cyril and a rat named Pat. They both live in the park and have lots of fun together. However, other animals tell they that they are too different to be friends. Can that be true? Cyril lists all of the ways that Pat is a great friend even though he is a rat. When a mean dog is after Cyril, Pat and his rat friends come to the rescue, proving that friends come in all different shapes, sizes, and species! The only issue I have with this book is that it uses the word “stupid” and that’s not something that I want to teach my son. But since he can’t read yet, I just skipped over that word when I was reading the story out loud to him. In my opinion, the message of friendship outweighs that one negative word.
Bat thinks he has found the perfect home! However, it turns out that this is squirrel’s home. Since they sleep at opposite times, they don’t have a chance to communicate in person. Squirrel doesn’t want to share her home so she leaves Bat notes trying to get him to leave. Bat misinterprets the notes and thinks they are friends now. Kids will giggle at the misunderstandings and love the happy ending.
Leaf Trouble
5. Leaf Trouble by Emmett Johnson —
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.
Lois Ehlert is one of my favorite authors and illustrators 🙂 In this book, a curious squirrel wanders though an open window into an apartment! Oh my goodness, how are they going to get it out? Preschoolers will enjoy this squirrel’s nutty indoor adventure and the beautiful collage-like pictures. Bonus — the end of the book has squirrel facts.
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!
Scaredy Squirrel has many stories, so if this one is not available at your library, try one of the others! In this camping adventure, Scaredy Squirrel likes the idea of camping and all of the fun things that go along with it, but he is scared to leave his tree home. Preschoolers will see themselves mirrored in Scaredy Squirrel as he voices his fears. While he is trying to avoid anything scary, he unwittingly faces his fears (in a silly way) and has a great time. This book provides a fantastic conversation starter about being afraid and how to overcome our fears so that we don’t miss out on the fun that is waiting for us!
Old Man Fookwire loves birds and doesn’t want them to fly away in the winter. He comes up with a plan to entice them to stay with birdfeeders stocked with yummy food! The birds aren’t the only ones who like the food in the feeders; so do the squirrels. The squirrels and the man face off in a battle of wits over the yummy food. Kids will love the ingenious ways the squirrels come up with the get to the food!
It’s time for the Golden Nut Hunt competition and squirrel is determined to win this year! However, the rules have changed and this year, it is a team event. Squirrel is super competitive and wants to do the hunt on her own. She reluctantly asks her friends to be on her team. Squirrel’s friends are trying, but they just aren’t performing as well as she hopes. Squirrel decides to go it alone because she thinks she can do the hunt better without them (who needs a team or friends, right?). As the hunt goes on, Squirrel comes to realize that she does need her friends and comes to understand the importance of team work.
I hope you enjoy these squirrel stories! Check your library for these and other great books. To help cover the costs of this site, I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I get a small percentage of the sale (at no additional cost to you). Thank you for your support! Happy Reading 🙂
Check out my FALL BOOK recommendations for more stories to read together!
More Squirrel Fun:
-Handprint Acorn: supplies needed are brown and tan paint, paintbrush, and paper. Let you child paint one of their hands tan and then stamp in on a piece of paper. Use the brown paint to paint on the top of the acorn. (www.craftymorning.com)
-Do like a Squirrel Does: Can you chitter like a squirrel? Jump like a squirrel? Puff up your cheeks? Find a yummy treat to eat? Pick a favorite tree outside? Scamper quickly? Wiggle your nose? What else does a squirrel do?
Our November tradition is say something that we are thankful for every morning while we are eating breakfast. I like starting off our day on such a positive note. Plus, I absolutely love my son’s answers! The month of November, and Thanksgiving especially, provide a reminder to be grateful for all we have. To encourage thankfulness and gratitude, I picked Thanksgiving books with these themes in them to read with my son. Here are the ones we have enjoyed:
Karma Wilson is one of my favorite authors and my son and I especially lover her Bear series! In this Bear book, Bear and friends come together for a wonderful fall feast. Each one contributes something to the meal, except for Bear, whose cupboard is empty. Bear is thankful for his friends and their generosity, but worries that he has nothing to contribute. That’s not true, his friends say. Then Bear shares the one thing he can, his fantastic stories! I love this lesson that everyone has something to share even if it is not a material thing.
I loved the Berenstain Bears when I was a kid and I’m excited the their books are still available so I can share them with my son! In this Thanksgiving-themed story, the Berenstain Bears are entering the pumpkin contest. Of course the cubs and Papa really want to win first prize! Mama Bear gently tries to teach Papa and the cubs about the true meaning of Thanksgiving, but the bears are too consumed with the idea of winning to listen. When the family doesn’t win first prize, the Bears begin to understand the true meaning of Thanksgiving and being thankful for what they do have.
One is a Feast for Mouse is one of my favorite books to read at preschool storytime. This story is a beautiful example of not becoming greedy and taking more than you need. Mouse is a little animal and really doesn’t need too much food. However, when he sees all of the food set out for the family’s Thanksgiving meal, he gets greedy. He’s so busy trying to gather as much food as he can, that he doesn’t notice the cat! After escaping from the cat, Mouse learns to be thankful for what he has.
This sweet book reminds us to appreciate the little joys in life, like going to the park and our pets. Most of all, the children in this story are thankful for their family! Told in rhyming text with lovely illustrations, preschoolers will enjoy the simplicity of this story without being bored. At the end, the author includes a page for the reader to list some things that they are thankful for 🙂
The little girl and her dog, Biscuit, are busy getting ready for Thanksgiving. They bring yummy goodies to share with the neighbors, they bake a pumpkin pie for grandpa, and they decorate the house for the whole family to enjoy. I love that they are thinking of others! At the end of the book, the little girl says the things she is thankful for, and of course, one of the things she is most thankful for is Biscuit.
This is not a Thanksgiving book, but it is a THANKFUL book and honestly, Todd Parr’s books are awesome! I am huge fan of his artwork. You might recognize his artwork from Sesame Street. This book celebrates the things that we can all be thankful for, such as music for dancing, learning new things, and our shadows for making us look taller. With a mix of serious and silly, this book will have kids thinking of all the things they are thankful for too!
I hope you and your kiddo enjoy these Thanksgiving books as much as my son and I did! To help cover the costs of this site, I’ve joined Amazon’s Affiliate program. If you buy a book through one of my links, then I get a small percentage of the sale. thank you for your support! Happy Reading 🙂
Turkey Time
Turkey Paper Bag Puppet
Looking for turkey stories? Check out my post for 9 turkey books to read with your kiddo: Turkey Books
Family Turkey Activity: Disguise the turkey so that it can avoid becoming dinner. Use your imagination to cleverly disguise this turkey! See the example and download the PDF here: Disguise the Turkey Post.
My son came home from kindergarten with a really fun activity–disguise the turkey! It is a picture of a turkey printed with instructions to disguise the turkey so that it doesn’t get eaten for Thanksgiving. What a fun activity! It gave my son a chance to really be creative and have fun.
Disguise the Turkey!
The disguise possibilities are endless! One child added large ears and an elephant trunk; another kid covered the turkey in popcorn and pasted a popcorn bag to the bottom of the paper. My son decided to hide his turkey in a leaf pile! We went on a leaf hunt outside and found a bunch of neat leaves in different shapes and colors. First my son colored his turkey with crayons. He chose a rainbow themed for his feathers 🙂 Then he glued leaves all over his turkey so all that was left exposed was the turkey’s face, peeking out through the leaf pile. It turned out so cool!
I found a picture of a turkey and made a PDF that you can download(Free) for your child to disguise the turkey too! My son’s turkey was printed on cardstock. That made it more stable for gluing things onto it. If you don’t have cardstock, you can always print your turkey on regular printer paper and cut it out and glue into construction paper, or even a piece of cardboard.
I hope you and your child have as much fun with this activity as we did! It is a great family project. We really had to put our heads together to think of a good disguise and we enjoyed our leaf hunt!
Make a cute fox paper plate craft with your preschooler! Foxes go so well fall themes. Pair your craft with the fox books, Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson, and Lawrence in the Fall by Matthew Farina.
Supplies Needed:
-paper plate
-orange tissue paper
-glue stick
-black pompom
-2 googly eyes
-scissors
-stapler
How to Make a Fox Paper Plate Craft:
Step 1: Cut a large triangle out of your paper plate. This will be the fox’s head/face.
Step 2: Next cut 2 small triangles out of the the paper plate to be the ears. Staple the ears onto the fox’s head.
Step 3: Our orange tissue paper came in 1-inch squares. If yours is not already this size, then cut or tear your tissue into 1-inch pieces. Glue your tissue all over your fox’s face and ears. It’s okay if your tissue sticks off of the side of your plate. You can just fold it over and glue the excess onto the back, or trim off the extra tissue paper.
Step 4: Once your craft is dry, add 2 googly eyes and a black pompom nose to your fox.
More Fall Crafts:
Fall is my favorite season and I just love to make fall crafts with my son! Foxes, owls, leaves, and pumpkins make such cute and fun crafts. Check out my list of fall crafts for more things to make with your preschooler 🙂
Paper bag puppets are one of my favorite go-to crafts! They are easy to make with supplies we already we have at home and my son always has fun playing with them. He ran around the house making his turkey paper bag puppet gobble at everything!
Supplies Needed:
-paper lunch bag
-construction paper in red, orange, yellow, and brown
-googly eyes (my son really likes these colored eyes)
-scissors
-white school glue
How to:
First thing to do is to cut out tail feathers. I cut out 2 of each color: red, orange, yellow, and brown
My son decided what color pattern order he wanted for his feathers. Then he glued the feathers onto the back of the backside of the bag. (The FRONT has the flap). We used white school glue to attach our paper feathers.
Next, flip your bag over to work on the turkey’s face. I cut out a yellow square, which I folded diagonally to make a beak. Then I cut out a red snood (kind of a squiggly shape).
My kiddo glued on the beak and snood. Then he attached his googly eyes and his turkey paper bag puppet was complete!
More Turkey Fun!
We read Animals on the Farm: Turkeys by Kari Schuetz and learned all about turkeys. This book has awesome pictures and was written at an easy to understand level. My son was so intrigued by how weird turkeys’ heads look! One of the cool things about this book is that it teaches the names for a turkey’s body parts, like a wattle and a snood. We found this book at our library. See if your library has a copy!
Check out my FALL postfor more book recommendations and fall-themed crafts that you and your preschooler can enjoy together 🙂 My son and I also made a Scarecrow Paper Bag Puppet. We think it turned out pretty cute!
Fall is here and it’s time to read some scarecrow stories and make a craft. We made a scarecrow paper bag puppet out of supplies that we had at home and I think it turned out pretty cute!
My son loves Julia Donaldson’s books! This is a cute, rhyming story about 2 scarecrows, Harry and Betty, who fall in love and plan their dream wedding. They set out in search of everything they need for their wedding. Harry and Betty find that they have to temporarily separate in order to get all of the decorations they need. The farmer notices that Harry is missing, and adds a new scarecrow. The new scarecrow tries to come between the happy couple. He smokes a cigar (Betty says “don’t you know that’s bad for you?”) and causes a fire. Yikes! Harry returns to save the day! They have their dream wedding with all of their friends 🙂
Otis the tractor has several wonderful stories. In this fall-themed one, the farmer introduces a new scarecrow to the farm. Everyone is excited to meet the scarecrow, but its frown drives them all away. The scarecrow stands silently scowling in the field, day after day. Otis worries about the scarecrow being friendless and decides to befriend him. During a game of who can sit silently the longest, Otis decides to sit quietly by the scarecrow. The farm animals join him and they all stay quietly together until the puppy gets the wiggles! Otis thinks he might have seen the scarecrow smile just a little bit to be surrounded by friends.
In this circular story, chicken wants scarecrow’s hat. With some great problem solving skills and a gift for bartering, she goes around the farm trading things with all of the animals until she gets something to trade scarecrow for the hat. The reader finally learns why chicken wants the hat so badly — for a nest!
I was desperate for some scarecrow stories to read with my preschooler and I saw this and bought it without really checking it out first. I am so happy I bought this book! This is a truly lovely story about seeing the good in others. The scarecrow and the crow become best friends. They see each other through the ups and downs of life, side-by-side. Get ready for compassionate feelings to bubble up and smiles to form as you read this one!
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! What does she make with all of the stuff? Do you think its a scarecrow?
6. The Lonely Scarecrow by Tim Preston —
This book is an amazing tactile experience. The pages have ridges and shapes to touch and feel that compliment the lovely pictures. This is a beautiful story that teaches readers that just because something looks scary/different/unpleasant, doesn’t mean that it is. The animals are all afraid of the mean looking scarecrow, leaving it all alone. How can the scarecrow convince them that it wants to be friends? When the snow comes and falls over the scarecrow, it turns it into a friendly looking snowman. The animals flock to the snowman and the scarecrow finally has friends. Will the new friends remain after the snow melts? Check this one out from your library to find out.
Looking for more fall-themed stories? Check out my list of FALL BOOKSandAPPLE-THEMED activities.
Scarecrow Puppet Craft
Scarecrow Paper Bag Puppet
Make a fun scarecrow paper bag puppet with only a few supplies:
1 paper bag (lunch size)
construction paper
scissors
glue stick
googly eyes
a marker
My son picked out all of the colors for his scarecrow: greet hat, brown face, blue shirt, pink cheeks, blue patch, and yellow straw.
I cut out the shirt, face, cheeks, patch, and hat for him. He cut the yellow straw pieces.
First, my son glued the blue shirt onto the bag. Next he glued the face onto the flap of the bag. He glued the straw to the underside of his hat before gluing the hat onto the scarecrow’s head. Next, we flipped the puppet over and my kiddo glued straw pieces to the back of the sleeves. This made it look like straw was poking out the shirt.
After gluing all of the pieces onto the paper bag, my son picked really big googly eyes for his puppet. He stuck them on the scarecrow’s face, slightly under the straw. He drew on a great, big smile with a green marker for his finishing touch.
Alphabet Worksheet
Alphabet Maze
Make your way through this straw bale maze to get to the scarecrow at the end. Color the bales in alphabetical order to find your way out.
Click HERE to download this free PDF version of the Alphabet Straw Bale Maze for your preschooler to practice their alphabetical order skills.
Fall I Spy
If you haven’t already tried this fall-themed I Spy, now is your chance! It is full of cute fall-ish things that I love: hedgehogs, leaves, sunflowers, pumpkins, and of course, scarecrows! How many of each picture can you find? Write your answers in the boxes next to their pictures.
I hope you enjoy these scarecrow stories and craft!
DISCLAIMER: I joined Amazon’s Affiliate program to try and help cover the costs of my website. If you buy something through one of my links, then I get a small percentage of the sale. Thank you for your support! Happy reading 🙂
