Penguins are so cute and I couldn’t resist making a penguin with a heart-shaped tummy for extra adorableness! This basic shapes penguin craft is great for preschoolers to make. Not only does coloring help them with their fine motor skills needed for writing, but this craft also helps them with shapes. Take this opportunity for your kiddo to work on shape identification by saying the names of each shape as they color them.
Ask your child to name each shape as they color it. Bonus, count how many of each shape they see.
After all of the shapes have been colored, cut out the pieces. Rounded edges are hard for little ones, so an adult may need to do the cutting.
On a piece of construction paper, assemble the shapes to form a penguin. Look at the sample on the craft template. The large oval is the body; the large heart is the tummy; 2 small circles are the eyes; triangle is the beak; 2 ovals are the wings; and the 2 small hearts are the feet.
Glue all of your pieces onto the construction paper. Let your penguin dry before showing off how cute it is!
Looking for More Crafts?
Check out my Crafts Page for more fun things to make with your kiddo! There are more animal crafts to make, winter crafts, and lots of fun 🙂
Baking and decorating Christmas cookies are one of my favorite holiday traditions! My son loves our cookie cutters and according to him, we just don’t use them enough. Since my waist line can’t handle too many Christmas cookies, I found another way for my kiddo to use cookie cutters: a Christmas cookie cutter coloring craft! He loved this idea 🙂 He is really into coloring at the moment and of course, Christmas, so this was the perfect idea for him.
Supplies Needed:
-drawing paper
-Christmas cookie cutters
-pencil
-crayons/color pencils
How To:
Pick out your cookie cutters that you want to use as stencils.
Firmly hold the cookie cutter on the paper (you might have to help your kiddo) and trace around the shape with your pencil.
Once you have all of your Christmas cookie cutters traced, color in your shapes. My son got creative and added ornaments and a star to his Christmas tree and a face and buttons to his gingerbread man 🙂
My son’s Christmas cookie cutter coloring craft turned out super cute and he had a lot of fun doing it! Plus, it helped satisfy his desire to use the cookie cutters. After he colored all of his cookie cutter shapes, he told us a story about them and even pretended to bake them! We love his imagination and proudly have his artwork displayed in our home.
More Crafts:
Check out my Winter Crafts page for more fun craft ideas! There’s a Santa hat, craft stick sparkly snowflake, finger-paint winter tree, and more. Pick some that you and your preschooler can make together 🙂
Make this adorable mosaic gingerbread man craft out of pieces of construction paper! Great for fine motor skills, shape recognition, and spatial awareness too.
Print out your gingerbread man template (Free printable PDF) or draw your own gingerbread man.
Cut the brown and orange construction paper into a variety of shapes. Make some of them rounded for the arms, legs, and head. I have a sandwich bag full of extra scraps of paper that I keep for mosaic crafts, so my son just pulled out the pieces he wanted. Having lots of different shapes and sizes to choose from helped him get the look he wanted without having to use pieces that didn’t fit well. So if you are cutting them specifically for this project, cut some extras so that there are lots of choices for your kiddo.
Glue your orange and brown construction paper all over your gingerbread man. My son wanted to use mostly brown with a little bit of orange paper. Gingerbread is usually an orange-brown color so he tried to replicate that for his craft.
We cut out 2 small circles from black construction paper for the eyes and 3 small red circles for the mouth. Glue them onto the gingerbread man’s face. I think buttons would be adorable for the eyes and mouth, but I could only find green buttons at my house so we used construction paper instead. My son says googly eyes are also a good choice 🙂
Let your project dry before showing off your cute mosaic gingerbread man craft!
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.
Apple theme books, crafts, and STEM activities for preschool
Fall is just around the corner and I love to do apple-themed things this time of year. Here is a list of some of my favorite apple books for preschoolers and kindergarteners: a tissue paper craft, a yummy apple STEM activity, and a fun apple counting idea to do with pompoms. And no apple themed activities would be complete without an apple taste test — try different kinds of apples and see which one is your favorite!
Apple Books:
1.The Apple Pie that Papa Baked by Lauren Thompson — I love Lauren Thompson’s books! This is a cute story about everything that goes into making an apple pie. As the story progresses, your child will notice more and more animals after the delicious pie! Thompson creates a cumulative and lyrical text that teaches preschoolers about nature and the apple’s life cycle.
2. Apple Picking Day by Candace Ransom — Ransom’s trademark short story with great pictures makes this book a good choice for kids who can’t sit still for long stories. The family goes apple picking and the reader gets to enjoy the fun with them. Preschoolers will get caught up in the excitement as the brother and sister race against other kids in the orchard to see who can pick the most apples.
2. 10 Apples Up On Top by Dr. Seuss — in this funny, rhyming book, a lion, a tiger, and a dog compete to see who can stack apples on their head and do tricks without the apples falling! While they keep trying to outdo each other, the animals inadvertently find themselves in a bear’s home. The bear is not happy with their shenanigans and chases them out. The animals run into more bears and more trouble. The bears chase the animals (who still have apples still stacked on their heads) into an apple cart! Now everyone has 10 apples up on top 🙂 Your child laugh at this silly story and enjoy the animals’ crazy antics. Plus, this books offers a fun way to incorporate counting!
3. Ouch by Ragnhild Scamell — in this story, an adorable hedgehog gets an apple stuck 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, but each attempt ends up with more things 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!
4. 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 way to get the apples down. Aaron shakes the tree, causing all of the apples to fall down on him! 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 few words per page, making it a good choice for kids who are learning to read, and for those who do not want to sit through long stories.
5. Apples, Apples, Applesby Nancy Wallace — in this cute story, the bunny family goes apple picking on a lovely fall day. Farmer Miller teaches the bunnies all about apples. Kids will love learning all about apples with the bunnies. The book includes a applesauce recipe too!
6. 10 Red Apples by Pat Hutchins — everyone loves apples, including all of the farm apples. The apple tree starts with 10 red apples on it. Soon, one-by-one, a farm animal comes along and eats an apple off of the tree. The farmer eats the last one, and his wife didn’t get to enjoy a yummy apple! Oh no! Not to worry, the wife knows where to find more 🙂 This story has bright pictures, large, bold numbers on each page, and makes it easy for preschoolers and kindergartners to practice counting apples.
7. Adding Apples by Nick Rebman — this nonfiction, early math book is a great choice for preschool and kindergarten apple-themes. The child in the book leads the reader through a series of age-appropriate math problems with apples 🙂 My son liked counting the counting all of the apples on the page and announcing the answer to me! Plus the pictures in the book do a great job representing different colors in the apples.
Tissue Paper Apple Craft:
Tissue Paper Preschool Apple Craft
To make this tissue paper apple craft, you will need a piece of white paper, a pencil, a glue stick, and tissue paper in red, green and brown (or orange). I drew a rough outline of an apple on a piece of paper. Next I cut red tissue paper into 1-inch squares.
My son and I both scrunched up the red tissue paper squares together — great for preschool fine motor skills. After we had a lot of of tissue balls, my kiddo covered his apple shape in glue. Then he stuck the tissue all over his apple.
After covering then entire apple in red tissue, we scrunched up green tissue. We glued the green tissue balls in a leaf shape. Even after adding the green leaf, my son still thought his apple was missing something. He decided to add an orange stem (I didn’t have brown tissue paper).
His apple turned out pretty cute! We really enjoyed doing this craft together and I love that he added his own creative ideas with the stem.
STEM Activity:
Apple STEM activity — using our 5 Senses
Activities:
Apple Counting:
Preschool Apple Counting Activity with flashcards and pompoms
Tactile counting with pompoms really helps conceptualize numbers. For this activity, preschoolers will add red and green pompoms to their apple tree to show the same number of apples as is listed on their flash cards. I made numbered cards and an apple tree that you can print. This activity can used over-and-over again as no glue is involved. Just draw a card, look at the number, and place the corresponding number of “apple” pompoms on the tree!
For this activity you will need to print off the flash cards and cut them out; print off the tree page; and have 10 pompoms in red and green. Click on the link below for your flashcards and tree:
Letter S week was tons of fun! My son practiced his writing and “s” sounds and we read books together about things that started with letter S, made crafts, and sang songs. Here is what we did:
Book: We read Snail Crossing by Corey R. Tabor. This book is hilarious!!! And it is so darn cute. We love the snail’s determination and positive attitude. The message of helping others and working toward your goals makes this book a winner. We just keep rereading this one and we laugh every single time –seriously, it is a family favorite! My son even insisted that we buy copies for 2 of his cousins 🙂
Craft:Paper Plate Snail— This snail craft is pretty easy, but a lot of fun because my son enjoyed using his paints. Best part was, I could pull the supplies together in a couple minutes so we could dive right into craft time!
Supplies needed are paper plate, construction paper, watercolor paints, paintbrush and water cup, scissors, glue and a marker.
To begin, draw a spiral shape on the paper plate (this will be the snail’s shell). Your child can start painting the plate while you are drawing the snail’s head. Cut out the head. Once the plate is dry, your child can glue the head onto shell.
Song: Preschoolers love to sing. So for letter S, we sang You are my Sunshine. If you don’t know this song, check out this YouTube video.
Tuesday —
STEM Activity: Sink or Float. We picked 5 items from our house to see if they would sink or float in a bowl full of water. (Pick a variety of weights so that some sink and some float.) Fill a bowl with water. Before putting an item in the water, ask you child to guess if it will sink or swim. Why do they think that? After trying each item in the water, count how many sank and how many floated.
Air Writing: Ask your child to hold up a hand and trace letter shapes with their finger in the air.
Math: look around and count how many things you can find that start with the letter s.
Book: We read Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Starby Jane Cabrera. I love her take on nursery rhymes and my son and I are big fans of her artwork. Plus, I just like owls 🙂 If your local library doesn’t have this one, you can get it on Amazon here.
We also read James Dean’s Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Starfeaturing Pete the Cat. Pete is one of my son’s favorite book characters, so we read a lot of Pete the Cat stories. This book is a replica of the song, including the second verse (which I can never remember when we sing the song), so it is really the cute pictures of Pete that make this book so enjoyable. Dean’s artistic interpretation of the lyrics and Pete’s iconic coolness make this book a fun read. You can get this board book on Amazon here.
Craft:Star Craft — This craft is great for fine motor skills. Kids get to paint and wrap yarn!
Supplies needed are a paper plate, watercolor paints, paint brush and water, scissors, yarn, and tape.
Start by drawing a star shape in the center of the plate and cutting it out. Kids can paint the plate with a variety of watercolors; be creative!
Let your plate dry.
Pick out yarn or string to wrap around your plate.
Tape one end of the yarn to the back of the plate and then let your child start wrapping. When you are finished wrapping yarn, cut the year an and tape the end to the back of the plate.
You can repeat this craft with other shapes and make a whole bunch 🙂
Song: I was sick of Twinkle Twinkle after reading 2 books about the song, so we sang Raffi’s Shake My Sillies Out. This song is so much fun to sing and has lots of great movements to do with it. If you don’t know this song, check out Raffi on YouTube.
Thursday —
Salt Tray Writing: cover the bottom of a shallow tray or pie tin with table salt. Your child can take one finger to trace letter shapes in the salt.
Book: We read The Little Mouse, the Red Ripe Strawberry, and the Big Hungry Bear by Don and Audrey Wood. This is an older story, but still cute. Kids will be on the edge of their seats as they listen to the story about the mouse who has to protect its strawberry from a hungry bear. Reading this one together is great fun! Check your local library for this book, or you can get it on Amazon here.
Craft: Strawberry Craft–I love handprint crafts. They are like a time capsule for your little one. You can look back at them and see how small their hands were.
Supplies needed are red and green construction paper, brown markers, scissors, and glue.
I drew a strawberry shape and my son cut it out. He loves using scissors, so I try to find crafts and activities for him to work on his cutting skills.
Next, he added the seeds with a brown marker.
I traced his hands on green paper and then I cut out the hand prints.
He glued them on top of his strawberry, and ta-da, a cute strawberry craft to hang in his room!
