Autumn is such a great time of year to get outside with younger kids and watch them marvel at the seasonal changes around them. Have a look at our planning for early years children. We've got ideas to support children's learning in all the different areas of development. We also have a printable version of our Autumn Early Years Planning Sheet here, available in colour or a more printer friendly, black and white version.
Language and Communication
- Learn some autumn vocabulary using autumn flashcards and autumn bingo.
- Whilst out and about on an autumnal nature walk, take a Signs of Autumn Scavenger Hunt to spark conversations about the things that we can see as the season changes. Point out, name and describe the things that you see.
- Teach the children a fun autumn song.
Personal, Social and Emotional
- Help children to develop their turn-taking skills by playing games such as dominoes. We have a pretty Autumn Leaves dominoes that can be printed.
- Use blackberry picking to start a discussion about washing food and only eating food that we know is safe to eat. You could develop this further into a healthy eating topic.
Physical
- Support children's fine motor development with some autumn scissor activities or this cute paper plate hedgehog craft.
- Autumn is the perfect time to plant some spring bulbs. After a visit to a garden centre to choose your bulbs, get the children to help you to dig some holes to plant them in. Digging strengthens the muscles in children's hands, arms, shoulders and core. There is also evidence that shows that digging in mud strengthens children's immune systems. You can buy gardening equipment that is specially made for kids' smaller hands.
Literacy
- Visit the library to find some autumn themed books to read and enjoy. Use our autumn themed picture book scavenger hunt to help you find some different books.
- Give the children some autumn themed writing paper with a range of writing materials, such as pens, crayons and pencils. Let the children explore mark making.
Maths
- Make a blackberry crumble. Ask the kids to help with weighing out the ingredients and timing the oven.
- Look carefully at the shapes of the leaves and match them to their shadows with this shadow matching worksheet.
- Use autumn themed peg cards to help teach subitising and counting.
Understanding the World
- Go for an autumnal treasure hunt. Collect natural objects such as leaves, twigs, conkers and acorns. Use them to fill the tuff tray and create natural art and autumn sculptures.
- Discuss the changing seasons and decorate a tree for autumn.
Expressive Arts
- Listen to Autumn by Vivaldi. What does the music make children think of? Encourage the children to move and dance to the music.
- Experiment with mixing colours by creating a colour mixing leaf display.
Printable Planning Sheet
You can download a printable version of this planning sheet here:
More Related Activities
Tuesday, 27th September 2022
