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You are here: Home / Fall Activities / Explore Nature with these Preschool Fall Science Activities

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Explore Nature with these Preschool Fall Science Activities

November 5, 2015 by Sheryl Cooper

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Inside: Creating preschool fall science activities can be easy when thinking about nature and what’s living around us outdoors. Here are some fun hands-on ideas that young children love!

We love exploring science in the fall! Well, we love exploring science all year…but there is something special about fall. At least where I live! And so, putting together preschool science ideas for fall is pretty easy. We take a look at what’s going on in nature and plan around it.

This year we explored:

🌻 Sunflowers

🕷 Spiders

🐿 Squirrels and Acorns

🦉 Owls

🎃 Pumpkins

We used the same themes for both our toddlers and preschoolers, but removed the smaller pieces for the toddlers. Both ages enjoyed the hands-on environment.

Explore Nature with these Preschool Fall Science Activities

Explore Nature with these Preschool Fall Science Activities

We have a small round table in our classroom that we use for science and exploration.  I love using plexiglass page holders to display pictures and text. By propping them vertically, they create a nice invitation for our children, plus they don’t take up as much space on the table.

You can see our full year’s worth of tables here: How to Set Up. your Preschool Science Center

If you are short on space and don’t have room for a table, try using the top of a short shelf. You can see how we did that here: How to Set Up a Preschool Science Area in a Small Space

 

Sunflowers

Preschool Science Ideas for Fall - 5 ideas for your fall science table - Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds

Every September we explore sunflowers. We ask around who might have some mammoth sunflowers that are ready to be harvested. We then place them on our science table, along with tweezers to pull out the seeds.

Sometimes our families donate the harvested sunflowers that we planted in the spring.

Related post: Growing Sunflowers in the Classroom

Preschool Science Ideas for Fall

We display sunflowers in vases to brighten our classroom. We extend this activity to our art table, where we create a large sunflower bulletin board, and we have fun with a sunflower sensory bin.

 

Preschool Science Ideas for Fall

 

Spiders

Spiders are all around us, especially in the fall when we find them all over our outdoor play area. We love to explore their webs, looking to see if the spider is still attached.

Preschool Science Ideas for Fall - 5 ideas for your fall science table - Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds

Our spider science table included plush toy spiders, spider fact books, and a spider discovery bottle.

Preschool Science Ideas for Fall

I created a pretend spider web across the window above our science table and added some spider rings. We also enjoyed a spider counting craft at the art table.

Related: 15+ Spider Activities

Explore Nature with These Preschool Science Ideas for Fall

Free printable spider counting cards! 

Download and print these cards to add to your spider theme:

free spider counting printable

More spider activities: 15+ Spider Activities Your Preschoolers Will Love

Squirrels

Explore Nature with These Preschool Science Ideas for Fall

In September and October we see a couple of squirrels above our outdoor play area, most often carrying nuts in their mouths. I created a science table that included our beloved tree blocks, acorns, and some squirrel books.

You can see more of this in my squirrels and acorns science post.

 

Explore Nature with These Preschool Science Ideas for Fall

Explore Nature with These Preschool Science Ideas for Fall

Related post: 20 Fun Activities for a Preschool Squirrel Theme

 

Owls

Explore Nature with These Preschool Science Ideas for Fall

While talking about animals that are awake during the night, we included owls at our science table.

 

Explore Nature with These Preschool Science Ideas for Fall

After reading books about owls, we made a flying owl craft to put on our bulletin board.

More owl activities: 15 Hands-On Preschool Owl Activities

Pumpkins

Explore Nature with These Preschool Science Ideas for Fall

Of course, no fall science curriculum is complete unless it covers pumpkins. We extended this with a fine motor pumpkin activity, a pumpkin stand, and pumpkin painting.

Related: Exploring the Inside of a Pumpkin

Explore Nature with These Preschool Science Ideas for Fall

Download this free pumpkin printable to use with your pumpkin theme:

free preschool pumpkin printable

 

Check out our favorite science toys and materials:

preschool science products

 

 

Explore Nature with these Preschool Fall Science Activities

More science for toddlers and preschoolers:

  • 10 Toddler Science Activities that are Full of Fun
  • 7 Preschool Science Experiments that Explore Gravity
  • 16 Christmas Science Activities for Preschoolers
  • 15 Rainbow Science Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers

 

🍎 Fall Activity Plans 🍎

I’ve teamed up with other early childhood teachers and homeschoolers to put together these hands-on fall activity plans for toddlers and preschoolers!

Easy to follow activities that include modifications and adaptations to meet the needs of all learners.

Note: This is a digital product. That means when you make a purchase, you will be emailed a link to the activities.

For more information, click on the graphics below:

toddler lesson plans fall

preschool lesson plans fall

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Filed Under: Fall Activities, preschool, Preschool Science, Science Tagged With: fall, preschoolers, printables, science, toddlers

About Sheryl Cooper

Sheryl Cooper is the founder of Teaching 2 and 3 Year Olds, a website full of activities for toddlers and preschoolers. She has been teaching this age group for over 20 years and loves to share her passion with teachers, parents, grandparents, and anyone with young children in their lives.

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