Toddler and Preschool Squirrels, Acorns, Leaves, and Thanksgiving Ideas

Inside: Toddler and Preschool Squirrels, Acorns and Leaves Ideas – Activities, Songs, Printables, and More!

As we move into November, we focus on more fall ideas such as squirrels, acorns, leaves, and thankfulness. I will also add some forest animals in there, too!

CLICK HERE to watch our children in action during this theme in 2023!

CLICK HERE to find more November theme ideas!

Toddler and Preschool Squirrels, Acorns and Leaves Ideas 

This post was updated on 7/9/25.

Classroom Tours with the Fall Theme

• 2023
• 2021
• 2019

Art

• Painted Acorns (Freebie)
• Fall Trees (using the splat idea from Toddler Fall Activity Plans, page 12)
• Cardboard Fall Tree Craft
• Fall Leaf Suncatchers
• Acorn Collage (with Free Printable)
• Leaf Painting in a Bag
• Watercolor Leaves for the Window
• Sponge-Painted Leaves
• Leaf Man Puppet (from Toddler Fall Activity Plans, page 34)
• Fine Motor Pinecone Activity with Paint
• Nature Art – Painting Leaves and Sticks
• Forest Animal Puppets
• Golf-Ball Painted Squirrels (Freebie)
• Leaf Painting  (Free Activity and Printable)
• Thankful Banner

Sensory

Fall Sensory Bin

Writing Table

• Leaf Tracing Pages (from our Fall Tracing Packet)
• Leaf Color Pages (from our Seasonal Coloring Packet)
• Squirrel and Acorn Color Pages (Freebie)
• Leaf Color Page (from this activity)
• T is for Turkey (Freebie)

Playdough

Playdough with Leaf-Shaped Cookie Cutters

Science

• Leaf Sorting (Freebie)
• Squirrels and Acorns
• Pinecone Exploration

Dramatic Play

Woodland Animals

Thanksgiving Dinner (Freebie)

Blocks

 Woodland animals, tree blocks.

Circle Time

• Leaf 1-6 Matching (from our Fall Circle Time Props Packet)
• Squirrel, Squirrel, Shake Your Bushy Tail (props from our Fall Circle Time Props Packet)
• Numbered Squirrels and Acorns Matching Activity (from our Fall Circle Time Props Packet)
• What Color Are Your Leaves? (Freebie) – I made extra leaves and the children will place their leaf on top of the matching colored one.
• Give the Squirrels Some Acorns (Freebie from Pre-Kinders) – I bought small craft acorns because I wasn’t sure I could find enough real ones. This will be for our 3 and 4 year olds.
• Turkey Props (Freebie)
• Fall Leaves (from our Seasonal Song and Rhyme Props Packet)
• 5 Little Squirrels Jumping on the Bed (from our Five Little Friends Jumping on the Bed Packet)
• 5 Little Turkeys Jumping on the Bed (from our Five Little Friends Jumping on the Bed Packet)
• What Color Are Your Leaves? (Freebie)
• Five Fat Turkeys Using Our Free Numbered Turkey Props
• Turkey Wore His Rainbow Feathers Using Our Free Turkey and Colored Feathers Printable

Books

• One Leaf, Two Leaves, Count with Me!
• We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt
• Touch and Feel Fall
• Autumn in the Forest
• The Busy Little Squirrel
• The Sneaky, Snacky Squirrel
• The Busy Little Squirrel
• Because of an Acorn
• Nuts to You!
• I’m Feeling Thankful (Daniel Tiger)
• Peek-a-Who?
• 10 Fat Turkeys
• Little Owl’s 1-2-3
• Hoot – My Little World

Fine Motor

Give the Squirrels Some Acorns (Freebie from Pre-Kinders) – I bought small craft acorns because I wasn’t sure I could find enough real ones. This activity uses the unnumbered mat and tongs or tweezers will be provided to transfer the acorns to the mat.

Shape Tracing Tray (from the Preschool Fall Activity Plans Packet, page 16)

Table Activities

• Leaf Counting Cards 1-10 (Freebie)
• How Many Pom Poms Go On Each Leaf? (using the numbered colored leaves from our Fall Circle Time Packet) – I used pom poms that were the same colors as the leaves, so the children not only need to count the pom poms, they also match them by color.
• Leaf Pom Pom Color Matching (from our Fall Pom Pom Color Matching Packet)
• Leaf Symmetry Matching (Freebie)
• Leaf Count and Clip Activity (Freebie)
• What Color Is Your Leaf? (Freebie)
• Squirrel and Acorn Color Matching (Freebie)
• Pinecone Count and Clip Cards – You can also use small pinecones to place on each card. (Freebie)
• Color Recognition Turkey Activity (Freebie)