Encourage your child to explore the changes this fall with a fall journal and fall observation sheet. What changes will they discover as you head outside and look for fall?
Grab your camera and off we go!
A new season is starting to sneak up on us… you can almost see signs of Fall. Even down here in the South too!
Teaching Your Child to Observe Nature This Fall
Teaching our children to become observers is important and fun. We’re going on a walk around our neighborhood to see if we can spot signs of Fall.
Have you seen it yet in your neighborhood?
Or perhaps on your way to school?
Observing Signs of Fall with Kids
Here are some fall terms they should be noticing and discussing with you as you explore your local parks and neighborhood.
- Trees are changing colors
- Acorns are falling
- Trees are forming seeds
- Mums are growing in the garden
- It’s cooler in the morning
- Pumpkins are in the stores
- It’s getting darker sooner
- Squirrels are searching for acorns
Take a fall virtual field trip to see some of the prettiest fall colors in these videos.
Create a Fall Observation Sheet
Take your child on a nature walk and see what they can discover. If at all possible let your child document these changes with a camera or even better on their Fall Observation Sheet.
Print your Fall Observation Sheet here
As you observe things over a period of a few weeks, have them record the changes they see in their Fall Journal.
Here are a few things we discovered on our walks after school this week as we welcomed fall.
We found acorns falling from our trees, mushrooms growing everywhere, pumpkins on porches and we even saw a monarch butterfly as they migrate south for the winter months.
Did you find a lot of fall leaves? You can learn how to preserve leaves (for crafting) for even more fall fun with your child.
Create a Fall Journal with Kids
Later in the week we would come home and write in a Fall Journal what we observed. Observation is a great skill to use.
When creating your own Fall Journal, have them illustrate it first, it will be fresh on their mind and in the camera for reference.
Then they can write about what they saw. Be sure to encourage them to include details.
They can use the word bank to pull fall vocabulary words.
Go out a few days later and observe with them if things have changed Print your fall journal here.
More Fall Journal Ideas:
- Make a fall collage out of pictures from magazines or real objects
- Glue the discoveries you find onto a page and then attach the words.
- Younger children doing this activity can cut out and add fall words to their pictures.
- Practice finding the beginning sounds of spring objects they draw.
Print the Observation Sheet, Fall Journal and Fall Words
If you liked this activity, you may also like these fall activities for kids…
For more Ideas Visit our 100+ Activities for Fall Roundup!
Fun! We are definitely seeing some signs of fall here in NC. The humidity is gone and there are a couple trees turning colors already. I think I'll take the kids on a walk to observe the changes soon (we usually wait until October). Thanks for linking up!
Thanks for the fall observation sheet. My little one will love this.
We are just seeing the first signs of fall here, but on our vacation last week (we got back yesterday) the Bruce Peninsula was just a glorious wash of colours. Really spectacular!
Thanks for sharing the printables; I'm printing to take on a hike this week.
I love the printables! There are two wonderful new Autumn book out called: Awesome Autumn and A is for Autumn.
Great ideas! Thanks so much for sharing your free printable! I featured your printable as the Free Printable of the Day at the Living Montessori Now Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/LivingMontessoriNow
In the south you really have to look for changes or you'll never see them, it's fun showing them to children. It's something I had to learn after raising all my children here for almost 20 years how. I wish I was up in NC to see all the trees change, we have just a few that will change now.
You're welcome. We've had fun using ours. You'll be amazed at what they discover.
Can't wait to hear what you find on your hike! I wish I could see tons of colors in trees, you'll have to share photos on your site!
Thank you! I just added your two suggestions to the post, thanks for sharing! I can't wait to check them out.
Thank you so much Deb for sharing and I love your Acorn Math Activities that you shared, perfect for afterschool outdoor fun!
Thanks for the great fall resources! These books and observational sheets look fun!
Your resources look wonderful. We definitely see signs of fall here too despite the weather spiking into 100s this week. Love a happy face on a leaf walk!
What a great idea to journal what you see and record observations – very important skills. I'm featuring you this weekend on the Sunday Showcase! 🙂