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By Kim Vij 13 Comments

Looking for Fall with Kids with Fall Journal and Observation Sheet

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?

Exploring Fall with Kids from the Educators' Spin On It

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.

Do you see 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

Create an 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.

chalk activity with leaves for kids

Here’s 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.

Create a Fall Journal

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.

Sensory Play with Pumpkins and Water

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

Fall STEm Challenge for kids with leaves
10 Fall Leaf Activities for Preschoolers and Toddlers
Fall Muffin Tin Syllable Counting Game for Kids to Make and Play. Learning objective: fine motor strengthening and syllable segmentation.

For more Ideas Visit our 100+ Activities for Fall Roundup!

Like this idea? Pin for later or share now with a friend!

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Filed Under: Kids Activities, Science Tagged With: #learningafterschool, Acorns, Afterschool Express, Autumn, Fall, Fall Activities, Kim, Leaves, Printables, Pumpkins, Science Fun, Senses

About Kim Vij

Early childhood teacher, author, speaker and mom of 3. Kim shares ways to make learning fun and parenting an adventure by sharing developmentally appropriate activities.

« Acorn Math Game for Kids
Acorn Alphabet Sensory Jar Game for Preschoolers »

Comments

  1. Julie says

    September 30, 2012 at 8:35 am

    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!

    Reply
  2. Priya says

    September 30, 2012 at 8:43 am

    Thanks for the fall observation sheet. My little one will love this.

    Reply
  3. Eddie says

    September 30, 2012 at 9:21 am

    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.

    Reply
  4. Momand Kiddo says

    September 30, 2012 at 12:37 pm

    I love the printables! There are two wonderful new Autumn book out called: Awesome Autumn and A is for Autumn.

    Reply
  5. Deb Chitwood says

    October 1, 2012 at 6:06 am

    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

    Reply
  6. Kim @ The Educators Spin On It says

    October 1, 2012 at 8:13 pm

    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.

    Reply
  7. Kim @ The Educators Spin On It says

    October 1, 2012 at 8:13 pm

    You're welcome. We've had fun using ours. You'll be amazed at what they discover.

    Reply
  8. Kim @ The Educators Spin On It says

    October 1, 2012 at 8:14 pm

    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!

    Reply
  9. Kim @ The Educators Spin On It says

    October 1, 2012 at 8:16 pm

    Thank you! I just added your two suggestions to the post, thanks for sharing! I can't wait to check them out.

    Reply
  10. Kim @ The Educators Spin On It says

    October 1, 2012 at 8:17 pm

    Thank you so much Deb for sharing and I love your Acorn Math Activities that you shared, perfect for afterschool outdoor fun!

    Reply
  11. Ann says

    October 2, 2012 at 5:21 pm

    Thanks for the great fall resources! These books and observational sheets look fun!

    Reply
  12. Raising a Happy Child says

    October 2, 2012 at 8:07 pm

    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!

    Reply
  13. Trisha @ Inspiration Laboratories says

    October 5, 2012 at 11:13 pm

    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! 🙂

    Reply

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Kim Vij

Early childhood teacher, author, speaker and mom of 3. Kim Vij shares ways to make learning fun and parenting an adventure by sharing developmentally appropriate activities.
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