Flannel Friday: Fall Leaves are Falling!

Fall is almost here!

With it's cooler days and colorful leaves!

When I first arrived in Florida years ago, I thought that I would not be seeing any of the color-changing leaves of Fall. Florida has only one season, right?

I was wrong! Even though Fall isn't that much cooler here, we do still have some trees around that change colors. I was very happy to see this because, as a preschool teacher, one of my favorite Fall storytimes was all about leaves ~ green ones, red ones, yellow ones, orange ones, and even brown ones! I love the colors of Fall, don't you? So bright and vibrant!

Today, I want to share a few songs and ideas for enjoying the colorful leaves of Fall. 

The first song is such a simple one but it is a tremendous amount of fun and very interactive! Let's get moving!

To prepare for this activity, I have 5 leaves that I have diecut from felt. They are green, red yellow, orange, and brown. I used our Maple leaf diecut and made my leaves all the same shape so that we could discuss same and different once we have counted the leaves onto the board. First, we count as I add each leaf. Then, I ask if the leaves are the same or different ~ they are both! The leaves are the same shape but they are different colors. Next, we name each color and sign the ASL sign for each one.

Here is where I make this song/activity a little more interactive. In advance, I diecut a set of Fall leaves for each child out of construction paper. I give each child a set and ask them to place the leaves in a row in front of them as they are sitting on the ground.

Next, I make the ASL sign for Green and ask the children to hold up their leaf of the correct color. Once we have finished our "color recognition by sign" activity, we are ready for this song:

The Leaves on the Tree

(Sung to the tune of: "The Wheels on the Bus")

As we sing the first verse, the children hold up
the green leaf and wave it in the air.

The leaves on the trees are green, green, green.

Green, green, green. 

Green, green, green.

The leaves on the trees are green, green, green,
All around the town.

For this verse, the child holds up the red leaf,
then orange, and waves them in the air.

The leaves on the trees are red and orange.

Red and orange. 

Red and orange.

The leaves on the trees are red and orange,
All around the town.

For this verse, the child holds up the yellow leaf, 
then brown, and waves them in the air.

The leaves on the trees are yellow and brown.

Yellow and brown. 

Yellow and brown.

The leaves on the trees are yellow and brown,
All around the town.

For this verse, the child holds up any leaves 
that they choose and twirl them down to the ground.

The leaves on the trees come tumbling down.

Tumbling down. 

Tumbling down.

The leaves on the trees come tumbling down,
All around the town.

For this verse, the child lays the leaves 
on the ground and pats hands up and down on them.

The leaves on the ground go crunch, crunch, crunch.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.
Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The leaves on the ground go crunch, crunch, crunch.
All around the town.

For this verse, the child lays the leaves 
on the ground and swishes them 
into the air with their hands.

The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish.

Swish, swish, swish.
Swish, swish, swish.

The leaves on the ground go swish, swish, swish.

All around the town.

I provide each family with a printout of the words and allow the children to take home a set of leaves so they can sing the song at home with them.

So that is my favorite Fall leaves interactive activity. 

Very, very simple!

 I shared this song at our Family Game Night for September. To continue the leaf fun, we played with some artificial fall leaves and our parachute. 

The children AND the parents had a BLAST!

Stay tuned for details on the games we played with the
parachute and our colorful leaves.

Before I go, I want to share a second simple song that I use to calm down a rowdy group during any type of Fall program. We usually sing this song two or more times. To start, I ask where leaves grow and talk about them being high in a tree. I ask the children to raise their hands high above their heads and we wiggle each hand as we count 1-2. As we start singing, we twirl our hands:

Leaves Are Twirling

(Sung to the tune of: "Frere Jacques")

Leaves are twirling.

Leaves are twirling.

All around

All around.  

They are falling softly,

Very, very softly, 

To the ground, 

To the ground.

When we sing "all around", I encourage the children to make large sweeping motions with their hands ~ crossing several times in front of their bodies. Then, as we sing the rest of the song in a very soft, quiet voice, we slowly bring our hands down to the ground.

This is a very calming song to use as a transition from a more lively activity into the sharing of a book or flannel story.

Thanks for stopping by today. I am the host for the Flannel Friday Round-Up this week so check below for the Blog Hop and all of the creative posts.

Have a delightful weekend!

And, as always,

HAPPY READING TOGETHER!