* Fall Tree Give your kids a feel for fall by having them create their own tree. Have each child decorate a paper lunch bag, with fall colors, and their name. Take them out for a nature walk. Let them see and feel the tree's bark, fallen leaves, sticks, etc. Have them collect leaves (fallen&fresh), sticks, bark, and small parts of tiny branches. Bring them inside. Lay out newspaper for each child, have them empty the collection onto the newspaper. Give each child a large piece of manilla paper. Have them arrange and glue the sticks, bark and brach pieces to form the trunk and branches, then have them attach the leaves. * Finger Tree Gather colored paper (red, orange, brown, green, yellow) Trace the child's hand onto several sheets of several colors. Cut out. Then cut out a brown tree trunk & branches in proportion to the amount of leaves. Have the child glue the hand shapes to the tree trunk to form the leaves of the tree. Option: Have the child think of things to be thankful for and label the hand/leaves. Another Option: Use as a class project. Use one hand cutout for each child to make a class tree. * Turkey Plate Have your child paint a paper plate with lots of different colors, or have them sponge paint all over the plate. Let the plate dry. Cut out a brown construction pear shape to resemble the body of a turkey. Cut out a yellow triangle and red teardrop shape to form the beak, and punch out two black "eyes" with a hole punch out of black paper. Have the child assemble the turkey and then glue onto the plate as the turkey's feathers. * What's Inside A Pumpkin? Cut out a brown pumpkin stem, a green leaf, and two identical orange pumpkins. Label the first pumpkin, "what's inside a pumpkin?". Have the child glue small pieces of yellow/orange yarn, and pumpkin seeds to the other pumpkin. Assemble the pumpkin and place a brad at the top to hold it all together. Now they can flip and see..."What's Inside a Pumpkin" * What's Inside An Apple? Take two paper plates and have the child color the outsides red. Put the plates facing each other so the outside is showing, punch two holes in one side and tie together with yarn. Open "apple" up and glue apple seeds into the middle of the plate. Cut out stem and green leaf cutous and glue them to your peek-a-boo apple. * Thankful Wreath Cut out an orange or yellow circle to fit a paper plate, and have child glue to center. Then have them crumple up and glue colored tissue paper (fall colors) to the outside of the wreath. Cut out a bow shape and either glue a small picture of the child in the center of the bow, or have the child write his/her name on the bow. Glue the bow to the outside of the plate. Discuss thankfulness, and ask the child what they are thankful for. Then write that in the center of the plate i.e. "I am thankful for my parents.". Then attach a ribbon or string on the back to hang the wreath. * Leaf Necklace Cut out many leaf cutouts using many fall colors. Have the child decorate with markers and crayons. Laminate the leaves (optional), then punch a hole in the stems and give the child some string or yarn, and have them thread them on to make a Fall Leaf Necklace. * Halloween Candy Holder This is a great craft that the children can use to go trick or treating with, or you can use it as a decoration, and more. Take a large can (coffee can, spaghetti sauce can..) and wash thoroughly, making sure to remove all outside paper and stickiness.  Paint the can with one coat of white paint and let dry.  Then paint the can with a coat of orange paint - let dry.  Then either with black paint, or a black marker draw the face of a jack-o-lantern on the can.  Punch two holes into the top edges of the can on opposite sides. (Use a hammer and nail) Tie string or twine to make a handle.  Now you have a great holiday decoration that you can actually use.  Optional: You can use smaller cans, fill them with candy & stuff and use them as party favors at a Halloween party. * Fall Literature Look for these books in your library or local bookstore and share them with the children. McNaughton, Colin. Autumn (1984) Barklen, Jill. Autumn Story (1980) Dutton, Sandra. The Cinnamon Hen's Autumn Day. (1988) Brandt, Keith. Wonders of the Seasons. (1982) Lambert, David. The Seasons. Kirkpatrick, Rena K. Look at the Leaves (1978) Lerner, Sharon. I Found a Leaf (1978) Johnson, Sylvia. How Leaves Change. (1986) * Clay Leaf Prints Use a rolling pin to flatten clay or a drying type dough. Lay a leaf on the clay & roll over it. Remove the leaf & let the clay dry. Paint the clay with fall colors of tempera. * Pumpkin Peek Cut two large pumpkins from orange construction paper. On inside pumpkin have kids glue short pieces of yarn & real pumpkin seeds that have been washed & dried. Cut a steam & one leaf from green paper. Assemble the shapes with a brad. * Turkey Platter Sponge a large paper plate with bright fall colors, then set ashid to dry. Make a light brown peanut shaped turkey body & have kids glue it on the lower section of the plate so painting resembles fanned out tail feathers. * Fall Colors Glue torn brown construction paper onto large sheet of finger paint paper to resemble the rough trunk & branches of a tree. Randimaly drop spoonfuls of liquid tempera onto the paper. Cover the paper with a large sheet of wax paper then press & rub the paint. Allow paint to dry completly then peel away the wax paper. Cut around the shape to make a tree. * Fall Leaf Necklaces you need: spoon 4 cups of flour 1 1/2 cups salt 2 cups water Food coloring waxed paper rolling pin Fallen leaves or silk' blunt knife pencil scissors ruler yarn 1.) mix together the flour, salt and water. then work it with your hands until it has a smooth texture. Add more flour if necessary to make it claylike dough. This amount of dough will make about 16 pendants. 2.) Divide the dough into three or four portions.. Add a few drops of food coloring to each portion and mix to color the dough lightly. 3.) Give each child about 1/'4 cup of dough. Have kids form balls with the dough. 4.) Hlp the children place each ball of dough between two sheets of wax paper whose waxed sides face the dough. Use the rolling pin to flatten each ball until it is about 1/4" thick. 5.) Choose some leaves no larger then 3" across that have large veins. Be sure the laves are not to dry, or they will crumble and stick to the dough. peel back the top sheet of waxed paper and place leaf, veins down, on the dough. Replace the waxed paper and roll over the leaf on the dough. 6.) Remove the waxed paper and the leaf. With a blunt knife,shape the outline of the dough into a circle or oval. 7.) With a pencil, poke 2 sets of holes for the yarn in the top of each clay pendant. *Make sure you leave enough time for the pendants to dry-- Will take a few days or you can place in the oven at 200 degrees and cook for a couple of hours to help with the drying! Hope you like! * Fall-leaf stained glass designs you need: Colorful fall leaves wooden ice cream sticks paper towels old crayons pieces waxed paper paper clips kitchen towel iron tape 1.) Take your class on a walk outdoors and collect 4 or 5 fall leaves. 2.) Give each child a ice cream stick, paper towel, and some pieces of old crayon. Ask each child to make crayon shaving over the paper towel by scraping the side of the ice cream stick against the crayon. Each child should make a handful of shavings. 3.) Next, give your child 2 12"long pieces of waxed paper. Children will then arrange their fall leaves on one of their pieces of waxed paper. have the children sprinkle colored wax in the spaces between the leaves. 4.) Ask each child to lay a second piece of waxed paper on top of his or her leaf arrangement. Use paper clips to attach each childs pieces of waxed paper together. 5.) Place a towel over the paper, to protect the iron. then set the iron at a low temperature and iron each childs arrangement. 6.) Then display in the window! * Pumpkin People Place orange crepe paper or orange tissue paper underneath clean milk cartons or juice containers. Bring paper together at the top, and tie with a bow. Have children add black construction paper features, and display your creatures. * Wise Owl Cut an owl from brown and tan construction paper. Make eyes from orange and yellow pieces of construction paper. Tear up small pieces of newspaper and glue to the chest area for a mottled feather look. * A fistful of ghosts Witha flick of the wrist, a handprint becomes a ghost! Make a paint pad from a folded, wet paper towel and white paint. Press the little finger side of the hand onto the pad and then onto background paper with a bit of a swish. the little finger makes a head and the bottom of the hand creates the ghost! * Lolly pop ghosts Take a tissue paper and cover the top of a totsie pop and tie a string around the "head" of Ghost! Makes a cute snack! * Lunch bag Pumpkins Use a regular brwon paper lunch bag to make this craft. Color the bottom half of the bag orange. Take a green string and gather up the top and tie the bag shut. Paint the top of the bag green. Add Jack o lantern face to orange part.. * Thumbprint pumpkins Give each child a sheet of white or yellow construction paper. pour small amountsof orange paint into shallow containers. Have the kids dip their thumb into the paints and press them all over the paper. When the paint has dried, help the children turn their thumbprints into pumpkins by adding stems, leaves and vines with a green marker! * Song- " Five Little Monsters" Five little monsters sitting by the door. One ran away and then there were four. Four little monsters sitting in a tree. One fell off, and then there were three. Three little monsters drinking orange brew. One fell in, and then there were two. Two Littlle monsters having lots of fun. One went home, and then there was one. One little monster sitting in the sun. It melted away, and then there was none! * Song-'Pumpkin time" Sung to " mary had a little lamb" Pumpkin time is here again, Time to play trick or Treat. Pumpkin time is here again, Our Spooky friends we'll meet. See the costumes we have on, Monsters, ghosts, goblins too. See the costumes we have on, Hear us all shout "BOO!" * Song-" Three Black cats" sung to " three Blind mice" Three Black cats, three black cats, in black hats, in black hats. They all jumped into the Halloween brew, they teased the ghosts and the goblins too. Did you ever hear such a hullabaloo on Halloween>??? * Indian Corn The night before, take red food coloring and squirt over corn. Let sit and the corn will turn red. ( I let the corn sit in a bowl with just a few drops of water) On a piece of paper, draw an ear of corn. Then glue the corn on the cob. Color stalks green. * Corn Cluster Cut 2 orange or yellow paper ears of corn and staple together with tissue between for stuffing. Use crayons to draw in kernls. Fasten clusters of about seven ears to husks cut from strips of brown paper bags. Hang several corn clusters as thanksgiving decorations. * Turkey trays Set out leaves, plastic foam trays, and construction paper. Make turkeys by gluing arrangements of real leaves for the feathers onto construction-paper bodies. Then glue bodies onto trays. Draw in features * Indian headbands and vests During our Thanksgiving feast at school. I dressed all my students in Indian outfits. We made Indian Headbands........ Stripes of paper with a paper feather in the back. Indian vests.. We used Large brown paper bags and cut the arms out and decorated with paint. * Bulletin board idea- Tom the Turkey From brown construction paper cut out a large circle for a turkey body and a small circle for a head. Glue the small circle in the center of the large one. Add a yellow construction paper beal, a red wattle, black eyes, and 2 red legs. Trace around each childs hand. Use the tracing to cut hand shapes from red, yellow, and orange construction paper. let the children decorate their hand shapes with crayons. Then have them glue their shapes around the top part of the turkey body for feathers. Then attach to bulletin board. * Mayflower ships Give each child a walnut shell half, a small piece of playdough, a toothpick and a small square of white paper for a sail. Let the kids decorate their sails with crayons. Help each child p2 holes in his or her sail. Show the child how to stick his or her toothpick in one hole and out the other hole.Hve the kids roll th plaudough into a ball and place in the bottom ofthe walnut shell.. Then stick the toothpick in the playdough. * pumpkin pies Cut round pie shapes out of orange construction paper. give each child a few whole cloves in a paper cup and set out small containers of powered cinnamon and ginger. Have the kids brush glue on thier pie shapes. then let them sprinkle the spices over the glue and create "fragrant pumpkin pies." * Comparing corn items Let the kids compare fresh corncobs, popcorn kernals, dried Indian corn, canned corn, cornmeal, cornflakes, and corn chips. * Making Butter Fill baby food jars half full of whipping cream and screw the lids on tighly. let 2 Kids take turns shaking each jar. After about 5 mins the cream will be whipped, and after another min or so, lumps of yellow butter will form. Rinse off the liquid whey and add a little salt, if desired. Then spread on crakers to taste! * I buy cheap coloring books like what you can find at Michael's, or Hobby Lobby and I make copies of the color sheets for my kids. * TIP* Add liquid dish washing soap to any tempra paint and it will make it washable incase it gets on clothes! * My chlideren acutally requested to sing these this week (of course sang our hearts out!): Gobble, Gobble "If you're Happy & You Know It" "Gobble, gobble, gobble,gobble", says the bird- "Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble", says the bird. Mr. Turkey gobble-gobbles And his head goes wobble-wobble "Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble", says the bird. A Turkey Sat on a Backyard Fence A turkey sat on a backyard fence And he sang this sad, sad tune: "Thanksgiving Day is coming (Gobble,gobble, gobble, gobble) And I know I'll be eaten soon! Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, Gobble, gobble,gobble, gobble, I would like to run away-- Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble Gobble, gobble, gobble, gobble, I don't like Thanksgiving Day!" * These are in my Haloween file, but really can be for fall also. CANDY PUMPKINS For each pumpkin you will need, 5 orange jelly slices i.e. Chuckles 1 small green jelly bean white frosting Pipe a line of frosting on the narrow side of the orange slice and press to next one, continue on until they are all together on a pumpkin shape, then set the jelly bean on top with small amount of frosting for stem. * CAT COOKIES Chocolate sandwich cookies white frosting candy corn mini baking bits red/black licorice lace Spread each cookie on one side with frosting. Dab some frosting on the bottom of 2 pieces of candy corn and place on top of cookie for ears, may have to hold for aminute. Decorate the "face" of the cat with mini baking bits for eyes and red licorice for nose and black for whiskers. Both of these can be made ahead and have ready for the kids, or depending on the age of kids and your patience level---the kids can do them themselves and practice lots of things while doing it. I let the 4/5's do them as one of their projects for the day.