1) FALL IDEAS FALL APRONS.  Purchase a white cotton carpenter's apron for each child (abt ..99 ea. at Home Depot or other hardware store) and red, yellow, green, brown fabric paints. Collect a variety of leaves. Look for leaves that are still pliable. Tape the stem to a scrap piece of paper.  Let the child brush each leaf completely with fabric paint that has been thinned slightly.  Untape the leaf and place carefully, paint side down, on apron.  Cover with paper towel. Place old phone book on top and let children count to 5.  Repeat with several leaves.  Write child's name on apron.  Use for Nature walk to collect acorns, leaves, etc. APPLE WREATHS.  Select apples with a dark red skin, such as Delicious.  With a sharp knife, cut the apple into uniform 1/8 inch slices horizontally to reveal the star shape inside.  One large apple will yield abt 10 slices.  You will need between 12-15 slices for each wreath.  Soak the slices for 5 minutes in a solution of 2 cups water, 1/3 cup Real Lemon juice, and 2  Tbsp. salt.  Drain well and place in a single layer onto a cookie sheet lined with paper towel.  Bake at 150 degrees for 4-6 hrs with the door slightly ajar, turning the apple slices over once, until they are leathery, but not crisp. They can also be dried air-dried for 5-6 days, if you have a sunny window and dry weather.  Let the children sample the dried apple. How are they different from fresh apple slices? Which do they like better? Where did the moisture go?  You could also make a chart with two columns -I like Fresh or Dried apples best. To assemble the wreath, each child will need either a 6 in. cardboard wreath or a 6 in. grapevine wreath (avail at craft stores for abt .59 ea) Using lots of Tacky glue (also craft store)  overlap apple slices, covering the wreath entirely with apple slices .  Let dry.  Sprinkle with cinnamon and dab oil of clove on the apples with fingertips.  Decorate with cinnamon sticks and ribbon.  The dried apples can also be strung on jute or ribbon to make an apple garland. APPLE PRINTING  Cut apples horizontally and verytically and press into trays of red, yellow and green paint press onto large pieces of paper. PAINT A PUMPKIN.  Supply each child with a small pumpkin, contact paper cut into various shapes and paint.  Let the child cover the pumpkin w/the shapes and paint over the shapes.  when dry peel off the shapes to revealing bright orange shapes underneath. GHOSTS & SPIDERS Have the children trace each other's bare feet onto white paper and cut them out.  Stand them on their toes.  Supply black cut out eye shapes (ovals and circles) glue. Punch hole in the top and hang in window or from ceiling. To make spiders, trace children's 4 fingers on black paper, then turn around paper and trace finger on other hand, adjacent to the first 4 fingers. (the palm areas will overlap each other) Cut out.  Punch two holes for eyes, decorate w/ glitter and suspend from ceiling or window, draping with spider web gauze. LEAF PAIRS Collect 6 matching pairs of leaves.  Press the leaves between heavy books for several days. Mount each leaf on index cards and laminate. let the children take turns matching the pairs of leaves. 2) For our unit on fall I will take the children outside. They will pretend to be squirrels and gather acorns. Then each child will bury their acorns in a pot of dirt. We will see how many little trees we can grow. I know my class will have fun doing this, they love doing everything . 3) Paperbag Scarecrow                                 You Need:                                 - small and medium brown paper bags                                 - asstd. colored paper                                 - markers, crayons                                 - newspaper                                 - tape                                 Craft Assemble body by stuffing medium brown paper bag with crumpled newspaper. Fold the top closed and tape it shut. Assemble head by filling small paper bag with more crumpled newspaper about 2/3 full. Twist and tape shut. Make a hole in the body to insert the twisted end of the head into. Tape into place. Cut arms and legs out of brown paper and glue or tape to body. Make "hay" by cutting paper bags into thin strips about2-3" long (longer for hair). Glue "hay" around neck, wrists and ankles. Also glue longer strips to head for hair. Decorate using markers or crayons and colored paper to create a face for your scarecrow and patches for his clothes. 4) ~~~Autumn Stained Glass Window~~~ *Have kids collect  aprox. 6-8 really colorfull autumn leaves the flatter the better. *remove stems *Take two sheets of waxed paper (cut to the same size as construction paper) *Lay the leaves in a pattern, shape, design... onto one of the waxed papers. *Take a pencil sharpener and sharpen up some crayons, (great way to use up old crayons)let shavings fall all over the page. this will seal the pages together. Place a few shavings under the leaves and for sure along the edges. *Place the other peice of waxed paper on top and place between 2 bath towels and using a HOT iron, press the pages together until the crayons melt. *Make a frame out of construction papet and you have a stained glass window. 5) * Draw leaves free hand, then color or paint the pictures. * Do rubbings with crayons or pencils by placing paper on top of various leaves. * Paint leaves, then print them onto the paper by turning them over and pressing them onto the paper by hand. * Leaf bursts: Tape leaves to the paper, paint or use markers to color around leaves, then remove leaf.  By replacing the leaf or several different leaves onto different parts of the paper, a burst effect will occur. * Foiled leaf designes: Place heavy foil on top of leaves, then rub carefully with a stick, until a print appears.  Cut out the leaf and glue to cardboard, if desired. 6) Tree Have the children make a tree by gluing toothpicks on a piece of paper. Use a sponge and green tempera paint to add leaves to the top of the tree. *A Fall Tree in the Classroom In the Fall we cut trees out of poster board- one for each child, then when we go for our walks we collect leaves and glue them on our trees. *Pressed Leaves Another idea I did as a child was to collect leaves and put them between wax paper and iron them together--that way they stay colorful all year. *Puzzle Trees Found a great easy activity for spring, you know those puzzles that seem to always have missing peices (like the 63 peice one that only has 40 peices left LOL) Cut out the trunk of a tree with limbs glue this or even staple it to another peice of paper (yellow makes a great back ground color)  and glue the puzzle peices to the branches of the tree.  This could also be used during the fall. *FALL TREE - crumple small pieces of red yellow and orange tissue paper glue them onto a large paper plate cut slit in one end of a TP roll insert the paper plate splatter paint leaves arrange one or more leaves  on a sheet of construction paper partially fill a small spray bottle with DILUTED tempra paint spray lightly over the leaves when paint dries,  lift the leaves to reveal the design. *HANDPRINT ART - Need small amounts of assorted fall colors and tempra paint paint the palm and inside of fingers of one hand (excluding the thumb) with brown paint press hand on the paper so that the palm forms a trunk and the fingers form branches dip pad of thumb (thumbprint) in paint, one color at a time and stamp leaves onto the branches I hope you can picture this one... it is really cool! To put it on the wall get green butcher paper and cut out their trees and tape them to the hillside. *Autumn Trees Supplies: ~Large piece of paper ~Crayons or markers ~Glue ~Leaves First go for a walk and collect leaves (the more colorful the better). To make a tree outline, trace the child's  hand (with fingers spread) and arm (up to the elbow) on a large piece of paper. Color the inside of the outline, that is the tree. Now, glue leaves onto the branches and around the base of the tree. You can also  cut out "apples" and glue them on the tree! *Five Leaves Five little leaves so bright and gay, Were dancing about on a tree one day. The wind came blowing through the town, And one little leaf came tumbling down. [Continue with 4 leaves, then 3, 2, & 1.] [We hold pictures of leaves or real leaves and drop them.] *Fall Leaf Mobiles   Cut a 1 inch strip of cardboard & tape into a circle.  Punch 6 holes in the strip & have kids collect 6 colorful leaves.  Press them between pieces of wax paper.  Punch a hole in the wax paper & tie each with a different length of string to the circular mobile. * Glycerin Leaves   Place a small branch with fall leaves on several layers of newspapers. With a hammer tap the end of the stem until it is slightly crushed,  Place branch in a jar with one part glycerine to two parts water.  Keep for 2 weeks.  Leaves will be thicker to touch, colors will have changed & they will not disintergrate or fade. * 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. *Blossom Tree Supplies: Construction Paper Paper Glue Powdered Tempera Paint Popcorn Cut out a brown tree trunk and some branches. Take popcorn and sprinkle pink or red tempra paint on it. Children glue the colored popcorn onto the branches. It should look like a tree with blossoms. 7) the week is school adjustment but all of my students were in summer camp which is much like the school progam except for the use of the puppets during circle so we skipped the theme and went right into fall to make decorations for our bulletin board. When it was art time I cleaned the tables very well and then I squirted red, yellow, orange, and brown paint on the tables.  the children were allowed to finger paint the table.  they swirled and mixed the colors, squished the paint between their fingers and just had a wonderful time!! when they were finished we placed  sheets of white paper on top of the table and picked up the paint.  it made wonderful colors.  my assistant  and I (because my students are only 2) cut leaves out of the paper.  they turned out great!!! tomorrow we will give the students apples cut out of red paper and allow the students to glue (we use only glue sticks because of the age) red tissue paper down on the apple. 8) Art Collage- Go on a fall nature walk and pick up things off the ground that have fallen off the trees.  (leaves, acorns, pine needles, etc.)  Come back to the classroom and discuss the different things the kids found.  Discuss how the leaves are changing different colors, etc.  Put down a piece of contact paper.  Tape the sides to the table.  Have the children create a collage out of their findings.  Afterwards put a piece of construction paper against the contact paper.   Other art projects include leaf rubbings, leaf prints with fall colors, etc. A song I sang about leaves goes like this: See the lovely autumn leaves of red, and gold, and brown Gently floating on the breeze and resting on the ground. The kids can use there hands to imitate the leaves blowing in the wind and falling to the ground.  They can also use scarves (fall colors) to imitate the leaves. A fingerplay about leaves goes like this: The leaves and whirling round an round (wave fingers) The leaves are falling to the ground(wave fingers down) Round and round, round and round(roll one hand over other) Falling sofly to the ground (slowly wave hands downward) Enjoy leaves and the different changes  fall brings. 9) Pretty Leaves are Falling Down (sing to the tune of:  "London Bridge") Pretty leaves are falling down, falling down, falling down. Pretty leaves are falling down, all around the town.  (wiggle fingers) Let's rake them up in a pile, in a pile, in a pile. Let's rake them up in a pile, all around the town. (make raking motions) Let's all jump in and have some fun, have some fun, have some fun. Let's all jump in and have some fun, all around the town. (jump into circle) Leaves Little leaves fall gently down Red and yellow, orange and brown. (flutter hands as leaves falling) Whirling, whirling around and around. (turn around) Quietly without a sound. (put finger to lips) Falling softly to the ground (begin to fall slowly) Down and down and down and down. (lie on the floor) 10) Fall Trees Craft You will need: -Fingerpaint paper -tree trunk shape, cut out of construction paper and glued onto the finger    paint paper -Using a spoon, the children put small amounts of tempera paint on the top   third of their paper, above the tree!  (we used red, green, yellow, & orange) -Then we placed a sheet of waxed paper over the paint blobs. -The children placed their hands over the wax paper and smeared the paint all   around. -After the paint dries, we pulled off the wax paper. These came out looking really nice and the kids loved doing it!  Some of our 3 year olds don't like getting their hands dirty, so this was a fun way for them to fingerpaint. 11) Ideas on Trees - these were already sent but in case someone didn't get them: v Tree  - Have the children make a tree by gluing toothpicks on a piece of paper. Use a sponge and green tempera paint to add leaves to the top of the tree. =v=v=v=v=v=v **Brooms*** On stormy days when the wind is high Tall trees are brooms sweeping the sky They swish their branches In buckets of rain And swash and sweep it blue again Leaf Match Use a glue stick to glue leaves plucked from 4-6 different trees on to a poster board. Cover with clear contact paper.  Sandwich leaves of the same size and variety between two pieces of clear contact paper. Trim around each leaves leaving a ¼ " sealed edge. Set the board and leaves on a tray. The children match the leaves.  Use plaster of Paris to put a branch in a bucket, children can decorate branch with pine cones, assorted leaves,  make their own leaves from paper.... Leaf rubbings Place a leaf under a sheet of paper and colour over the top with crayon until the pattern of the leaf is clear. --------------------------------------------------- I was thinking of doing a unit at Christmas time on EVERGREEN TREES - there are so many here in OR.  Here’s what I have so far.  SENSORY SCIENCE Discovering Evergreen Trees On a tray, set out branches from three different kinds of evergreen trees to compare. Provide magnifying glasses for examining.  Smell the branches. Point out the differences in needles and pine cones  if attached. Grow a  forest Buy several tiny evergreens sold at Christmas time for table decorations. But a dowel in each pot.  Place in a sunny window.  Mark the heights of the trees on the first day.  Keep track every couple of weeks, marking their heights on the dowel..  MATH/SCIENCE Count the rings on a wood round - a slice of the tree. PLAY DOUGH: (Xmas) Tree cutters - green dough ART Mural Forest To make a tree, press a child's hand into green tempera paint. Keeping the fingers & thumb close together, press the hand on a roll piece of white butcher paper, making the tree, leaves and branches. Have the children print their hands as many times as they would like on the same paper to make a forest.  Use a brown maker sideways,  print the child’s names under their trees to make the trunks.  . ART: Easel paint using evergreen branches for brushes. BOOK:  Mr. Willoby’s Christmas Tree Need non-fiction book IN THE BLOCK AREA: Add evergreen trees  ( Cut from 1 inch thick pine board into tall triangular  trees in various sizes.  Keep the bottoms flat and wide so they are easy to stand up. Sand smooth - can use a non-toxic green stain for a pretty finish.  Vinyl forest creatures.   Display pictures of forests and logging trucks.  Provide a couple of wood trucks to load and unload with the logs - the logs can be cylinders from the block set or logs made from smooth straight branches cut into lengths that fits the trucks. Make paper? SENSORY Explorations: Wood shavings in the sand/water table  MANIPULATION:  Woodworking:  Provide a hand drills for boring holes, and a hammer and large head nails for pounding into pine boards.  I am a Christmas tree growing up tall,       (stretch) But when I first started, I was this small.    (crouch) Then I grew bigger and had branches this wide,  (stand slowly, arms out) And I made pine cones with seeds hiding inside.  (hands for pine cone) The wind shakes my branches,  (shake arms) And down those seeds fall,   (flutter fingers downward) To make new little pine trees for tinsel and balls.  (point hands together for tree,  opening slowly to form ball shape) Song : Found A Pine Cone Sung to 'Oh, My Darling Clementine' Found a pine cone, found a pine cone, found a pine cone on the ground. Oh, I‘m so very lucky  - a pine cone to have found. Picked it up, picked it up, picked it up just like that, Picked up that pretty pine cone - then I put it in my sack. Found a pine cone, found a pine cone, found a pine cone on the ground. Oh, I’m so very lucky  - a pine cone to have found. 12) Fall Tree..... i give each child ayellow construction paper tree cut out one small cup of red colored water one small cup of orange colored water and an eye dropper the children can practice using thier pinscher (sp??) muscles while they create a beautiful fall tree!!! afterwards we glue on a tree trunk!!