Books
🌿🌻Windy Days by Deborah Kerbel
This cute board book guides us through the autumn changing of the seasons as the winds scatter seeds, sway branches, soar kites, blow leaves, knock off hats, freeze cheeks, and swirl snowflakes.
🌿🌻In the Middle of Fall by Kevin Henkes (illustrated by Laura Dronzek)
In this board book, the leaves have turned, the flowers are brown and dry, the crops are ripe for harvest, and it takes just one gust of wind to transform the air and ground into a vibrant leaf-covered scene. Audiences are reminded of the transience of colorful autumn leaves before the snow falls.
🌿🌻Little Acorn by Melanie Joyce
This illustrated board book tells the story of an acorn’s life cycle from nut to nut-bearing tree. The rhyme schemes are typically sound, but the rhythm can be a lot more challenging to find than in the book Little Raindrop.
🌿🌻Autumn Leaves Fall by Amber Hendricks (illustrated by Gavin Scott)
This cute board book uses rhythm and rhyme to portray the changes autumn brings to the natural world, including the changing and falling of the leaves.
🌿🌻Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
This illustrated fictional story describes a “leaf man” that disappears with the wind. The story and pictures take us through a landscape of pictures and characters imagined in leaf arrangements on the ground. Also available as a board book.
🌿🌻Baby Explorer: Leaves by Carol Lawrence (illustrated by Francesco Zito)
This board book explores the different types of leaves & the way they absorb (or conserve) energy for plants, written for roughly a pre-K or elementary science level. Learn why deciduous trees drop their leaves and how evergreen leaves are protected from frost through the winter.
🌿🌻Leaves by H.P. Wood
🌿Full of Fall by April Pulley Sayre
Vivid photo illustrations and rhythmic verses explore the autumn changing of the leaves, including sumac, maple, birch, and oak. Examine vibrant arrays of red, orange, & yellow in contrast with decomposing brown leaves.
🌿A Leaf Can Be by Laura Purdie Salas
In this illustrated book of rhythm and rhymes, Salas describes the different functions of leaves through the seasons of the year.
🌿Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak
This illustrated book takes us through different concepts at the turn of the season, saying goodbye to Summer things and hello to Autumn things.
🌿We Want Leaves by Jamies Swenson
Children wish for leaves to fall and excitedly anticipate the various festivities of fall. They enjoy a plethora of piled autumn leaves and begin to look forward to the arrival of snow. This cute book is an excellent addition to any leaf unit planned with the optimistic hope that children may actually see leaves falling during the unit.
🌿Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Lois Ehlert
This illustrated book provides information through fictional narrative. A child tells the story of how her maple tree grew from a seed and describes the way the tree changes throughout the year.
🌿If You Find a Leaf by Aimee Jicuno
This book uses a combination of photocopy and watercolor illustrations to show a child imagining the different things a leaf might be, such as a hat, a mask, or a hot-air balloon!
🌿Shrinking Days, Frosty Nights: Poems about Fall by Laura Purdie Salas
🌿Summer Green to Autumn Gold: Uncovering Leaves’ Hidden Colors by Mia Posada
Explore the science of autumn leaves as sun-soaking chlorophyll pigments fade from the plants’ cells in the cool fall air, leaving behind yellow, orange, & brown pigments (or bringing out new pigments like red or purple).
🌿Colors of Fall by Laura Purdie Salas
Explore the colors of a yellow school bus, red apples, geese in a blue sky, gold leaves, orange pumpkins, black crows and more in this photo-illustrated book that ties in all manner of autumn concepts. This book can get a little wordy for toddlers, but you can easily choose just a few colors to highlight on each read.
The Leaf Thief by Alice Hemming
In this story of illustrated fiction, a squirrel is very alarmed to realized that one of the leaves in his tree has gone missing. He makes frantic inquiries of his neighbors throughout the book and a friend patiently reminds him that, just like last year, the wind has blown the fall leaves loose.
Leaves on the Trees by Thom Wiley
This book presents another adaptation of “Autumn Leaves are Falling Down” to the tune of “London Bridge.” While I am not quite impressed by the illustration style in this book, I do enjoy the way it reads. Many of the trees presented in this book are not native to the upper midwest (and some simply aren’t found up here), but I find it an excellent addition to our Autumn Leaves collection nonetheless.
A Very Big Fall by Emmy Kastner
In this silly illustrated story, a group of leaves are curious about what the squirrels are telling them about fall. What is fall? What colors will they turn? When will they fall? Birch is excited, Oak is anxious, and Maple is impatient and a little grumpy. In the end, a child picks up the three fallen leaves and brings them inside to create artwork of creative tracings!
Creative Art Opportunities
🍁Leaf collage on contact paper – hang in window
🍁Crayon rubbings on paper over leaves
🍁Paint with leaves/leaf collage over paint
🍁Rolling pinecones or acorns in paint in a box
🍁Trace leaves with pencils
🍁Paint over a leaf arrangement to create a relief image
🍁Create a collage with paper-punched leaf confetti
🍁Draw with fall colors on paper using markers, chalk, or colored pencils
🍁Use fall colored paints (red, orange, yellow, green, brown, and/or purple)
Hands On Experiences
⛅️Sort real acorns or wooden acorns (like these)
⛅️Transfer acorns or small pinecones between two bowls using spoon or tongs
⛅️Put together a leaf puzzle like this one
⛅️Explore large pinecones and real or faux leaves in a sensory bin
⛅️Explore leaves in a sensory bin
⛅️Label the parts of a leaf or tree
⛅️Drop leaves into a slot
⛅️Drop acorns through a paper towel tube
⛅️Create a leaf crown using braided twine or a straw hat
🌿Drop leaves into water (stream, puddle, pond)
🌿Drop leaves from a tall place (deck, balcony, tower)
🌿Collecting leaves in a basket or tummy pack
🌿Collect acorns under a tree
🌿Throw leaves up in the air outside
🌿Play with scarves or leaves in the win
Songs to Learn and Sing
“Fall of the Year” – Emily Gary
“Falling Leaf” – Stephanie Leavell
“Listen to the Leaves” – Claudia Robin Gunn
“Leaf Skeletons” – Claudia Robin Gunn
“The Acorn’s Roll” – Claudia Robin Gunn
“Donguri Korokoro” – Lisa Loeb
“Autumn Leaves” – Rachel Farrow
“The Wind” – Claudia Robin Gunn
“Floating Through the Breeze” – Little Parade
“Ready to Go (Acorns)” – Jessie Farrell & the Gumboot Kids
“Sugar Shack (Maple Syrup)” – Jessie Farell & the Gumboot Kids
“Autumn” – Emily Who
“Blowing in the Wind” – Stephanie Leavell
“Swirly Whirly Scarves” – Stephanie Leavell
“What Falls in the Fall” – Laurie Berkner
“Tumble” – Caspar Babypants
“Little Acorn, Mighty Oak” – Sara Ernst & Stephanie Leavell
“Jumpin’ in the Leaves” – Makin’ Music Rockin’ Rhythms
NIYN – Autumn Leaves on Spotify
NIYN – Autumn Leaves on YouTube
All playlists are works in progress and are actively curated when I have a unit in play or preparation, so new songs may appear and old songs may be removed if they don’t suit my designs.
Poems
Nothing Gold Can Stay by Robert Frost
Fall Leaves Fall by Emily Bronte
