It’s fall, and you’re probably looking for some fun fall science and ELA activities. Here are 13 autumn activities about apples, pumpkins, and leaves you’ll love to teach students this season!
13 Fall Science Activities For Kids
It’s likely you’ve been tasked with teaching all things fall, including apples, pumpkins, and leaves. You may have searched Pinterest or Google and found many appealing activities like leaf rubbings and pumpkin painting. But although the activities are fun, none of them are really “teaching” students the standards you need them to learn.
Instead, let’s consider some simple fall lessons and activities you can use in the classroom that are engaging and will help kids grasp important topics simultaneously!
When to Teach All Things Fall
What better time to teach about pumpkins, apples, and leaves than in the fall? Start with apples in September, move on to leaves in October, and finish with pumpkins in November.
A great thing about the primary grades is that you can easily incorporate multiple subject areas into one lesson, bringing science and ELA standards together.
Teaching Fall Science and Non-Fiction ELA in the Classroom
When teaching a themed unit, you want to avoid too many crafts and a lack of kid-friendly information. Instead, you want meaningful activities that build new understanding.
Types of engaging fall science and ELA activities may include.
- STEAM / STEM activities
- Science experiments
- Different genres of read-alouds with non-fiction and fiction books
- Vocabulary games and activities
- Writing prompts
- Reading response questions
Students should walk away from their fall science lessons learning something valuable. Whether reading a book about why leaves change colors in the fall or learning about the different parts of a pumpkin, you want your fall lessons to be exciting and educational.
Fall Themed Lesson Plans for Science and ELA
Here are some educational activities for the fall that you can use in your lesson plans to teach fall science and reading skills.
A developed unit aligned with the standards will ensure you hit all your targets. You could create activities based on standards or use a resource like this non-fiction ELA and fall science unit.
Activity #1: KWL or Schema Chart About Fall
Before starting any new unit, it’s essential to determine what your students already know and what questions they have about the topic.
Use a KWL or schema chart to drive your lessons forward! Before your unit begins, ask students what they know, and want to learn. Then, record their ideas on an anchor chart. After the unit is complete, ask them what they learned and complete the rest of the chart together.
A KWL chart can help determine how a unit needs to go. If students already know the life cycle of an apple, you can skip this lesson and replace it with a different one.
Activity #2: Fall Science Experiments
There are many fall science experiments kids will enjoy! Leaf chromatography, apple reactions, and even growing pumpkins INSIDE of pumpkins! These science experiments are perfect for little hands and are great projects for any primary classroom.
Activity #3: Fall Themed Storybooks
Using a fall fact storybook helps students learn about the changes in the fall. Kids will read and learn information about the season, like the changes in animals, weather, harvest, and celebrations!
These books are great to use as a whole group activity, small group, or even partner work while setting up an activity or getting ready for your lesson. You can even have students keep their books in their folders and pull them out to practice reading and review what they have learned so far!
Looking for more fall books? Find a list of non-fiction fall children’s books to add to your classroom bookshelves below!
Activity #4: Fall Writing
Once you have taught about a topic, it’s best to have students write about it. Students can create a creative writing piece, a research report, or keep an observation journal to show their understanding.
Writing helps students internalize information and allows us to assess if they understood what was taught.
Activity #5: Fall Science Questions
Fall posters are helpful teaching tools. Use them as fact posters to hang in the classroom or non-fiction stories.
Take the fall fact posters up a notch and use question sheets with students as a reading comprehension activity.
This is a great reading practice activity during a fall science lesson, in whole groups, or as partner work!
Activity #6: Directed Drawing
Directed drawing is always a kid’s favorite in the classroom. These fall drawings for kids there the perfect addition to any lesson and have many benefits. Students can hang their creations in the hallway, use them as a cover for the research report, or bring them home to show them off to their parents.
Activity #7: Fall Diagrams
Easily teach the different parts of apples, pumpkins, and leaves with labeled diagrams. Students can label the correct parts on an anchor chart, a drawing, or a cut-and-paste activity.
Use these diagrams as an introduction lesson or while reading a book about pumpkins, apples, or leaves.
Consider bringing in an apple, pumpkin, and leaf so students can explore the parts in person.
Activity #8: Fall Compare and Contrast
After learning about fall and reviewing the important facts about spring, students can sort pictures, words, and sentences into the correct part of a Venn Diagram.
Complete the activity together or have students complete it independently to show their understanding.
Activity #9: Pumpkin Life Cycle Craft
If you want to teach the life cycle of a pumpkin, you can do so with a few simple materials! Turn paper plates into orange pumpkins and put the life cycle in the correct order.
Grab this free activity for your fall lessons below!
Activity #10: Fall Vocabulary
Fall vocabulary posters provide you with meaningful words to teach students about the fall season. I suggest placing the posters somewhere highly visible and accessible to your students.
Another way to teach fall vocabulary is with themed word cards. Assign a word to each student and have them find the definition in the glossary of a book, write it on the sheet, and illustrate it. Have students present their words to the class, so everyone learns new words.
Activity #11: Fall Vocabulary Word Matching
Students love to play games. Challenge students to match fall vocabulary cards to its definition. To make it easier for primary students, put the vocabulary word on one color of paper and the definition on another.
Activity #12: Fall Photo Analysis
Give students a fall photo and have them use their ELA skills to explore and analyze the image. Ask them to make a connection (what does the photo remind them of), ask a question (what do they wonder), and infer (what conclusion can they make about the photo).
Activity #13: Fall Craft
You can’t teach fall without one cute fall craft. In this activity, students write different things that make them special on pumpkins. Once they complete their pumpkins, they glue them to the basket.
The perfect ending activity to a fun pumpkin read-aloud like Spookley the Square Pumpkin!
Resources to Help You Teach this Fall
Want to know the best thing about ALL of these fall science and ELA activities?
They are all available in one convenient and excellent fall unit.
All About Fall Science and ELA Unit
This fall science and non-fiction unit with help students learn an abundance of valuable information about apples, leaves, and pumpkins.
Students can label a diagram of an apple, create a research booklet about pumpkins, or perform fall science experiments on leaves.
There are so many educational and fall-themed activities available in this unit you won’t know which to use first. Plus, you won’t have to prep because it’s been done for you!
If you like this resource, you’ll love my all about seasons bundle!
Free Pumpkin Life Cycle Paper Plate Craft
Try some fall science in your classroom with this FREE paper plate pumpkin resource! Use this pumpkin life cycle craft as an independent science center, fun Friday activity, or quick sub plan.
Click the image below to grab a copy.
Non-Fiction Fall Books for Kids
Looking for some picture books to incorporate into your fall science and ELA lesson plans? Here are some you’ll enjoy!
My Favorite Non-Fiction Fall Books!
More Fall Themed Ideas
Children’s Books and Activities for Learning About Leaves
PIN for Later
Leave a Comment