Exploring Autumn Changes with Young Learners

Core Connections

Exploring Autumn Changes with Young Learners

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By:  Deborah Summers, McCracken County Schools

The air crackles with cold, the wind howls around the eaves and swirls of colorful leaves crunch under our sneakers. Autumn is here and with it come changes that preschoolers need to learn about. When working each day with young children we cover the calendar, months, years, seasons and weather. These things become much more meaningful when we can make hands on connections by exploring the world around us. Grownups already know that if you jump into a pile of crisp fall leaves with a wet sucker you're in for a disappointment. Alas, children have to find this out for themselves.


Helping children realize that during the Autumn season trees go dormant and leaves change color is an important building block in developing higher level thinking. Giving them the knowledge that there is a sequence or a cycle to life that will always be repeated helps build a platform for their understanding of science in the future.

Most children become excited in the fall of the year when the first mention of Halloween is whispered. Listening to seventeen children all trying to have the floor while shrieking that their costume will be Spiderman can be a bit nerve wracking. But knowing that there are many wonderful holidays such as Columbus Day, Veterans Day, and Thanksgiving that we can share, enjoy and learn from makes for a fun filled season with lots of opportunities for growth.


The Autumn of the year is a great time for exploring farms and harvesting. Using field trips to farms or pumpkin patches gives the children a better idea of where our food comes from and how it grows. Pumpkins, apples, corn, gourds and other harvested crops can be brought into the classroom and used in various ways to help children compare, measure, sequence and dramatize. This is a wonderful time for an adult to open up pumpkins, apples, and gourds. Investigating, squishing, smelling, tasting, measuring, weighing and floating are all fun things that can be done. Give children the chance to take out some frustration on a pumpkin by using a hammer and some golf tees. It's even a great stress reducer for adults!


Weather is, of course one of the foremost changes in Autumn. It's wonderful to start a dialogue with children about the changes they have noticed as they wait for the bus. Many reports of seeing smokey breath or frosty grass let you know that children are very good at observing their world. Making the connection to seasonal changes is their next step and giving them the information to make that leap by reading and experimenting with them helps give them the power to begin understanding the natural world around them.


Related Links

  • 'Harvesting' the Web for Farm Resources -

    According to this website;  "Fall is the traditional harvest time. Leaves are falling, pumpkins are ripening, and apples are just waiting to be picked from the trees. With many crops ready to be gathered, it's the perfect time to "farm" the Internet for agricultural resources! Included: Web sites for students of all ages!"

     

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