My Favorite Fall Activities for Kids

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Isn’t Fall the best? Fall weather, scarves, great boots, hot coffee, and warm food all combine to make it a beautiful season. Plus, there are lots of opportunities to enjoy fun Fall activities with your family and friends. I’ve put together a list of my favorite fall activities for kids, including fall activities for preschool and outdoor activities for the whole family.

I just know you’re going to love my Fall preschool activities and hands-on learning ideas for kids of all ages. Keep reading to discover Fall printables, lesson plans, and fun ideas for your whole family to enjoy this Autumn.

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What Activities Do You Do In The Fall?

Fall is definitely my favorite season. The heat of Summer has dissipated and the food is rich and comforting. There are lots of reasons to love Fall. Another thing I love about Fall is celebrating it with my kids and in my classroom. 

There are so many fun fall activities for kids to enjoy and learn from too. Fall is filled with exciting preschool themes, outdoor activities, and more. 

I can’t wait to share some of my favorite Fall activities for kids with you! Keep reading to discover fun Fall themes, activities, printables, and more for your family and your classroom.

Fall Preschool Activities and Themes I Love

Fall can be so much fun in your preschool classroom! I love creating themed Fall activities for preschool including printables, activities, crafts, and songs. Check out some of my favorite fall preschool activities and printables here:

Seasonal and Clothing Activities

The seasons are changing, the leaves are falling, and the weather is getting cooler. It’s the perfect time to explore seasons in your preschool classroom. Get ready to learn about the weather and the changing seasons with your preschoolers with this fun dress me for the seasons printable activity:

These cute printables are filled with clothes and accessories for all the seasons and weather to encourage hands on learning through dramatic play. These would be great laminated and tossed into a science center or used during circle time when discussing the weather, seasons, or clothing!

Apple Theme

Early Fall is the perfect time to learn all about apples with your preschoolers. Check out some of my favorite apple activities including an apple stamp painting project, apple life cycle printables, and apple themed read aloud stories your preschoolers will love.

Plus, you don’t want to miss out on any of my free apple printables either, like my apple number mat which is perfect for learning:

• Number recognition
• Handwriting
• Ten Frames
• Reading
• Fine motor skills

Leaves 

When you think about  Fall activities for preschool, Fall leaves are probably the first thing that comes to mind.

This season is filled with beautiful gold, orange, red, and brown leaves. You can create amazing sensory experiences for your preschoolers focusing on the color of Fall leaves, their sound, and even how they feel.

Use this free printable to practice counting in a fun leaf theme for kids. Identify the number on each mat and place that many plastic leaves on it.

Then, create an adorable leaf name craft as you make your next Fall art project.

Finally, turn your leaf printables into Fall tissue paper suncatchers or easy paper leaf crafts. They’re an adorable and hands-on way to craft this Autumn!

Pumpkins

Pumpkins present all kinds of fun Fall activities for kids to explore and learn too! Check out some of my favorite preschool pumpkin activities for Fall. 

This themed unit is filled with printables, dramatic play center ideas, and hands-on learning fun. Your early learners will love exploring the inside of a pumpkin with my “label a pumpkin” activity.

Halloween

Enjoy the magic and whimsy of Halloween with fun Fall activities for preschool in my themed unit study filled with printables and hands-on learning fun. Then, encourage your preschoolers to get creative while they practice cutting and pasting with Halloween Character Crafts.

The possibilities are endless with these fun crafts and fall activities for kids.

You can even teach shapes with these easy shape crafts for Fall. Create a scarecrow then count the number of shapes used and record them on the worksheet.

I also have Frankenstein shape craft, a Witch shape craft, and a bat shape craft I know your preschoolers will love!

Thanksgiving

Celebrate the first Thanksgiving in your preschool classroom and at home with some of the Fall preschool activities I’ve created.

Kids can pluck turkeys while practicing letter recognition skills or play a Turkey Trot printable math game. Then, build fine motor skills and practice handwriting while creating adorable pilgrim girls and boys with a Thanksgiving Craftivity.

Candy Corn

I don’t know about you, but anything involving snacks gets my students motivated to learn. This Halloween snacktivity is no different.

These free Halloween letter printables will teach your preschoolers the alphabet and fine motor skills this Halloween.

Your students will love tracing each letter with Expo markers, candy corn, googly eyes, pumpkin seeds, or any small manipulative they can find. For added fine motor work, hand them a pair of tweezers and let them transfer each piece to the alphabet mat.

Here’s another free candy corn activity for kids! Your preschool students will love to count the candy corn on these cute Fall printables as they enhance their math skills this fall.

I love using counting activities like this in sensory bins or as write the room activities with kids. This fun Fall idea is the perfect way to teach counting and number recognition in a math center!

Free Fall Coloring Pages

Color by code printables are one of my favorite ways to introduce literacy and math into a classroom setting. Grab these free Fall coloring pages and have fun learning numbers, colors, and letters this Autumn in a hands on way.

Fun Fall Activities for Kids of All Ages

There’s lots of preschool fun to be had this Fall, but there’s no reason you should limit it to your classroom. I’ve got Fall activities for kids of all ages to enjoy and explore this year.

Check out some of my favorite ideas for having fun with your family this Fall. These Fall activities will be a hit with kids of all ages!

Apple

I love Fall activities for kids the whole family can get involved in! Setting up a candy apple bar is the perfect way to use apples from an apple picking adventure this Fall. It’s a fun Fall activity you can do as a family, with friends, and in the classroom too.

First, find a local orchard to go apple picking. You can use the list from Reader’s Digest to help you find the best place to go in your state. After your adventure, get ready for even more fun with a candy apple bar for everyone!

To set up a candy apple bar, you’ll need sticks for your apples, chocolate, candy coating, caramel, nuts, sprinkles, and anything else you might like on your candy apple creation. Pro tip: I recommend using a plastic tablecloth for protection because things can get sticky. If you’d like to prepurchase a candy apple kit, I highly suggest this one from Amazon. It comes with everything you’ll need to make this a fun activity for fall.

If you’d like an apple activity for your kids to try that requires a lot less mess, be sure to grab this apple pie set and watch your preschoolers as they pretend to pick apples and make you a delicious apple pie.

Leaves

There are lots of fun fall activities for kids you can do with leaves too. Older kids can learn a lot about responsibility by helping to rake leaves in the yard. Don’t forget to make it fun by jumping in the pile of leaves at least a few times too!

Leaf rubbing is also a great preschool fall activity that is both easy and fun to do. Simply gather leaves on a nature walk or in your own yard. Then, place them under a piece of paper and color over them with a crayon. Your preschool kids will love seeing the leaf designs they create.

Pumpkins

Pumpkins are an iconic Fall activity for kids and families. Everyone loves going to the patch to choose a pumpkin and taking photos with them in fun Fall outfits too. After the photos, organize a pumpkin carving contest or a pumpkin pie bake-off with your kids this year.

You can give prizes for the winners or simply enjoy the bragging rights all year long. It’s a great way to spend quality time together making memories that will last a lifetime.

Another activity that is always a hit in the classroom is my pumpkin patch dramatic play center. Bring the pumpkin patch to your kids with my printable games, signs, and activities in this fun fall theme.

Halloween

Trick-or-treating is definitely the most fun Fall activity for kids to try this year. For even more Halloween fun with older kids, why not plan and build a haunted house?

You can incorporate lots of STEM learning fun with your kids in this project-based learning activity that’s perfect for Halloween. Work together to plan, organize, and build your very own haunted house for the best Halloween learning fun ever.

Be sure to also spread the love this fall with these free sweet treat notes. Hand them out to students to let them know they are loved, showcase them on a fall bulletin board, or let students participate in random acts of kindness by sharing their own sweet treat notes with their peers.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a time when we all count our blessings and show gratitude for the many good things in our lives. You can encourage kindness and gratitude in your kids this Thanksgiving with a kindness challenge.

A random acts of kindness challenge helps kids learn to express gratitude, combat bullying with kindness, and focus on positivity. We could all use more of that this Fall!

It’s also a great time to create a grateful tree craft as you use my I am thankful for printable. Simply write the things you are thankful for on each leaf and glue it on the tree. Grab the free template HERE.

My Favorite Outdoor Fall Activities

The best part of Fall is the weather. It’s not too hot and not yet cold. The mild weather makes fall the perfect season to enjoy all kinds of outdoor activities. Check out my favorite Fall activities to do in the great outdoors with your kids this year:

Explore a Corn Maze

Corn mazes are an outdoor Fall activity that’s perfect for all ages. Many local farms plan and construct corn mazes for families and groups to enjoy during the season. Corn mazes offer a fun way for kids to practice problem-solving skills, critical thinking, and teach cardinal directions too.

Find a corn maze near you using the nationwide list from Maze Play. Then, make a day of solving the maze for a fun Fall activity your kids won’t forget!

Or use my printable corn maze and watch your preschool students find their way through each one!

Fall Leaf Collection

If your kids are anything like mine, they’re always picking up leaves, sticks, and rocks they find. These little treasures are precious to them and, in truth, they offer lots of opportunities to learn about the natural world through hands-on exploration.

Take advantage of the beauty of the season by starting a Fall leaf collection with your little nature collectors this year.

You can use your leaves to make an art collage or preserve them with contact paper. You can even use a field guide to identify which trees your leaves came from for even more learning fun.

Play Backyard Football

A backyard football game is a Fall tradition for lots of families. This American pastime is the perfect outdoor fall activity for kids of all ages. Touch football or flag football work well for backyard games. 

You’ll have fun organizing teams and choosing “uniforms” for your team too. Plus, a friendly football game is a great way to encourage healthy physical activity. Check out the National Football League’s Play 60 initiative for more ideas on incorporating healthy physical activity into your kids’ routine.

Go Hiking

Fall weather makes it a perfect season to get out in nature and go for a hike. Many National Parks and State Parks offer beautiful hiking trails you can explore with your family this Fall. Hiking trails come in all shapes and sizes so you’re sure to find one that provides a fun outdoor adventure for your family.

If you’re hiking with young children, come prepared, choose a shorter path, and avoid hikes that might include difficult terrain. Be sure to point out all the beautiful foliage and keep your eyes open for wildlife as you enjoy this outdoor Fall activity. 

Free fall printables for kids

If you’re anything like me, you’re constantly looking for amazing fall printables to add to your holiday stash. To help out, I teamed up with several awesome teacher authors to bundle together our favorite Fall resources to share with you and get this new season started on the right foot. The best part is that they’re all absolutely FREE!

What Are Your Favorite Fall Activities?

I’ve had so much fun sharing my favorite Fall activities for kids with you. I hope I’ve inspired you to try some of these fun Fall activities with your preschool learners this season. What’s your favorite Fall learning theme? Apples? Pumpkins? Thanksgiving? Or something else?

I’d love to hear all about your favorite Fall activities for preschool, lesson plans, book suggestions, and more. Share your Fall favorites in the comment section. I can’t wait to read all your great ideas and try a few with my own kids this Fall too!