When the weather turns cooler and the leaves start to change, it’s time to dive into all things fall! Fall is filled with so many changes and lots of them are tied to fun science topics. This season has many great opportunities for working on vocabulary, adjectives, and so much more with these fall activities for kindergarten!
Fall is a great time to use the season to teach science and other academic skills. There are so many changes in our world during the fall season that connecting it to science is a great way to engage students. Along with this comes the learning of new vocabulary and so much more! If you’re looking for a new way to explore with your students this autumn, this Fall Lapbook will be a total winner! Inside, you’ll find15 different activities to explore leaves, seasonal changes and more! It is a great way to usher in a new season and learn about all the great things about the autumn season. Let’s dig into some of my favorite fall activities for kindergarten.
First Off, What is a Lapbook?
If you aren’t familiar with lapbooks, they are a wonderful, hands-on project to use with students. Lapbooks are similar to interactive notebooks, however, instead of keeping one notebook for the entire year, it’s created just for this unit. And . . . instead of using a whole notebook for one unit, it is neatly tucked inside a file folder. Using foldables and other paper manipulatives, students will document their learning with this hands-on tool.
And . . . lapbooks are easy enough that your kindergarten and young students can do them with just a little help! In addition to all the great learning, students can also do a lot of practice with following directions as they learn to put together the different lapbook components. This fall lapbook holds many amazing fall activities for kindergarten.
Lapbooks are a visual representation of fun and interesting facts for any given subject. It is laid out in a creative way that fits neatly in the student’s lap. Lapbooks can display all sorts of things such as studies, projects, lists, charts, graphs, and more. You and your students can really get imaginative with your lapbooks and make them your own! I am going to show you some of my favorite Fall science lapbooks ideas, I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!
Fall Lapbook Prep
First off, how do you prep for making your own Fall science lapbook? Lucky for you, it is super simple with minimal prep work! Each student will need a file folder. To create the lapbook simply open the file folder. Then using the center fold as your guide, fold each side into the center. It’s as easy as 1-2-3!
While you can also use the file folder as is, you might need to adjust the placement of some items to make sure they all fit. Once you’ve prepped the file folders, then just copy the fall science activities and get busy!
A Closer Look at Fall Lapbooks
Before we dive into the specific activities, let’s take a closer look at the whole project itself. Below is a video showing how students will complete the fall lapbook. Take a peek to see some of the activities inside and how easily it comes together!
One of the best things about this Fall Lapbook resource though is the versatility. There are so many different activities included, so you can pick and choose the ones that will work best for your students. With 15 total activities, there are plenty to pick from! Now, let’s take a peek at some od the fun fall activities inside this resource!
All About Fall
When learning about the autumn season, it’s great to highlight all the fun the fall has to offer. It is a season of chilly days, falling leaves, fun holidays, sports, and activities.
Students love to learn what they get to look forward to with each new season, so this All About Fall mini-book is a perfect addition to your lapbook. This page has a section to highlight important dates during the fall season.
Students can also personalize the mini-book by adding dates and activities they have planned. Maybe one of your students has a fall birthday, add it to the special dates page. Or maybe the class has a special field trip planned that you can add to the activities page. By personalizing the mini-book students can really get a great understanding of fall where they live. After all, it is a little different everywhere. My fall weather in the south will be drastically different than those of you in the north. Make it fit you and your students!
Fall Vocabulary
Next, I like to introduce students to fall themed vocabulary. This is a great way to get them learning fall themed words that we will use with our other activities.
Teacher Tip: Even though we have young students, don’t be afraid of teaching them higher vocabulary words. They will pick them up and start using them if you teach them.
This is a page to get students familiar with different fall vocabulary words but in a fun and engaging way. There are 5 different vocabulary words highlighted in this section. It is a cut-and-paste matching project that will help students learn their vocabulary words.
Students will cut out each definition and paste them under the lift-the-flap vocabulary words. They will learn the meanings of harvest, autumn, leaves, acorns, and scarecrow!
This resource also includes a picture matching vocabulary activity that students love. This is perfect for pre-readers and can be done in addition to the other activity or on its own. Choosing the right activities for your students is easy with these different activity options.
Fall Writing Prompts
Once students have been introduced to these fall vocabulary words incorporate them into some writing activities. Before we begin with an actual writing prompt, I like to have the children organize their thoughts and what we have learned so far with graphic organizers.
There are a few included in this resource such as one that highlights Fall Favorites and and a KWL chart. Both are a great starting point for students as they get ready to write!
Next, students can write a story using fall vocabulary words or write a sentence for fall favorites. You can also have students be word detectives and find these words in books, read alouds, around the school or in other lessons.
The Fall Lapbook also includes some more writing activities that students can complete and add to their lapbook. These writing prompts are perfect for adding as a center activity or to the writing center. Then once completed students can add them to the lapbook. I love to see the individuality in these writing activities as every child usually has a different story or perspective to share!
All About Leaves
The science activities in this fall lapbook are based on leaves. There are so many changes that happen to trees during this season and many of those changes are observed through the leaves. Your students will love digging into the science of fall through leaves.
Types of Leaves
You can’t talk about Fall without talking about the beautiful falling leaves. Autumn is a time of change when leaves turn beautiful colors and begin to fall. But many young students don’t realize just how diverse leaves can be. They see basic leaf drawings in children’s books or look at the tree as a whole.
Teaching students about the different types of leaves is a great starting point. As students learn that different types of trees have different leaves, you can also introduce many new describing words.
This is also a great activity for teaching about the power of observation in science. As they learn about the leaves from seven different trees, students can create a leaf card to add to their lapbook. All of the leaf cards are held in the Leaf Types pocket inside.
In addition to just basic leaf types, you can talk about how leaves change, what they look like, what makes them different, and why they fall off in preparation for the winter. There is also a page about leaf facts and describing each leaf! These are hands-on projects that students will love and will learn a ton from!
My Leaf Investigation
Once students have some background knowledge on leaves, it’s time to dive into their very own leaf investigation. For this activity, I like to have students bring in a leaf or two. This is a surefire way to make sure we have a nice variety of leaves. If this is not possible, then you can Students will get to put their bring in some leaves or go on a leaf hunt around the school.
Each student will take a leaf and then put their scientist observation skills to the test. Through this leaf investigation students will work on identifying colors, shapes, and textures. They will determine the size of the leaf and its characteristics. They will also take a leaf rubbing. The students love the leaf investigation. For many students it is the first time they have taken a small item and really focused on it.
The Fall Lapbook resource includes everything students will need to guide them through this activity. They also create a tabbed booklet with all of their observations and findings. Just look at all the fun they will have with this leaf investigation.
More Fall Activities for Kindergarten
While these are just a few of the fun fall activities in the Fall Lapbook resource, there is so much more too! In addition to all of the activities I’ve already talked about your students will also love these hands-on fall activities for kindergarten:
- Lifecycle of a Sunflower
- Parts of a Leaf
- The Five Senses of Fall
- Leaf Adjectives
- Comparing Seasons
- Class Leaf Graphing
- More Fall Writing Activities
You can complete all of these fall activities for kindergarten or pick and choose what works best for your students. There are so many options included that you can create a fun fall unit your students will love. You can find all of the Fun Fall Activities for Kindergarten in my store on Teachers Pay Teachers. Give them a try in your room and see all of the fun learning take place this fall season!
Save these Fall Activities for Kindergarten
With the fall season spanning a few months, you never know when you need some new activities to engage your students. Save this to your favorite classroom Pinterest board so you can quickly come back when you need more fall activities for kindergarten.
