I couldn’t wait to post this toddler art activity. Watching my daughter explore art with fresh abandon is so inspiring. The last class I taught as a preschool teacher before staying home with my own kids was a class of fun 2-3 year olds. At  the start of the year I did many art projects like this , that allowed them to explore freely, and created fun specific shapes within a theme we were learning and playing with in class.

1. Gather your materials. You will need some paper ( we are using craft paper from the mail aisle) , removable tape,  a marker, scissors, paint, paper plate and paint tools that are age appropriate for your child. For us we are using bubble wrap that is secured to a pot scrubber.
2. Secure the paper to a table and draw leaves.
3. If you want to use bubble wrap like we did, make sure that all edges are secure and your child can’t get the wrap int their mouth. I used an elastic to secure it to the handle of the scrubber.
4. Put paint in a dish.
5. Add a very excited toddler!
6. Paint with your tool, paint with your hands – however works for you!
7. She loved feeling the paint squish. Narrate their actions for them.
8. Let dry and cut out.
9. Decorate a room your child is in often and make sure to refer to how they made the leaves, how they painted.

Books About Fall

 A Friend for All Seasons by Julia Hubery is a gem! The book explains the change of seasons in a fun and easy to understand way for young children. Readers follow along with Robbie Raccoon as he notices the changes that are happening around his home, a big oak tree.  My favorite part of this book was when Robbie and a few woodland friends notice that the tree’s leaves are falling and they assume he is crying, so they give him a hug. I loved that! Robbie’s mama raccoon explains the changes and before they go to sleep for a long time during winter’s dark days, they plant 5 acorns . This was a fun part of the book because I had my son predict what would happen. I liked that it gives parents an opportunity to extend this into a science lesson about seeds, and a oak tree’s life cycle. Sure enough when Spring comes there are tiny baby oaks waiting for Robbie when he awakens. I loved this book and would recomend it happily!

Every Season by Anne Love Woodhull and Shelly Rotner is a keeper. The text is simple, but the pictures really capture all the wonderful things that each season brings to make up a whole year. The photographs can be used as ice breakers about things children love about each season, are looking forward to or even don’t like. Either way this book is full of possibilities.

I Know It’s Autumn by Eileen Spinelli  is  age appropriate for young preschoolers and  toddlers. The book is a simple look at all the things that tell a small child that Autumn is here. Pumpkin muffins, apple picking, cooler weather,  hayrides and more all signal that the summer is gone and the fall has arrived. I like this book because there will be something a child will relate to and be able to identify with. I also love that the family is biracial and there is no mention of it at all. It’s nice to see and I wish more books were so non challant about representing all kinds of families.