Scarecrow Craft and Circle Time Activity

Every fall I like to do a theme on scarecrows. There are so many great books, songs, poems and art projects that can be utilized. My students especially enjoy making paper plate scarecrows and shape crows. They glue them onto jumbo craft sticks, and they’ve got the perfect hand props for our Sammy the Scarecrow circle time activity!

The children hold their props while I recite the action poem and demonstrate the appropriate motions. After reciting the poem a few times the children enthusiastically join in. If the children wish, they can take turns being scarecrows and crows.

SAMMY THE SCARECROW

Sammy the Scarecrow is my name
On the farm I’ve gained some fame

Standing high on a stick (raise scarecrows)
Scaring crows is my trick

When they fly and caw (move crows about)
I wave my arms of straw

Then I loudly shout
Hey you crows, GET OUT (children who are crows leave the circle)

I often repeat this activity throughout the fall months. It’s always a hit and it helps to strengthen listening, memory, and recall skills. It also develops phonemic awareness.

MATERIALS USED:

– Small paper plates
– Felt
– Construction Paper
– Buttons
– A variety of decorative items
– Crayons or markers
– Googly eyes
– Straw or raffia
– Feathers
– Jumbo craft sticks
– Scissors
– Glue
– Our free scarecrow hat pattern
– Our free shape crow pattern
– Sammy the Scarecrow poem

- Arts and Crafts, Fall, Language, Music and Movement, Social Emotional Development

- auditory discrimination, crows, following directions, large group, phonemic awareness, rhyming, scarecrows, templates

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DIY Art Center Yarn Cans

I put together these cute yarn cans for my self-help art shelf. They are easy to make and keep the yarn contained and neat. I used plastic mason jars, but any plastic container with a lid will do. Simply fill the container with yarn, poke a hole in the lid, and pull a small amount of yarn through the hole. Students can then pull out the length of yarn they want, and cut with scissors (this may take some supervision with younger children). Finally, label the can with the corresponding color name of yarn.

MATERIALS USED:

– Yarn
– Plastic containers with lids
– Our free color labels
– Clear packing tape

- Arts and Crafts, DIY, Fine Motor Skills, In the Classroom

- art center, free printables, scissor skills

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Pumpkin Seed Counting Activity

I strive to make learning appealing to my students, and I have found that they are really drawn to these pumpkin seed counting sheets. Give each child a small container of pumpkin seeds and direct your preschoolers to count out the number of seeds that match the dots on each pumpkin, then have them place the correct number of seeds on the pumpkin. This hands on activity will help children to understand, and learn a very significant math skill; one-to-one correspondence.

Materials Used:

– Construction paper
– Scissors
– Glue
– Pumpkin seeds
– Marker (for dots)
– Our free pumpkin templates

- Fall, Fine Motor Skills, Mathematics

- centers, counting, number quantity, number sense, one-to-one correspondence, pumpkins, templates

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