Autumn in Early Years

Autumn is one of the most beautiful seasons and a real period of change in the natural world. It is also a particularly exciting time for children, as distinctive sounds and smells fill the air, and the once vibrant green shades of summer give way to warm yellows, reds and browns.

Fruits and nuts are also harvested, days become shorter, and animals prepare themselves for the cold winter months ahead. Changes like these are ideal for inspiring children’s interest in the outdoors. This is the time of year that they can hunt for conkers, play in fallen leaves, learn all about the autumn harvest and freely explore the outdoors in cool but not cold temperatures.

This week Early Years took the opportunity to go on a nature walk using our senses to explore the beautiful Autumnal changes in our playground. We looked at the changing colours, crunched fallen leaves beneath our feet and through handfuls of leaves into the air screeching with delight.

We used our chosen Autumn leaves and excitedly turned them into squirrels, butterflies, trees, hedgehogs and lions to create unforgettable artworks.

We read a story following Hattie the Hedgehog as she gets ready for her Big Sleep - she wants everything to be perfect and even has a hibernation checklist. That was a new word for us ‘hibernation’.

We learned a new song with actions, called Autumn Leaves are falling down’.

We continued extending our number sense in the range 1-5 and used some of our Autumn items in one to one correspondence.

By Mrs. Ward

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