Kindergarten & First Grade Fall Unit Ideas, Crafts, and Books

Enjoy fall with your kindergarten and first grade children with this collection of simple and easy-to-implement fall-themed ideas. These autumn lesson ideas and read aloud suggestions will work well in September and October with a wide variety of fall-focused units.

Table of Contents

Sorting Nuts, Leaves, and Pine Cones

Have your children collect a variety of nuts, leaves, and pine cones from outdoors. If no suitable place is available where you live, then bring in a variety of these fall items from nature and have them use the available items in sorting exercises.

Nuts can be sorted by shape, color, and size. Leaves can also be sorted by shape, size, and color. Pine cones can be sorted by size and shape. If you live somewhere without these items occurring in nature, you can order pine cones online.

Miss Suzy is a wonderful read aloud picture book to include with nuts, leaves, and pine cones! I’ve put together a collection of Creative Learning Ideas for Miss Suzy.

Leaf Rubbings

Take your children on a walk to collect fall leaves. Have them make leaf rubbings using peeled crayons and white paper.

Show your children how to place the leaf under the paper and then rub the side of the crayon over the hidden leaf. The leaf’s texture will show through the paper.

Apple Farmer Annie

Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington is a brightly illustrated book with cheerful pictures and simple text. Annie is an apple farmer and the book follows her through her fall activities of collecting the apples from her orchards, making apple goods, and selling everything at the farmer’s market in the city. This book lends itself to many different fall activities which I put together in one post: Apple Learning Ideas for Apple Farmer Annie.

If you are studying apples, don’t miss the apples section of my shop. I have lots of fun apple-themed learning printables including this cute Apple Life Cycle Craft.

I Know It’s Autumn Book

I Know It’s Autumn by Eileen Spinelli is the fun story of young girl who shares all the ways she knows that autumn has arrived. The signs of the season include everything from Daddy getting her jacket out of the storage box to making zucchini bread with an elderly neighbor. The book has large illustrations and simple text, making it an excellent read-aloud.

Apple and Pumpkins Read Aloud

Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell tells the story of a young girl who picks apples and pumpkins with her mother and father. After they arrive home, they carve jack-o-lanterns and enjoy trick or treating. The colorful illustrations and simple text make it a great read-aloud for kindergarten and first grade students who are learning about fun fall activities.

If you are learning about pumpkins, check out my cute Pumpkin Life Cycle Craft.

Fall Printables and Activities

I have many fall-themed products in my shop, including this favorite Fall Activity Pack. It’s full of different activities that will last for weeks.

November Reading, Writing, and Math Printables

If it is closer to November, I have some great November and Thanksgiving products. This November Activity Pack is full of print and go and colorful center activities to last for weeks.

Fall is such a wonderful time to teach kindergarten and first grade children. They thoroughly enjoy the various autumn activities, including bringing pieces of nature into the home. Preparing an autumn themed unit can be fun and easy by including just a few of these activities and a variety of apple themed books for read alouds.

Students of this age also enjoy:

Have a lovely fall with your children!