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Fall STEAM Ahead: Engaging Your Preschooler Beyond the Classroom

Fall STEAM Pumpkin Painting
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Activities | Halloween & Fall | Parenting Tips | Preschool | STEAM | October 21, 2020

The Fall season probably looks a little different for your family this year, and you may be searching for some ways to keep your preschooler engaged during your additional time at home. We’re here to help! We’ve put together some ideas for Fall-themed activities to encourage continued growth and exploration beyond our classrooms. Each activity combines safe learning with an important component of STEAM, resulting in some safe and seasonal fun with easy-to-find materials you may already have at home! We recommend moving through the STEAM activities in the following reverse order to take advantage of prime apple picking times:

Math

Fall brings so many different delicious types of apples. Have your child count how many apples you have and then use our chart to compare type, color, size, and even taste! This can even turn into a weekly activity. Try a new apple each week!

Supplies Needed: apples, comparison chart

Art

Pumpkin painting is a classic Fall activity. Get creative and hands-on by helping your child paint the following pictures onto a pumpkin:

  • Handprints
  • Their name
  • A funny portrait
  • Their favorite fall object (leaf, apple, etc.)

Supplies Needed: pumpkins, paint, brushes

Another great art activity is leaf rubbing! This one is really simple. Just place leaves of different shapes and sizes upside down underneath a blank sheet of white paper or wax paper. Have your child rub a crayon over the leaves to see what unique patterns come through.

Supplies Needed: leaves, crayons, white or wax paper

Engineering

See what you and your child can build together using natural materials to hold up the weight of a pumpkin! Try a few different pumpkins – start small and see how large of a pumpkin your structure can support. If the weather gets too cold and keeps you indoors, try stacking pumpkins instead to see how tall of a tower your child can construct.

Supplies Needed: 3-4 pumpkins of different weights, natural materials

Technology

Help your child practice coding this Fall by using fall-colored beads to create a pattern or secret message on a keychain or accessory. Here is a guide to binary codes that demonstrates what letters you can create with each pattern of beads. Try coding:

  • An encouraging word
  • Something special you say to each other
  • Their name
  • Initials of each family member

As it will take multiple beads to create each letter, make sure this word or phrase is short enough for your child’s bracelet, necklace, or keychain.

Supplies Needed: beads, string / lanyard

Science

Encourage your child to make some observations about pumpkins. Whether this is at a pumpkin patch where you can safely distance outdoors, or right in the backyard with pumpkins you’ve already picked, your child can observe the differences in weight, size, color, shape, and texture. Help them put the pumpkins in order:

  • Lightest to heaviest
  • Darkest to lightest in color
  • Rough to smooth

Supplies Needed: pumpkins

These Fall-themed STEAM activities are a great way to help you balance safe play with hands-on learning. It’s a pleasure to partner with your family as we navigate safe learning experiences together and move Fall STEAM ahead with your child’s learning! The fun doesn’t have to stop here. Check out some additional ideas for Fall activities to make the most of the season.

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  • Locations
    • Elizabethtown | Masonic Village
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    • Harrisburg | Union Deposit
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    • Lancaster | Brethren Village
    • Lancaster | Brownstown – Now Open
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