Get kids excited in November! A collection of play and craft ideas using autumn’s natural treasures
As autumn deepens, many teachers at daycare centers and kindergartens are surely looking to incorporate fun activities into their November plans.
This season offers plenty of ways to enjoy not only indoor play but also activities that get children moving.
As children’s smiles and cheerful voices fill these engaging activities, the feelings of parents and teachers resonate with them, creating wonderful memories.
In this article, we introduce recommended November childcare activities, including bonding games, rhythm-based play, and crafts that make use of nature!
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Get Preschoolers Excited in November! A Collection of Play and Craft Ideas Using Autumn Nature (61–70)
Autumn Hand Play Medley
There are lots of songs that feature autumn foods and creatures! If you add hand motions to those songs as you sing, they’ll be even more fun—no doubt about it! The songs that appear in this hand-play medley are “Yaki-guri” (Roasted Chestnuts), “Dango Kuttsuita” (The Dumplings Stuck Together), “Tonbo no Megane” (Dragonfly’s Glasses), “Konkon Kitsune” (Tap-Tap Fox), and “Donguri to Korisu” (Acorns and a Little Squirrel).
While singing, you make shapes with your hands, move in ways that match the lyrics, clap, and enjoy singing together.
Songs with a storyline become even more enjoyable when you add hand movements, because you can feel the narrative more vividly than by singing alone!
Autumn Origami: Acorns, Mushrooms, and Fallen Leaves
We’ll make classic autumn items—acorns, mushrooms, and fallen leaves—out of origami! For the acorn, first fold the paper into a triangle twice, then unfold.
Fold one corner toward the center twice.
Flip it over and fold both sides in so they go a little past the center line.
Fold the bottom corner up slightly, and it’s done! Next, for the mushroom, fold the paper into a square twice, then unfold and fold one edge up to the center.
Flip it over and fold both sides toward the center, then fold the bottom up, leaving about 1 cm uncreased at the bottom edge to create a flap.
Fold the corners of that flap inward and open them, then fold all four outer corners in; the mushroom is complete! For the fallen leaf, fold once into a triangle, then make accordion folds from one end and unfold.
Lightly fold along the initial triangle’s crease at a slight diagonal.
Open it up while keeping the diagonal fold section, then round off the corners with small folds; your leaf is finished!
Transform in autumn nature!
Let’s have fun making your favorite crown using colorful leaves! Stick lots of fallen leaves you found on a walk onto a headband that you’ve prepped with double-sided tape, and you’ll have a crown in no time! Since you can choose leaves in your favorite colors outdoors as you make it, it really sparks the imagination—“Which leaf should I use?” We also recommend trying acorns and pine cones.
And it’s not just crowns—making other items like a walk bag or a cape would be exciting too! Once you’re done, everyone can transform and put on a little show together.
Autumn Nature Play
October is a pleasant time of year, and there are plenty of chances to go out for a walk.
That’s the perfect time to enjoy some autumn nature play! You can pick up fallen leaves and stick them on twigs to make “yakitori,” gather acorns to compare their shapes, have sumo matches with pine needles, and find lots of ways to play using only leaves and nuts you find on the ground.
You can also make maracas by putting acorns into a plastic bottle, or thread leaves onto twine to create hanging decorations.
Ask the kids for their ideas too, and have fun with all kinds of nature play!
Catching autumn insects
We tend to associate insect collecting with summer, but autumn bug-hunting is great too! Crickets, grasshoppers, dragonflies—there are lots of insects kids love in the fall as well.
Quietly observe places where bugs are likely to be, such as between grasses or near rice fields.
As you search, you’ll gradually get better at finding them.
All you need is a net and a cage to enjoy it easily.
After you’ve had fun catching bugs, either set up an environment at the kindergarten to keep them or return them to nature.
Hopefully it becomes a chance to learn that insects are living creatures, too.