Read your preschool kids fall related stories. These should obviously be age group appropriate. Recite stories about changing leaves, pumpkins, cool weather and children playing indoors. Keep the subjects fairly fall obvious. For example, look into the book, "It's Fall (Celebrate The Seasons)," by Linda Glaser. Ask your students to decide what about the story was fall related. Ask the kids to think of animals from the story that hibernate or migrate. To enhance critical thinking further, ask your kids to think of other animals that were not listed that may have the same type of behavior in the fall. This will help the kids interact with the story as you are telling it. Make the story more of a mental scavenger hunt to inspire critical thinking.
Take your preschoolers outside and ask them each to gather a handful of leaves. Once you are back inside, read whichever story to the kids that you have selected for the day. Some story suggestions include, but are not limited to, "Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf," by Lois Ehlert or "Autumn Leaves," by Ken Robbins. After the story is finished, get out craft materials such as markers, glue and construction paper. Tell the children to use the leaves and art supplies to create a picture that reminds them of the story that they just heard. This activity will inspire creativity while relating topics.
Bundle the kids up and head outside with a large quilt. Have storytime outside so that the kids can enjoy the fall environment. After the story is finished, ask the kids to name objects that have changed because of fall, or that remind them of fall. Next ask the kids to relay to you their favorite fall activities and make sure that everyone participates. Have the kids sit in a circle and go around the circle clockwise so that each student is allowed to share his or her ideas.
Read a fall related book, such as "Fall Is Not Easy," by Marty Kelley, to the kids. Print out pictures from the book for the kids to color. If this is not possible due to copyright laws, print out pictures to color that could be related to the story but are not necessarily featured within the story. The Ever Project website is host to a large variety of coloring ideas that are free to print. Ask the children to color with fall colors only and tell them to explain their choices. This will give you a chance to teach them about color while providing them with a creative outlet.