Discuss your plans for fall festival with the children if you are having an actual event. Talk about the activities that will take place and the details. Enlist the children's help to make a chart of all the information that you should include on posters and invitations publicizing the event. Allow the children to help write the announcements and posters, decorating them with autumn leaves and pumpkins.
Read the children's story "The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything" by Linda Williams. Then do a journal exercise with the following prompt: "The big brave kid met a ___________that went ______________. He/she said, 'Get out of my way. I'm not afraid of you.' " Help the children identify something that they might encounter in the woods, using the words from the story, and draw an illustration.
Ask the children to bring in anything they have that has pumpkins on it, such as pencils, real pumpkins, books or toys. Arrange the pumpkins in an artful collection with a sign that says "Pumpkin Museum." Give the children a tag board to make labels for their items.
Read "Our Pumpkin" by Renee Keeler. This short story features photographs of a preschool or kindergarten class and their experiments with a pumpkin. After reading the story, conduct your own experiments. Weigh and measure the pumpkin, and float it in water. Record the results on a chart the children help write.
Make a simple fall dish, such as apple crisp, roasted pumpkin seeds or pumpkin muffins. After making the dish, ask the children to help you make a chart with directions for making the dish. This activity builds memory and sequencing skills. Hang the chart in a prominent place so families can make the recipe at home.
Read the story "Picking Apples and Pumpkins" by Amy Hutchings. Set up your pretend center as a pumpkin patch or farm stand. Include bushel baskets and plastic apples and pumpkins purchased at a craft store. Ask the children to make signs for the farm stand, detailing the produce for sale and the prices. Include a cash register and sales receipt pads to extend the experience.