What You Need

Colored Construction Paper (yellow, brown, green, red, orange and a background color of your choice)

Safety Scissors

Glue

What To Do

Talk to preschoolers about the changes that happen in autumn. Ask preschoolers what type of clothing they wear in the fall. Ask the preschoolers what kinds of activities they do in the fall. Talk to preschoolers about what happens to the trees in the fall. Tell them that the leaves start to change colors and then they fall off the tree.

Help each preschooler trace their hand on a variety of different colors of paper. Let them choose from a variety of fall colors, such as yellow, brown, orange, and red, and explain to them that these are the colors that the leaves on the trees turn in the fall.

After they have traced their hands on a variety of different colored paper, let each preschooler cut out the hands they have traced using a pair of safety scissors. Preschoolers may need help if they become frustrated trying to cut around the fingers.

Trace a simple tree trunk on a piece of brown paper and either cut it out for each preschooler or help each preschooler cut out their own tree trunk. Have the preschoolers glue their tree trunk to another piece of paper. Have preschoolers glue their colored handprints to the top of their tree trunk to create colored leaves.

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Helpful Tips for Parents

• Curiosity is more valuable than knowledge. A curious child who doesn't know the answer will find it. A knowledgeable child who has lost curiosity will stop learning.

• Sleep is educational. Memory consolidation — the process of moving learning from short-term to long-term memory — happens during sleep. Well-rested children learn more effectively.

• Choose toys that grow with the child: open-ended materials (blocks, clay, art supplies) remain valuable for years; single-use toys with one correct answer produce brief engagement.

• Children's questions are assessment data. The questions a child asks reveal their current conceptual level and what they're ready to learn next.

• Avoid academic pressure before age 5. Preschool children's brains are not developmentally ready for formal academic instruction, and premature pressure backfires.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much learning time should a preschooler have per day?

All of it — because preschoolers learn continuously through every interaction with their environment. The question of "learning time" implies that learning is separate from living, which it isn't at this age. A preschooler who plays freely, has rich conversations, is read to, helps in the kitchen, plays outdoors, and is exposed to music and art is having the richest possible educational experience. Formal, scheduled "learning time" is less productive than a generally enriched daily environment.

What learning differences might first become apparent in the preschool years?

The preschool years are when speech and language delays, developmental delays, autism spectrum characteristics, sensory processing differences, and early signs of ADHD typically become apparent. Early identification and early intervention are the most powerful factors in outcomes for children with learning differences — the preschool brain's plasticity makes early intervention far more effective than the same intervention at age 8. If you have concerns about your child's development, discuss them with your pediatrician rather than waiting to see if the child grows out of it.

Related reading: See also our kindergarten readiness guide and our vocabulary building guide for more ideas on this topic.

🎓 Skills Your Child Will Develop

• ✏️ Pre-Writing Development — Drawing, tracing, and early mark-making develop the fine motor control and visual-motor integration that handwriting requires — making every drawing activity a contribution to writing readiness.
• 🧠 Memory & Recall — Remembering rules, retelling a story in sequence, and practicing skills to automaticity builds working memory and long-term recall — the cognitive foundation that learning in every subject depends on.
• ⚡ Executive Function — Planning, sequencing steps, holding rules in mind while acting, and stopping a prepotent response all build executive function — the cluster of cognitive skills most strongly predictive of long-term academic and life success.
• 🤔 Critical Thinking — Being asked "why do you think that?" and forming and defending an answer develops the analytical reasoning children need for reading comprehension, mathematics, and evidence-based argumentation.

Preschoolers are fascinated by the changing colors of fall leaves. This simple preschool art activity will let preschoolers create their own autumn tree. Preschoolers will strengthen their small motor skills as they trace their hand and practice using safety scissors.

Questions to Ask Your Child

Use these open-ended prompts to extend the learning during or after the activity:

• "What was the most interesting thing you learned today?"
• "Can you explain this to a stuffed animal as if they've never heard of it?"
• "What part do you want to practice more?"
• "How is this connected to something you already know?"
• "What would you want to learn more about?"
• "If you were the teacher, what would you tell the class about this?"

There are no right or wrong answers to any of these questions. The goal is to keep the conversation going, model curious thinking, and give your child practice putting their experience into words.