Story Time: Fall

Theme for the 1st week of October was FALL, with an emphasis on scarecrows (because I think they are cute).

Stories included: 
*A is for Autumn  by Robert Maass
*Leaf Man  by Lois Ehlert
* The Fall Festival  by Mercer Mayer
*Apples and Pumpkins  by Anne Rockwell
*Dragon’s Leaf Collection  by Becky Matheson
*Shoo, Cro!, Shoo!  By Dana Meachen Rau
* The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown

We talked about what fall means, why leaves change colors, what plants are harvested in the fall and why farmers need scarecrows. 

We did some rhymes as well:
Apples
Way up high in the apple tree,
two little apples smiled at me.

I shook that tree as hard as I could.
Down came the apples…mmmm, were they good!

Leaves Little leaves fall gently down.
Red and yellow, orange and brown. (flutter hands)
Whirling, whirling around and around (turn around)
Quietly, without a sound. (Finger to lips)
Falling softly to the ground (begin to fall slowly)
Down and down and down and down. (lie on floor)

Five Little Pumpkins
5 little pumpkins sitting on a gate,
The 1^st one said, “Oh, my! It’s getting late!”
The 2^nd one said, “There are witches in the air!”
The 3^rd one said, “Well, I don’t care.”
The 4^th one said, “Let’s run, and run, and run!”
The 5^th one said, “I’m ready for some fun!”
“Whoooooo!” went the wind and out went the light!  (clap hands)
And the 5 little pumpkins rolled out of sight (roll hands over each other)

I'm a Little Scarecrow
(I'm a Little Teapot)
I'm a little scarecrow,
Raggedy and worn.
I wear a hat,
And a shirt that's torn.
When the crows come,
I wave and shout,
"Away from my garden ----
Get on out!"

Scarecrow Chant
Scarecrow, scarecrow,
How scary can you be?
You scared away the crows  (children have fun giving ideas)
But you can't scare me!
No, you can't scare me!

Five Stuffed Scarecrows
Five Stuffed Scarecrows in the corn rows,
The first one said, "Go away, crows!"
The second one said, "I am very small,"
The third one said, "I am standing tall."
The fourth one said, "On my head I wear a hat."
The fifth one said, By my feet runs a cat."
Five stuffed scarecrows in the corn rows,
Moving left and right as the autumn wind blows

Scarecrows
We're the farmer's scarecrows
 We scare away the birds,
We keep the farmer's corn safe
Without any words.
But when Halloween comes
We jump out of the ground
And we scare the boys and girls
When they come walking 'round.