Storytime fell on the official first day of autumn, so it seemed natural to make that our theme today. This is a very basic theme, but I actually struggled planning it because it seemed like so many of the songs and rhymes were so alike. I planned to do individual sessions on apples and pumpkins, so I saved those, and everything else seemed to be variations on the falling leaf motif! I tried to mix it up a little bit, even though three activities were about leaves. Making two of them scarf songs kept it more interesting in my view. I borrowed heavily from Sunflower Storytime’s plan – even though I had pulled from many sources in my planning stage, hers just worked well for me and the flow of the stories! In my mind, our arc went from nonfiction, to a fictional title about nature, to a fictional title about human traditions.
You can see the virtual program that does not include the full books read aloud here.
See other versions of this theme from 2023 and 2025.
Early Literacy Tip: Factual books are a great way to expand children’s knowledge about the world. You can read the whole book or choose certain pages your child might be interested in. In fact, it’s perfectly okay to read only parts of a book, or to just focus on the pictures. You can adapt the experience to your child’s interest and attention span.
Welcome Song: We Clap and Sing Hello
Read: selections from Awesome Autumn by Bruce Goldstone
I paper-clipped some pages together, and read just the larger font sentences after talking about the early literacy tip. We did include the information about birds migrating, which helped transition to our first rhyme.
Each bird is one who migrates for the winter.
Fingerplay: Two Little Bluebirds
Two little bluebirds sitting on a hill
One named Jack and one named Jill
Fly away Jack, fly away Jill
Come back Jack, come back Jill
Two little blackbirds in the corn crop
One named Bottom and the other named Top
Fly away Bottom, fly away Top
Come back Bottom, come back Top
Two little geese sitting on a stick
One named slow and one named quick
Fly away slow, fly away quick
Come back slow, come back quick
Credit: traditional, adapted
Fingerplay: Autumn Leaves
Leaves are falling from the trees (Flutter fingers down)
Yellow, brown and red.
Falling, falling from above.
One landed on my head! (Hands on head)
Credit: Sunflower Storytime
What happens in nature during fall?
Read: In the Middle of Fall by Kevin Henkes & Laura Dronzek
Scarf Song: Autumn Leaves are Falling Down
(tune of London Bridge)
Autumn leaves are falling down (flutter scarf down)
Falling down, falling down
Autumn leaves are falling down
All around the town
Additional verses:
The wind will blow them round and round… (twirl in a circle)
Take a rake and rake them up… (use scarf as a scoop)
Now let’s jump into the pile… (jump and throw scarf)
Credit: Sunflower Storytime
Scarf Song: Leaves Are Twirling
(tune of Frère Jacques)
Leaves are twirling, leaves are twirling
All around, all around
They are falling softly, very, very softly
To the ground, to the ground
Credit: Sunflower Storytime
The next book talks more about the traditions that one family has during autumn – look to see which ones you recognize and which are new to you. Perhaps you’ll want to start some new traditions inspired by this book!
Read: I Know it’s Autumn by Eileen Spinelli & Nancy Hayashi
Action Song: Scarecrow, Scarecrow
(tune of Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star)
Scarecrow, scarecrow, turn around
Scarecrow, scarecrow, touch the ground
Stand up tall and blink your eyes
Raise your hands up to the sky
Clap your hands, then tap your knees
Turn around and stomp your feet
Scarecrow, scarecrow, touch your toes
Scarecrow, scarecrow, tap your nose
Swing your arms so very slow
Now really fast to scare the crows!
Touch your head, jump up and down
Now sit down without a sound
Credit: Adventures in Storytime
Flannel Rhyme: Blue is the Sky
Blue is the sky, Yellow is the sun
Silver are the stars, When the day is done
Orange is the leaf, Brown is the tree
Red is the apple, For you and me
Credit: Mel’s Desk
Craft: Tissue Paper Autumn Tree
A simple but pretty craft that allows kids to work their grip muscles by crunching up pieces of tissue paper. Liquid glue seems to work best for this. I printed a bare tree on blue construction paper. If you aren’t sure how to print on construction paper, I highly recommend learning! Makes a lot of crafts much easier!
I also booktalked these alternative titles during the permanent YouTube video.
Fall Leaves Fall by Zoe Hall & Shari Halpern
When Autumn Falls by Kelli Nidey & Susan Swan
Fall Mixed Up by Bob Raczka & Chad Cameron
Closing Rhyme: Tickle the Stars
This storytime was presented virtually on 9/22/20.
Storytime Handout:
Storytime with Ms. Emily Library 