I am a huge fan of the Montessori approach and I try to employ it in our homeschool as often as possible. Now that my favorite season, Fall is here, I’ve been busy assembling Fall Learning Trays for my 4-year-old.

Have you heard of Montessori Learning Trays? In a Montessori classroom or in a Montessori home set up, there are shelves that contain learning trays. These trays are presented in a very inviting way that draws the attention of the children.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE OF THE MONTESSORI LEARNING TRAYS?

Maria Montessori believed in having a prepared environment for the child. “To assist a child we must provide him with an environment which will enable him to develop freely.” The trays can present sensorial, practical or content related activities in an organized way.

“TO ASSIST A CHILD WE MUST PROVIDE HIM WITH AN ENVIRONMENT WHICH WILL ENABLE HIM TO DEVELOP FREELY.”  MARIA MONTESSORI

• Presents work in an orderly, neat fashion
• Work is inviting
• Only what’s needed is provided
• Less chance of frustration
• Encourages concentration
• Provides opportunities for exploration
• Encourages independence and self-mastery
• Child-led (Even though the materials are prepared by an adult, the child chooses the work that he/she is interested in.
• Work can be repeated several times
• Parent can gauge the interests of the child
• Clean up and neatness is promoted by the use of a tray

14 MONTESSORI INSPIRED FALL LEARNING TRAYS

“TO ASSIST A CHILD WE MUST PROVIDE HIM WITH AN ENVIRONMENT WHICH WILL ENABLE HIM TO DEVELOP FREELY.”  MARIA MONTESSORI

• Presents work in an orderly, neat fashion
• Work is inviting
• Only what’s needed is provided
• Less chance of frustration
• Encourages concentration
• Provides opportunities for exploration
• Encourages independence and self-mastery
• Child-led (Even though the materials are prepared by an adult, the child chooses the work that he/she is interested in.
• Work can be repeated several times
• Parent can gauge the interests of the child
• Clean up and neatness is promoted by the use of a tray
  

HERE ARE 14 MONTESSORI INSPIRED FALL LEARNING TRAYS FOR PRESCHOOL

(Note: These are for the whole month)

1) Pumpkin Life Cycle

Free Pumpkin life cycle Printables are from Home School Preschool. This website is one of my favorites for Montessori related free printables.

2) Flower picking with mums

My little one adores picking flowers when we’re out walking. A simple walk around the neighbourhood is a lovely way to get outside and with the goal of creating a little posie of flowers for his Grandmother.

3) Leaf punchouts

I picked up a leaf punch and a leaf scrapbook paper from the craft store. AJ was very excited to use the punch. This activity is great for motor skills. An extra bowl is placed in the tray to collect the leaf punchouts.

4) Fall Tree Pasting

Using our Autumn Tree Printable you & your child can colour then attach the leaves to the tree.
[Tree Printable] [Leaves Printable]

5) Estimation with mums

Guess the number of petals in the mums.

Favorite Book: Great Estimation

6) Parts of an apple Learning Tray

Free printable: The Helpful Garden

Two books that we absolutely love: The Secrets of the Apple Tree & How do Apples Grow?

7) Types of Trees: Deciduous/Coniferous Tree Chart

Books: Woodland and Forest, A Walk in the Deciduous Forest

Safari Tree Toob

8) Counting with Fall tree seeds or nuts

On our nature walk, AJ found many tanoak nuts and leaves. We used those as counters to work on one on one correspondence.

9) Leaf Rubbings

Rubbings of various leaves collected during our nature walk.

10) Leaf Man Art

Make art with leaves inspired by the book, Leaf Man.

11) Wood Tree Puzzle

12) Pumpkin Addition using the addition mat and pumpkins

13) Pumpkin stickers

Who doesn’t love stickers? In this tray, I presented a bowl with pumpkin foam stickers, an empty bowl for the peels, and cardstock for AJ to decorate.  I might replace the cardstock with a mini canvas when this tray goes on the shelf.

14) Fall Leaf Graph

This learning tray consists of various fall leaf foam stickers.  This will be used to introduce AJ to graphing.

What kind of Fall activities are you doing with your children? Please comment below 🙂

Loads of Free Printables are available from Foresight Montessori. This website is one of my favorites for Montessori related free printables.