Natural Materials for the Preschool Classroom – Autumn

It’s no secret that I love autumn, so it should come as no surprise that I like to include autumn-related natural materials in the classroom for the children to explore.  In fact, we spend a lot of time outside collecting these materials to bring into the classroom.  I’ve found that the children are more like to explore these things inside, when they get to be a part of finding them outside.  This also gives them a frame of reference for each of these items because they can remember where they were collected.  Here is a list of some of the things that you can typically find in my classroom during the autumn season – these are all items that are readily available in our area during this time of the year, the availability and appropriateness of natural materials will differ in different regions.