My grandkids love scavenger hunts, and we have a scavenger hunt for every major holiday. Because my grandkids (and so many kids) love scavenger hunts, I decided to have a scavenger hunt theme for each season. This is our fall scavenger hunt unit! It has many activities and resources that can be used for any fall unit, but we have scavenger hunt variations. (Note: We also have a winter scavenger hunt unit, spring scavenger hunt unit, and summer scavenger hunt unit.)
Here, you’ll find links to free fall scavenger hunt printables used to prepare hands-on activities and a new Montessori-inspired fall scavenger hunt pack for our free newsletter subscribers’ resource library! This unit has resources for preschool through early elementary.
Disclosure: This post contains some affiliate links (at no cost to you).
Montessori Shelves with Fall Scavenger Hunt Themed Activities
Montessori Shelves with Fall Scavenger Hunt Themed Activities
You’ll find Montessori-inspired fall scavenger hunt themed numbers, letters, and and more (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber) Note: The Montessori-inspired fall scavenger hunt pack isn’t designed as a complete fall scavenger hunt unit but as supplemental materials. I design the packs using realistic images that I’ve often looked for when preparing a unit study (such as font cards and phonogram cards featuring the letter and phonogram related to the theme and math cards with realistic images that fit the theme and can be adapted for math activities at a variety of levels.)
You could mix your fall scavenger hunt themed activities among your shelves according to curriculum area. Or you could have a special fall scavenger hunt themed area something like the one pictured. My shelves at the beginning of our unit have a mixture of skill levels. Many of the activities can be adapted for a variety of levels. If you’re a homeschooler, just choose the activities that work for your child’s interests and ability levels. If you don’t have room for all the activities you’d like to do, simply rotate them.
Montessori Shelves with Fall Scavenger Hunt Themed Activities and Renoir Art Print
Notice the framed art print Banks of a River (1896) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir. It’s a free download from Wikart.
For our monthly featured art print, I purchased a Li’l DAVINCI art frame that opens in the front for easily changing a free art masterpiece printable or vintage illustration to fit with the month’s theme. The frame can be switched from horizontal to vertical without changing the hanger, which is perfect!
If you’re wondering about the rugs and rug box I use, both the rugs and wooden rug holder are from Montessori Services. I love the Montessori Services rugs and rug holder! I used to use an umbrella stand something like these. I loved that for 1-3 rugs, but I needed something different when I had more grandchildren and some projects that needed more than one rug.
Favorite Shelves, Trays, Baskets, and More for Montessori Homeschoolers
I often get asked about the trays, baskets, etc., that I use, so I published a post with many of the items. You can find lots of helpful resources here. They’re not all essential, so don’t feel you need to have everything. Just choose what’s best for your budget and your unique family’s needs. You’ll find more ideas in the Living Montessori Now Amazon shop
Books for a Fall Unit
Even though I have books on shelves, I’m now keeping many of my themed books in a forward-facing display after placing a plant where the themed book basket was before. I still have some seasonal books in a book basket, but I’m focusing here on books for a general fall theme.
For toddlers and preschoolers, about ¾ of the books I use are typically Montessori friendly (focusing on reality without smiling or talking animals or smiling or talking vehicles).
Books for a Fall Unit
Top Shelf of Themed Shelves:
- The beautiful Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn is from an amazing series that is part of my permanent seasonal book collection. It’s a Montessori-friendly book that tells the story of a girl who walks through forest and town, welcoming the signs of autumn.
- Hello, Fall! is the sweet story of a girl and her grandfather welcoming fall.
- Fall Harvests: Bringing in the Food has lots of information for young readers along with side notes with additional information.
Top Shelf of Forward -Facing Display:
- When Fall Comes: Connecting with Nature as the Days Grow Shorter (lovely!)
- Autumn Is Here!
- We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt
2nd Shelf:
- How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World isn’t a Montessori-style book, but it’s a fun, whimsical way to add some geography to an apple- or fall unit. There’s a world map in the back of the book.
- If You Find a Leaf (creative and fun!)
- Yellow Time
3rd Shelf:
- Apple Picking Day
- Why Do Leaves Change Color? has lots of easy-to-understand information about leaves, including images of many types of leaves.⠀
- Leaf Man (great book for inspiring creative activities with autumn leaves)
4th Shelf:
Bottom Shelf
- Sophie’s Squash (My grandkids and I love this sweet story!)
- Lift-a-Flap Surprise: Autumn in the Forest
- Autumn (beautiful wordless board book that’s part of a 4-season collection)
- Biscuit Visits the Pumpkin Patch
We have other autumn books in a book basket:
- Books from our mini fall unit.
- Books from our apple unit.
You can see many fall books here: Fall Books for Kids (including books as they’re published)
Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn Book with Fall Scavenger Hunt
Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn with Fall Scavenger Hunt
The book is the beautiful Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn. It’s part of an amazing series that is part of my permanent seasonal books. It’s a Montessori-friendly book that tells the story of a girl who walks through forest and town, welcoming the signs of autumn.
Free Printable: Fall Scavenger Hunt from New Horizon Academy
This is a lovely outdoor scavenger hunt. We’ve used these child-size binoculars many times over the years, and they’re always great for nature scavenger hunts!
Hello, Fall Book with Fall Words in Spanish and English
Hello, Fall Book with Fall Words in Spanish and English
The book is Hello, Fall! It’s the sweet story of a girl and her grandfather welcoming fall.
Free Printable: Spanish Fall Words for Writing by
To make this a scavenger hunt, you could hide the Spanish words for children who can read or the pictures for younger children.
Pages from Awesome Autumn Book with 3-Part Autumn Leaf Cards
Pages from Awesome Autumn Book with 3-Part Autumn Leaf Cards
The book is Awesome Autumn: All Kinds of Fall Facts and Fun with lots of beautiful photographs and easy-to-understand information, along with some fall crafts.
Free Printable: Autumn Leaves 3-Part Cards from Imagine Our Life
3-part cards are easy to use in a scavenger hunt. Simply hide the part of the card that’s appropriate for a child’s level (such as the word label for children who can read or the picture for toddlers and preschoolers who don’t read yet).
Sand Writing Tray for a Fall Scavenger Hunt Theme
Sand Writing Tray for a Fall Scavenger Hunt Theme
Free Printable /l/ for leaf font cards (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my free newsletter to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber). They come in print, D’Nealian, and cursive.
Free Printable /ea/ in leaf phonogram cards (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my free newsletter to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber). They come in print, D’Nealian, and cursive.
Free Printable: Green Series ea Sound with Letters from MontessoriSoul (I don’t have these out on the shelf, but I still have them from a previous months and seasons unit.)
You’ll see a variety of simple letter writing trays in my previous unit study posts. I often used the wooden tray from the Melissa & Doug Lace and Trace Shapes. You can use whatever tray or container work best for you, though.
I typically now use this lovely spelling/alphabet tray from FamilyTreeWW on Etsy. I like it for writing more than one letter or spelling words. (Note: That sand tray is currently unavailable, but you’ll find lots of other options for Montessori sand trays on Etsy.) I found some colored sand in 12 colors on Amazon that I started to use instead of salt or colored salt. I love it because it’s so soft and feels great!
If you would like help with introducing phonetic sounds, introducing objects with sounds, or beginning phonics in general, check out my DIY Beginning Montessori Phonics with Preschoolers.
I have a post and video on how to introduce words starting with phonograms, even with very young children.
Scarecrow CVC Unscramble the Word Activity
Scarecrow CVC Unscramble the Word Activity
Free Printable: Scarecrow CVC Unscramble the Word (20 different cards are included) from 3 Dinosaurs
I love the Amazing Child Mini Grooved Letter Tiles: Lower Sassoon Case with Tray and Stylus! I’m using it here as a sort of movable alphabet for CVC words, although it can be used with individual letters for children learning their phonetic sounds. There’s a little sand tray that comes with the set as well.
While this isn’t a traditional scavenger hunt, the child has to unscramble the letters and find the letters in the letter box. (I have them in the categories I use to introduce phonetic sounds.) The printable includes places to write each word after it’s unscrambled, so you could use that in addition to or instead of the movable letters for older kids.
Where’s the Acorn? Game
Where’s the Acorn? Game
Free Printable: Where’s the Acorn? Game by Playing Through Preschool at TPT
Free Printable: Maple leaf alphabet cards and acorn alphabet cards (part of my subscriber freebies, so just sign up for my free newsletter to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber). The acorn alphabet cards are from this pack, but the maple leaf alphabet cards are from our previous fall unit.
Using this poem in the Where’s the Acorn? Game, an acorn alphabet card is hidden under one of the maple leaf alphabet cards. You could choose matching print or cursive cards or print on one and cursive on the other as I’ve done here. I would have the teacher or another child give clues, such as “queen” starts with this sound.
The alphabet cards in print and cursive are easily adaptable, depending on the child’s level. They can be used for a variety of activities, such as matching letters with sandpaper letters, matching print to cursive letters, or movable alphabet word building.
Fall Harvest Color Sorting and Color Grading
Fall Harvest Color Sorting and Color Grading
Free Printable: Fall Harvest Color Match-up by Erin from Life, Abundantly for Totschooling
Free Printable (for children who are working on Color Box 3): Printable Color Box 3 from Montessori Album
The fall harvest color match-up is a lovely watercolor printable that can have the individual color cards hidden for a scavenger hunt. Younger children can simply find and sort the colored cards. Older children can then use the green, red, and orange color tablets from color box 3 (or the printable version) for color grading.
Leaf Hunt Subtraction Activity
Leaf Hunt Subtraction Activity
Free Printable: Leaf hunt number cards 1-20 (two cards each for 1-10) and subtraction symbols (part of my subscriber freebie pack, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password … or check the bottom of your latest newsletter if you’re already a subscriber).
We have free spinners (both 1-5 and 1-10) in our subscriber freebie pack.
I used 20 acrylic leaves in two colors.
For this activity, the 20 leaves are hidden. The child spins the spinner (twice if you want the number to be greater than 10), and the child has to find that many leaves. First they’re in a pile. Then the child subtracts one color of leaves from the pile. In this example, the child had to find 14 leaves. The child subtracted the red leaves and had 6 yellow leaves left.
You could also make a simple counting activity using the math cards or an addition activity similar to the one from our fall unit.
There are so many different activities you can prepare using the math cards! This is just one example. You’ll find many ideas in our previous units.
Fall Riddle Scavenger Hunt
Solving the Fall Riddles
Free Printable: Fall Riddles for Inference & Drawing Conclusions by Primary Inspiration by Linda Nelson at TPT
My grandkids didn’t have any trouble solving the fall riddles. I often have my 10-year-old granddaughter, Zoey, hide the cards for a scavenger hunt while my 6-year-old grandkids search for them. Here, the answers were hidden. After they worked together to find the answer strips, Caleb and Sophia took turns placing the answers below the riddles.
Fall Scavenger Hunt Activities on Another Shelf
Fall Harvests Book with Miniature Environment and Sentences
Free Printable: Fall Pocket Chart Sentences from The Measured Mom
Fall Harvests: Bringing in the Food has lots of information for young readers along with side notes with additional information.
My 6- and 10-year-old grandkids love to make miniature environments using LEGO bricks or magnetic tiles. Here, Caleb made an organic farm at harvest time. The sentence strips could be used for a scavenger hunt where children read the sentence and find the object named. Or you could simply hide the pictures or matching object to the sentence strips in your classroom or home.
September 23 Update: We just published our editable Montessori grammar labels (and grammar symbols) in print and cursive versions! Each version is $5.95 in our shop, but you have permanent access to them if you purchased the 2024 Fall Mega Bundle. You can learn more about them in this blog post.
Working with Editable Montessori Grammar Labels Used with Miniature Fall Organic Farm
Caleb used the editable Montessori grammar labels with his miniature fall organic farm. It was simple for me to prepare the labels and grammar symbols using the font we recommended in the directions available in the file. Caleb really enjoyed this work!
Editable Montessori Grammar Labels Used with Miniature Fall Organic Farm
Here’s the finished miniature environment with labels and printable grammar symbols (print version)!
Fall Metal Inset Designs
I love the plastic insets from Alison’s Montessori for home use, but they seem to be discontinued or out of stock right now. Alison’s Montessori does have the traditional metal insets, of course. And I found some inexpensive wooden insets on Etsy that look like a great option for home use. There are also DIY insets you can make for home use.
We’re having fun with the Fall Themed Montessori Metal Inset Design Cards by MindfulMontessoriMe on Etsy. They aren’t free, but they’re a great extension to work with the metal insets! These aren’t exactly a scavenger hunt except that the child has the find the shape that’s needed to make the design.
Free Montessori-Inspired Fall Scavenger Hunt Pack
Montessori-Inspired Fall Scavenger Hunt Pack for DIY Cards and Counters, Number or Letter Matching, Number or Letter Basket, Bead Bar Work, Hands-on Math Operations, Number or Letter Salt/Sand Writing Tray, Letter Tracing, DIY Movable Alphabet, and Creative Writing (subscriber freebie, so just sign up for my email to get the link and password – or check your inbox if you’re already a subscriber).
More Fall Resources
Fall Montessori-Inspired Products on Etsy
- Free Fall Printables and Montessori-Inspired Fall Activities
- Free Fall Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Fall Songs and Educational Videos
- Free Fall Cutting Strips ( Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- I Have, Who Has? Autumn Art Appreciation Game Pack in Print or Cursive
- Owl Game, Puzzle, and Editable Tracing Pack in Print or Cursive
- Autumn Art Appreciation – Meditation and Puzzles
- Free Farmers Market Printables and Montessori-Inspired Farmers Market Activities
- Favorite Books for a Farmers Market Theme
- Montessori-Inspired Fall Playdough Activities
- Fall Activities with Water Beads
- Free Fall Songs and Rhymes for Circle Time
- Fall Sensory Bin with Practical Life and Math Activities
- Nature Trays and Nature Tables
- Montessori Nature Tray Sorting and Counting for Toddlers and Preschoolers
- How to Prepare a Simple Fall Playdough Tray
- Free Fall Playdough Math Pack (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Montessori-Inspired Playdough Math Activities for Fall {Free Printables}
- Fun Shoe and Coat Tricks for Toddler and Preschooler Independence
- 50+ Creative Ways to Use Materials Found on Your Nature Walks
- The Ultimate Guide to Montessori-Inspired Leaf Resources and Activities
- Montessori-Inspired Owl Unit with Free Printables and Activities
- How to Prepare Montessori Shelves for a Mini Fall Unit
- Allow Time for Child-Led Activities This Fall
- Montessori-Inspired Apple Unit
- 30+ Apple Sensory Tubs
- Free Apple Printables and Montessori-Inspired Apple Activities
- 20+ Apple Phonics Activities
- Fall Sensory Bin with Practical Life and Math Activities
- Fun with Montessori Apple Coring, Slicing, Spreading, and Sharing
- Free Apple Printable for Ten Apples Up On Top Activities (Instant Download)
- Ten Apples Up On Top Sensory Bin & Table (Free Printables)
- Ten Apples Up On Top Activities with Spielgaben {Free Printables}
- Free Fall Playdough Math Pack (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Montessori-Inspired Playdough Math Activities for Fall {Free Printables}
- Free Seasons of an Apple Tree Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Free Tree Songs and Educational Videos {Learn about Trees, Apple Trees, and Seasons}
- Free Apple Printables and Activities for a Montessori-Inspired Apple Unit
- Montessori Apple Color Matching for Toddlers and Preschoolers
- Montessori Apple Fraction Activities for Multiple Ages
- Free Apple Songs and Educational Videos
- Free Apple Do-a-Dot Phonics Printable (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- The Best Apple Books for Kids
- Free Apple Picking Cutting Strips (Montessori-Inspired Instant Download)
- Historically Accurate and Culturally Sensitive Thanksgiving Printables for Preschool Through Elementary
- How to Use Flint Corn (Ornamental Corn) for Montessori Practical Life and Language Work
- Apple Unit Study Pinterest Board
- Kids’ Fall Activities Pinterest Board
Don’t miss our themed monthly packs! You’ll get the link and password for the Living Montessori Now subscriber library with the current pack and all the past monthly packs if you subscribe to the Living Montessori Now weekly newsletter!
If you’d like ideas for calendar-based themes throughout September and October, see my September Themed Activities for Kids and my October Themed Activities for Kids.
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