17 Fall Butcher Paper Activities for Preschool, Pre-k, and Kindergarten

Check out 17 fall butcher paper activities for preschool, pre-k, or kindergarten students to practice literacy, math, and fine motor skills in a fun way. There are activities for Halloween, Thanksgiving, turkeys, fall, pumpkins, and more!

If you aren’t familiar with butcher paper activities, let me give you a quick overview. They are hands-on activities that are on a large scale so that students are up moving around while learning. This helps them burn off energy and build their larger muscles to help their fine motor muscles develop. These are great for moving larger body parts while developing gross motor skills. They help students learn with their peers in a multi-sensory, play-based activity that is educational.

Need more butcher paper ideas? Grab the Butcher Paper Activity Guide for over 30 ideas and designs for the whole year! Grab my favorite butcher paper supplies from Amazon here.

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Fine Motor Fall Butcher Paper Activity

Halloween Line Tracing! Draw some fun lines and give students a variety of manipulatives to trace the lines with. Students will develop their shoulder and core muscles while they stretch and build all around the table. Young children will work on their fine motor muscles when pinching and grasping small manipulatives. I used candy corn (leave out overnight or for a few days beforehand so the candy is hard and less likely to be eaten), spiders, bones, and colored stackers.

Literacy Fall Butcher Paper Activities

Pumpkin Letter Sort! Draw a pumpkin patch with vines, pumpkins, and leaves. Add some fall-colored letter manipulatives, and students will sort them into the matching lettered pumpkin. I love these letter beads and use them all the time!

Spider Letter Sort! I used black tape to create the spider web. Then I wrote letters all around. Students will sort the letter manipulatives by matching the letters. You can find the letter tiles here. Your little learners are developing letter identification and fine motor skills while having so much fun.

Skeleton Letters! This one is so simple to make! I wrote letters all over the paper. Placed a skeleton and some qtips on the paper. Then students used the bones (qtips) to build the letters. Change the color of the paper, and you can use this activity for a body or health theme!

Turkey Letter and Color Sort! Draw a turkey and label his feathers with color words. Then, set out letters and colored manipulatives for students to sort by color. I used magnet letters and stackable counters, but any small, different colors of manipulatives would work, even cotton balls for the white area. 

Ghost Names! Draw little ghosts and put your students’ names in each one. Then, peers will use letter manipulatives to build their classmates’ names. You can also add crayons to the table, and students can trace the names. The marker will still show up through the crayons so more than one student can trace each name. These name butcher paper ideas make fun activities for little kids!

Math Fall Butcher Paper ACtivities

Leaf Roll, Count, & Sort! Draw some fun fall leaves and get busy practicing multiple math skills in one activity. Students will roll the die, identify the number, and count out the correct amount of manipulatives onto the leaf. To make it harder, give them 2 dice, and they can practice addition! Students will be developing one-to-one correspondence, counting skills, color sorting, fine motor skills, and more!

Pumpkin Count! Draw a pumpkin patch and put numbers inside your pumpkins. Students will count out that many manipulatives to complete the activity. I used a bowl of pumpkin seed, pom poms, and mini erasers for my manipulatives, but any small manipulative will work for this activity. I like to place my manipulatives in small plastic cups from the dollar store around the area so students know where to put things when cleaning up. 

Turkey Count! I drew a simple turkey and wrote numbers inside his feathers. Then, students counted out manipulatives to fill his feathers with matching numbers of items. I set out magnet numbers, dominos, linking chains, linking cubes, number beads, and counting cookies.

Football Numbers! Down, set, hike! Draw a field goal post and some footballs, and you are ready to count! Young kids count the dots on dominos and match them to the correct number. A great time to practice informal addition and one-to-one correspondence.

Spider Patterns! Draw a large spider and lay out some colored manipulatives. I used pom poms. Students will make patterns on her legs or complete the patterns if you choose to start them for the students. I started my patterns with colored dot stickers so students would know the task they were supposed to be doing.

Farm Shape Sort & Trace! To prep, draw shapes and add small lines like fence posts. To play, students sort shape manipulatives into the correct pasture or use small tractors to drive over the fence and trace the shape.

Apple Tree Color Sort! Draw some apple trees, and students can sort colored manipulatives into the correct tree. Little learners can also use dot markers to stamp apples in the correct color tree. Kids of all ages would love to use play dough to make their own apples to add to the color-sorting graph. 

Food 3D Shape Sort! Make a graph and have your students sort 3D shapes. I did this during a food unit, so students sorted food items and boxes into the correct area on the graph. Ask parents to send in empty food containers so that you get a variety of food packages. This is great for a food, nutrition, or Thanksgiving theme.

Feather Size Sort! Give students feathers to sort by size on the butcher paper graph. Students will use size words and discuss their differences and similarities with their peers, building their social skills. This is an easy way to encourage students to use math words in their conversations. 

Witch Measure! Draw some brooms in varying lengths and then give students manipulatives to measure their lengths. I set out linking cubes, witch fingers, bat erasers, bones, and googly eyes. This is the perfect multi-sensory activity for small children to play and learn simultaneously. 

Turkey Patterns! Practice making patterns with this adorable turkey-themed butcher paper activity. Little learners will use pieces of pipe cleaners to complete the patterns. Lay out magnet wands for easy cleanup! Place your pipe cleaners in a small cup for the perfect way to stay organized. 

Butcher paper activities are some of my favorite morning time activities since everyone can participate and move around while getting woke up and ready for their day in the classroom. They also work great for indoor recess, small group time, early finishers, a gross motor learning center, or table-time activities. Grab your lesson plans and pick your favorites this fall season. 

Grab the Butcher Paper Guide for ideas for the whole year, not just fall butcher paper ideas!

Want to see these fall butcher paper ideas in action? Check out the video of Fall Butcher Paper Activities!

Get more ideas for butcher paper ideas in this Math Butcher Paper video!

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