Fall Activities in Spanish for Elementary School

It’s fall! This time of year students learn the language they need to talk about the season and the changes in the world around them. In addition to being relevant to daily routines, this discussion reinforces science concepts related to the change of seasons and weather and aligns with Standard 3.1 Connections of the World Readiness Standards for Learning Languages. Below you will find a variety of fall activities in Spanish to share with your students.

Fall Activities in Spanish: Songs

The song El otoño is a perfect way to start your fall activities in Spanish, because it introduces key vocabulary and concepts related to the season. Shorter days, leaves falling from trees and birds heading south are a few of the signs of fall that students will recognize. Listen to El otoño and download the free illustrated lyric sheet.

The lyric sheet has drawings to support words. Display these illustrations as students listen to the song the first time and reinforce the meaning by pointing. Pause the song if you need more time for explanation and gestures to make the meaning clear.

After you have sung the song through at least once, use the pictures on the lyric sheet to reinforce the vocabulary by asking forced-choice questions. Remember to give students an opportunity to answer first. If they hesitate, then offer the choice.
¿En qué estación estamos? ¿Otoño o verano?
¿Cómo son los días? ¿Más largos o más cortos?
¿Qué echa de menos el chico? ¿El sol o la luna?
¿Qué hacen los pájaros? ¿Se van o se quedan?

Other related songs that you may want to include with fall activities in Spanish are Las cuatro estaciones and Día de los muertos.

Fall Activities in Spanish: Videos

Using videos as fall activities in Spanish is a good option because many students are visual learners. The music video of El otoño encourages students to sing along with the lyrics on the screen, and then to sing on their own with a karaoke segment. You can use the video to ask the questions above, and using the video as a group is a good way to keep all students engaged. Watch the video of El otoño.

Showing short videos of the season in Latin America or Spain is good way to include culture in fall activities in Spanish. The video El otoño en España, for example, shows images of fall in different parts of Spain. The video has music but no narration. Turn the sound down and talk about the images, reinforcing theme vocabulary.

Printable Fall Activities in Spanish

The worksheet that accompanies El otoño provides focused practice with the vocabulary in the song. The worksheet also has a reading with additional content about the season, comprehension questions and follow-up activities. Get the worksheet for El otoño.

You may also want to include an art component in your fall activities in Spanish. These fall-themed mandalas have images that reinforce key vocabulary and make a pretty display for a classroom.

Interactive Spanish Games about Fall

Students love the opportunity to play games, and these interactive games let them work independently to practice vocabulary related to fall.  The three games engage players at different levels, and include a drag and match, a concept race and a memory game. See all the interactive activities for El otoño.

Extension Activities for Fall in Spanish

You can extend the learning in the materials with different kinds of activities. For example,

1. Expand on the lyrics of the song to practice me encanta/me encantan.  As a class, brainstorm things students associate with fall (Halloween, football, pumpkin pie, starting school, rain, cold weather). They can use the reading on the worksheet for ideas. Next, have students use the structure in the song (Del otoño me encantan sus colores) to talk about what they like about fall.
2. Have students work in small groups to prepare and present information about fall to the class. The reading on the worksheet has basic information about fall. Have students make visual aids and using the information from the reading, present to the class. The information in the reading can be divided among group members and they can add personal information as well. 
3. Review months, seasons and dates. The worksheet reading includes the start and end dates of fall in both hemispheres. This is a good opportunity to review the months of the year and how to say dates. Talk about the start and end dates of the other seasons and the dates of fall holidays.
4. Talk about synonyms. The worksheet activities include the words champiñones y hongos as synonyms for the word seta in the lyrics. Talk about other synonyms for words in the lyrics, such as adiós - chau, echar de menos - extrañar, irse - marcharse/salir, marrón - café.