Fall Five Senses Walk Fill-in-the-Blanks Poem

After the heat of summer, the sights and smells (and tastes!) of fall are so very welcome. Apples, pumpkin pie, brightly colored leaves, crisp mornings, cider donuts, trips to the pumpkin patch, fuzzy sweaters…

Well, to be honest, fall in Texas is really just an extension of summer with pumpkins added (which came from far away places in trucks). But in September, we went to upstate New York for my grandma’s 100th birthday, and we were able to pick apples and eat cider donuts and see pumpkins growing on vines and it was AMAZING! We’ll have fall here eventually… it’s supposed to cool down later this week. But we’ll still be lacking the apple picking and the cider donuts…

Here’s a fun activity to do with young kids this fall! Go on a Fall Five Senses Walk. Scoot your feet through the leaves on the ground, observe the changing colors, smell the crisp air, listen for squirrels dropping acorns, and gather prickly pinecones. Ask your kids what they can see, feel, smell, hear, and taste on their walk. (Or maybe plan to do the tasting at home with a fall treat to enjoy.)

Then fill in the blanks to create a delightful fall poem.

I wrote the poem so that kids can fill in anything, and the poem still rhymes! There are two versions with slight differences.

Here is Version 1:

I went for a walk on a (crisp/cold/bright/sunny/windy) fall day.

I saw (birds/pumpkins/colorful leaves/etc.) all along the way.

I could smell (leaves/cider/pumpkin pie/apples) all through the air,

And the autumn wind blew through my hair.

I looked with my eyes and saw (pumpkins/scarecrows/corn fields/etc.) all around.

And I touched (an acorn/a pinecone/a pumpkin) that I found on the ground.

I tasted (an apple/a pear) picked fresh from a tree,

And I said, “Fall is the best season to me!”

Note: Both versions will print without my blog url at the top. That’s just to prevent theft of the image.

I realized that I had left off the sense of hearing, but I really liked the poem the way it was. So I left it, but made a second version that includes listening. I also modified the ending of the poem so that it’s possible to fill in a tasting option other than apples or pears.

Version 2:

For young kids, you can ask what they’d like to say and do the writing for them. Older kids can write in the blanks themselves. Either way, the rhyming words help make the text fun and predictable for beginning readers.

Ready to print your poem?

Click the link below. The file will download and open immediately, and you can print from there.

CLICK HERE: Fantastic Fall Five Senses Walk Poem

Looking for more fall fun?

Fall Leaves Play Dough – pumpkin scented!

Pumpkin Boats Sensory Play – this is one of our favorites.

Turn a craft pumpkin into an Adorable Pumpkin Doll House – so fun for Calico Critters or similar toys!