Toddler/Preschool Fall Busy Binder
The first busy binder that I made was the summer busy binder and I knew that I definitely wanted to create one for each of the seasons. Today, I am sharing the fall busy binder. My goal was for this to look very different from her previous binder, to help with my daughter’s excitement to learn, but to work on many of the same skills. Some of the skills addressed in the binder are uppercase and lowercase letter matching, counting, number recognition, shape and color matching, as well as line practice.
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If you have already used the summer busy binder, then you probably already know how to assemble this. If you have not, don’t worry, it’s very simple! Simply print the busy binder pages and cut out the necessary pieces for the pages. If you cut the pieces out before laminating, they will last you a lot longer. It means you cut twice, but it’s worth it! I’ve purchased my laminating sheets from many different stores and have not had any issues using various brands. You must laminate the pages though. Page protectors will not work the same way because they do not seal closed. The velcro will just pull at the page protectors. I use this velcro for my busy binders. It works amazingly well and I’ve purchased it more than once. I prefer to stick the hook (scratchy) pieces of the velcro on the page and the loop (soft) pieces of the velcro on the printable pieces that Elani will be handling. After using my three hole punch, I assemble the pages in a binder. I used this sized binder this time around because the fall busy binder required more space.
The alphabet pages are great for matching lowercase and uppercase letters, but you can also easily practice letter sounds and alphabetical order. I find that it is so easy to find things that have uppercase letters, but children are going to see lowercase letters more in books and it is important that they are exposed to those early on.
The leaf matching pages allow for pairing the correct leaves based on shape, while the sunflower matching pages allow pairing based on the size of the flower. This is a good opportunity to also work on sizing words, such as small, medium, and large.
The acorn pages focus on the numbers 1-5 and the apple pages focus on the numbers 6-10. The numbers can also be used on their own to practice numerical order.
The barn and tractor pages are two different types of puzzles. The numbers on the barn can assist your child in assembling the puzzle. For the tractor, the colors can help to correctly position the shapes on the puzzle. I originally made the tractor page with only the one wheel being removable. My daughter was not pleased with that. Haha! I ended up redesigning it so the download does have removable circles for both of the wheels. I always allow her to use the binder pages before offering them as a download because she provides great feedback!
These tracing pages are great for fine motor skills. I use zipper binder pockets to keep a dry erase marker for Elani to use for tracing. I got mine from the Target dollar section (Bullseye’s Playground), but I found these ones that are similar. I also use these erasers and they work perfectly. I used to use them in my classroom to keep my white board clean and they keep these pages looking clean and new. I love that I can cut them to whatever size I want them to be.
I included two types of pages for the owl color matching. The one set has the color words in the coordinating color to help with matching. The other set is simply black and white for if your child is already reading colors or learning to read colors.
The pumpkin page is one of Elani’s favorites! Your child will have to differentiate between which shapes are meant for eyes versus the mouth, but it is mainly for fun.
This animal page was a last minute addition to the binder. Elani was enjoying the activities, but kept asking for animals. Again, her feedback is important to me, so I made added this matching page. This is available as a free printable. It is not necessary to laminate if you just want to use this one page as a matching activity.
Elani loves her binder and I hope that your child does, as well. If you have any questions about the fall busy binder, feel free to reach out. I absolutely love making these and will be getting to work on the winter binder pages very shortly. Hoping to have all of that work completed before baby girl arrives!
