🍁 October Blog
As the crisp autumn air settles over Vienna and the golden leaves fall, October is the perfect time to slow down and bring learning indoors.
This month, turn your home into a cozy little language lab full of fun, creativity, and bonding time. Here’s a guide packed with tips, tricks, crafts, and activities to support independent English learning.
🍂 Why Learn English at Home?
English is a global key to communication, and starting young builds confidence and curiosity. At home, kids can explore English at their own pace in a safe and supportive environment—especially when it’s paired with fun, interactive tasks.
🎨 October Craft Ideas
🍁 1. Leaf Labelling Hunt
Go on a walk in nature, this could be through the park or woods, and collect leaves. Back home, create a “Leaf Book” where you can glue the leaves and label them with words like color, shape, size, and even poetic names (e.g. “Golden Star Leaf”). This is a great way to increase English vocabulary and descriptive skills, as well as encouraging the child to spend time in the nature, enjoying the last of the longer and warmer days.
Vocabulary to Use: brown, crunchy, smooth, big, small, round, maple, oak
🎃 2. Halloween Puppet Theatre
Craft paper puppets of classic Halloween characters: witch, ghost, monster, bat. This can be done following a simple youtube video such as the one below! Then, write and perform a short skit in English together! Engaging in theatre and crafts makes English learning fun and super accessible; bettering the child’s language ability whilst inspiring imagination.
Try This Line Starter:
Witch: “I lost my broomstick in the forest!”
🎶 3. Autumn Songs & Rhymes
Sing simple English songs related to fall. Try “Autumn Leaves Are Falling Down” (to the tune of „London Bridge“) or classic rhymes like “Five Little Pumpkins.”
Tip: Look up songs on YouTube with subtitles and hand gestures to make it more interactive.
🧡 5 Tips for Independent English Learning at Home (With Your Help!)
1. Create an “English Corner”
Set up a small area in your home filled with English books, flashcards, coloring pages, and simple games. Decorate with English labels (“chair,” “window,” “lamp”) and seasonal vocabulary (“pumpkin,” “leaves,” “scarf”).
2. Set a Daily English Time (15–30 Minutes)
Keep it short and sweet! Whether it’s reading aloud, singing a song, or playing a word game—consistency matters more than duration.
3. Celebrate Mistakes as Part of Learning
Let them mix languages, make up words, and be silly. Language learning thrives on experimentation and creativity.
📚 5 Classic English Books for Kids Ages 6–12
Here are timeless, beautifully written books that introduce rich vocabulary and storytelling. These classics can be read aloud or independently, depending on your child’s level.
📚 “Charlotte’s Web“ by E.B White
Charlotte’s Web tells the tale of a little girl named Fern who loved a piglet named Wilbur—and of Wilbur’s dear friend, a beautiful, large, grey spider, named Charlotte A. Cavatica. It is a tale of the magic of childhood on the farm.
A classic that is read in almost every primary school across the UK, Charlotte’s Web inspires both wit and wisdom, entrancing children who love animals and magic, this heartwarming story about friendship, life, and language is also great for improving vocabulary and encouraging emotional expression.
Age: 8-12
To Buy: https://www.thalia.at/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1004755154
📚 “The Wind in the Willows” by Kenneth Grahame
„I am Toad of Toad Hall. Motor car-snatching, prison-breaking Toad!“
The classic story of „Wind in the Willows“ invites the reader to enter the mischievous world of Toad of Toad Hall, joining Moly and Ratty on their riverside adventures. When Moly gets lost in the Wild Wood, Ratty and kind old Badger are there to rescue him. But when Mr Toad is sent to prison and his beloved Toad Hall is taken over by stoats and weasels, will his friends be able to save the day?
A story of friendship and making amends, this classic children’s book is one of the most famous animal stories of all time.
Age: 6-10
To Buy: https://www.thalia.at/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1004822112
📚 “The Secret Garden” by Frances Hodgson Burnett
One of the most famous stories in the world, „The Secret Garden“ immerses the reader in a magical story of friendship and hope. The older-style English may be challenging to non-native speakers at first, however, the use of adjectives and descriptive linguistic techniques lets the reader forget their reading.
The story follows a young Mary Lennox, is sent from India to live in her uncle’s gloomy mansion on the wild English moors, after losing her parents to cholera. She is lonely, but one day she learns of a secret garden somewhere in the grounds that no one is allowed to enter. Then Mary uncovers an old key in a flowerbed – and a gust of magic leads her to the hidden door. Slowly she turns the key and enters a world she could never have imagined.
Age: 10-14
To Buy: https://www.thalia.at/shop/home/artikeldetails/A1020992472
🍁We wish you a wonderful start to the autumnal season from all of us here at Native4kids!
