Fall Activities

Here are some ideas for activities to do with your child that relate to Fall:
-”Leaf Man” lends itself to an amazing variety of projects! We went on several nature walks and collected leaves, sticks, acorns, pine cones, maple tree seeds, etc. and created several of our own leaf-men and animals. This was such a fun project, mainly because it was so fun to watch my son’s creativity!

-Do leaf rubbings–put several different types of leaves (not yet crunchy) under a piece of paper and use an unwrapped crayon, held on its side, to rub color over the patterns of the leaves.

-The book “It’s Fall!” has some great activity ideas in the back.

Here are some fun outings you can take with your child:
-Nature walk! Take several nature walks anywhere from your backyard to a nature trail. Make the focus of the walk looking at the small details around you…what types of leaves can you find? What signs of fall do you see? Take a bag with you and collect leaves and other interesting things you find.

-Visit a pumpkin farm near you. Many times you can pick a pumpkin, pick apples, and some even have areas to pet animals.

Most importantly, talk with your child! Any time you are out and about point out the signs of Fall around you….the color of the leaves, bare trees, the weather, animal activity, decorations, etc. It’s fun for them to point out and observe changes along the regular routes you take while out and about.

Fall Book List

And we begin! Our first theme is going to be “Fall”. This is absolutely the perfect time to engage your child in learning about and exploring Fall. It is much easier for them to understand what a season is when you are in it and can observe the physical changes taking place in the world around them.
To start out, here’s a book list: (you can buy these books through Amazon.com, or you can check them out at your library)

• “Every Autumn Comes the Bear” Jim Arnosky
• “Leaf Man” Lois Ehlert
• “It’s Fall!” Linda Glaser
• “The Apple Pie Tree” Zoe Hall
• “Pumpkin Harvest” Calvin Harris
• “Fall“ Ron Hirschi
• “When Autumn Falls” Kelli Nidey
• “This Way Home” Lisa Westberg Peters
• “Who Loves the Fall?” Bob Raczka
• “Animals in Fall” Martha E.H. Rustad
• “Leaves in Fall” Martha E. H. Rustad
• “In November” Cynthia Rylant
• “Mouse’s First Fall” Lauren Thompson
• “Squirrels“ Brian Wildsmith

Play Dough Recipe

I love this recipe for Play Dough. It came from a friend, who got it from a friend, so I’m not sure where it originated, but it’s great!

• 2 1/2 Cups Flour
• 1/2 Cup Salt
• 2 pkgs Unsweetened Kool-Aid
• 2 Tbsp Cooking Oil
• 2 Cups Boiling water*
• 1 Tbsp Cream of Tartar

Mix dry ingredients. Add oil and water, stirring quickly. Knead when cool enough to handle and store in an air tight container.

*I made this with my child, but just did not let him handle the water. Then, I did not let him knead it until it was very cool. Use your own good judgement on whether this is something to make with your kids or not.

**My first batch turned out a little sticky, so be sure not to overdo it on the liquid.

Basic Supplies

I like to keep my activities and projects as simple as I can…I am totally not artistic!
Here’s a list of basic supplies to think about having on hand:

• glue stick
• school glue
• safety scissors
• construction paper
• crayons
• ruler
• watercolor paints
• tempera paints
• paintbrushes & sponges
• pipecleaners
• rubber bands
• blocks or legos
• clothespins
• cardboard boxes ( a packing box and a few empty cereal boxes…I like to use them to cut out solid pieces for various projects)
• colored tissue paper (save from gifts)
• plastic or glass jars (clean out a few spaghetti sauce or apple sauce jars. These are great for storing stuff, like paintbrushes, or for some projects)
• shoebox
• empty egg carton
• empty toilet paper & paper towel tubes
• empty kleenex box
• Play dough (see recipe here)

Don’t worry about going out and buying all of these things. I like to just collect supplies as we go, and you can always improvise!
One other thing that I like to do is to keep a notebook in which I note our topic, the books we read, which ones we liked the most and why, what activities we did, etc. I just think it’s neat to be able to look back at the fun we’ve had!