Smooth, shiny conkers and crisp, crunchy leaves: Autumn is a season that young children can use all their senses to enjoy. Try these fun and educational autumn activities for children, toddlers and preschoolers.
Autumn treasure hunt
This time of year is perfect for getting outdoors for a walk. Why not turn your next outing into an autumn scavenger hunt? Here are some autumnal objects to look for on your travels:
- Red leaf
- Brown leaf
- Yellow leaf
- Bare tree
- Conker
- Acorn
- Pine cone
- Squirrel
- Mushroom
- Moss
- Berries
- Spider’s web
- Pumpkin
- Puddle
Remember to use descriptive words when you are looking for these items to support and extend children’s language and understanding. Although children to explore the items, where possible, through touch and ask them to describe them to you. You can take a list to tick off your finds or start a collection of found objects to bring home and use for autumn-themed games and crafts. Below we’ve listed some of our favourite autumn activities for kids.
Make an autumnal display
Your child will enjoy exploring the different properties of objects they have found.
- Can they sort the objects into different colours?
- Which is the biggest? Which the smallest? Can they line the objects up in order of size?
- Which objects are shiny? Which are rough? Explore the textures.
- How many objects have they collected? Count them together.
Your autumn collection is likely to grow as the season wears on. If you have space in your home, you can make an autumnal display out of your finds.
- Create an autumn nature table to add to each time you go out. This will become a place where your child can get hands-on and explore the textures, shapes, smells and colours of autumn.
- Use an old fish tank or clear plastic box to make an autumn “curiosity cube”. This fascinating display will spark endless imaginative play and discussion.
- Make an autumn sensory bottle. Fill an empty plastic bottle with the treasures you have collected. You could choose to fill multiple bottles, sorting your finds into different categories or just letting your little one decide what goes where. Adding extra elements such as glitter, oil and food colouring can make your sensory bottle even more magical. When your bottles are filled, be sure to seal them tightly with sticky tape. Now, let your child play: what sound does the bottle make when you shake it?
Autumn leaf activities
Now is a wonderful time to make the most of the changing colours that Autumn brings. It’s a great way to explore not only colour changes but for older children gives the opportunity to talk about seasons and life cycles too. Below are some ideas of how the nursery teams have used autumn leaf activities for children to support play and learning in creative and imaginative ways:
- Autumn leaf prints. This could get messy, so make sure your child is wearing an apron! Using dishes of different coloured poster paint, let your little one dip a sponge or brush into the paint and spread it over a leaf they have chosen from outside. On a clean sheet of paper, let them make prints with the leaf, exploring the textures that appear.
- Leaf collage. Collect a variety of different leaves from an autumn walk. With PVA glue, stick the leaves onto a sheet of paper, in whatever formation takes your child’s fancy. You can decorate your collage with glitter or paint, or just leave the colours of nature to shine out for themselves. At the nursery, the children really enjoy being able to mix their own colours and create their own little masterpieces using a combination of the leaves, paint and glue.
- Autumn leaf painting. A variation on the leaf prints activity, this can produce some stunning effects. This time, hold a clean leaf down on your sheet of paper and paint over and around it with a brush. Encourage your child to explore different colours by mixing paints together. When you lift off the leaf, you’ll have a white leaf-shaped silhouette!
Autumn decorations
Autumn crafts for children and early years are simple but effective, producing some really beautiful results. Get creative with these natural autumn decoration ideas.
- Autumn threading. You’ll need a varied collection of autumnal objects, such as conkers, leaves and acorns, plus a stick. First, prepare your finds by making a hole in each object. (This bit is strictly for adults!) Then let your toddler thread the objects onto a piece of string or shoelace. Threading is a great activity for hand-eye co-ordination, and this activity will also help your child to categorise objects into different colours and shapes. When you have several threaded strings, hang them from collected sticks and display them in your home.
- Twig picture frame. You’ll need an old picture frame, some small twigs and perhaps some other autumn treasures. Let your little one glue the twigs to the frame with PVA. For extra sparkle use some glitter glue to decorate the result. Why not use your frame to display one of your preschooler’s autumn artworks?
Autumn flavours and smells
The unique smells and flavours of autumn are powerful sensory experiences for children. These baking activities are the ideal way to explore them!
- Autumn dough. For a basic Playdough, combine 1 cup of white flour with half a cup of salt, 2 tablespoons of cream of tartar, 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil and 1 cup of water. Add food colouring in your choice of colour. Then create a seasonal twist with half a tablespoon of ground cinnamon or nutmeg, for the unmistakeable scent of autumn. Once it’s ready, your preschooler will love getting hands-on with the dough, again and again. Store it an airtight container for up to 3 months.
- Autumn cooking. Two of the tastiest seasonal fruits combine for blackberry and apple crumble – the quintessential autumn pudding! Gather your fruits on an autumn nature walk, or buy them in the supermarket, then prepare and stew in a saucepan with some sugar. While the fruit is cooking, let your child join in by helping to make the crumble. Get them to crumble together equal parts butter and flour, adding oats, sugar and spices into the mix to taste. Let them help to sprinkle the crumble mixture over the fruit. After the crumble has baked in the oven, they get to provide the most rewarding piece of assistance of all – helping to polish it off! Don’t forget to let your child’s portion cool down before serving, as the fruit mixture can get very hot.
Autumn fun doesn’t just happen at home. It’s also a big part of your little one’s life at nursery! At All About Children, we love to help your child see the wonder in everyday experiences. To make an enquiry about our nurseries, please contact us.