Welcome to Autumn - love Rachel 👩🏼 xxx

I have always loved Autumn and the new adventures it promises 🍁🍂 ….. grab those cosy sweaters and embark on a magical journey of autumn adventures with your curious and energetic little explorers.

As the leaves begin to change colour and we look forward to a ‘gentle crispness’ in the air, there is much to look forward to for both you and your Munchkin. Autumn is the perfect time to share delightful adventures with your Munchkins, exploring, learning and playing together.

In Autumn the world becomes a playground of magic to enjoy. Through activities like visiting pumpkin patches, engaging in sensory play with fallen leaves, and crafting nature-inspired creations, these precious moments will create lasting memories.

This blog has been inspired by the upcoming new term and the new Season so I thought I would delve into a variety of autumn activities that are tailored to the curious minds and boundless energy of toddlers - things i’ve always enjoyed with my Munchkins …. love Rachel 👩🏼 xxx

I cannot wait to get started and meet old and new friends this Autumn 👩🏼🦧🐒 .. here’s seven enjoyable activities we like to try.

1.     Nature Walks and Leaf Collecting

We love a trip to the woods during this magical season and we love to wear our woollen scarves, hats and wellies. 🧣👩🏼 🐒🦧🥾

We think that Autumn's most magical feature is its leaves 🍁🍁, transforming into a reds, oranges, and yellows.  We love to take leisurely nature walks in nearby parks and forested areas 🌲🌲, and play amongst the fallen leaves.  We love to listen to the crunch of leaves beneath our feet and let ourselves get carried away by everything this new season has to offer.

And, we love to introduce numbers by counting all the different colours and shapes. 🍁🍁🍂🍂🍂🍁🍁🍁

2.     Sensory Play with Fallen Leaves

We love to incorporate fallen leaves 🍂🍂 into our sensory play (we make sure there are no hibernating hedgehogs! 🦔🦔) burning off energy as we make a pile of leaves in a safe, open space and make crunching sounds with our feet as we play in the leaves.

We also throw leaves into the air helping to develop many skills including coordination and motor skills, it is also a fantastic way to burn off energy.

3.     Apple Picking Adventures

We love to pick apples 🍏🍎 straight from the trees and learn about the different apples and explore how they may grow.  If they are edible Apples, we sometimes turn our harvest into a fun-kitchen activity, creating apple-based treats for all the family.

4.     Harvest Crafts

We love to be creative in Autumn using in autumn-themed crafts. We create handprint or fingerprint art using Autumn colours, turning our handprints into leaves on paper.   Other crafts we love for our older Munchkins is creating paper scarecrows or decorating pinecones.

Autumn crafts are fun and also support fine motor skills development and artistic expression. 🎨🖐🏼🌲

5.     Pumpkin Patch Excursions

We love to visit pumpkin patches and the magical sight of rows upon rows of pumpkins in so many shapes and sizes provides a super visual experience.  We love to touch, feel, and even pick our own tiny pumpkins to take home where we craft and create fabulous stories to nurture our curiosity, coordination, touch, smell, speech and language skills. 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃 🎃

6.     Pumpkin Painting

Painting pumpkins is fantastic fun 🎨. We set up a pumpkin painting station with child-safe paints and brushes and let our imaginations run wild as we create art on our pumpkins.

We love this activity as it encourages sensory exploration and fine motor skill development and most of all creativity and fun! 🎨

7.     Nature-inspired Story Time

We use stuffed animals or hand puppets to create a fun autumn story session.  We make up a story or act out our Munchkin’s favourite book 📚 or song 🎶.  We use age-appropriate picture books that feature autumn themes, such as falling leaves, changing landscapes, and cosy harvest gatherings. It encourages creativity and language development. 

We love the fact that reading together not only builds language skills but also cultivates an early love for nature and literature.

Remember to adjust the activities to suit your Munchkin’s age, interests and abilities and always supervise and ensure the safety of materials used during these activities.