Ah, Fall! It’s almost here! We love playing outdoors here in my home daycare, especially in the fall. There are so many colours, shapes and textures to explore in Fall, and they provide much of the inspiration for our Fall art projects and crafts as well as our outdoor play activities.
Today, I’d love to share 10 of my favourite fall activities for kids to do in the backyard. Give some of them a try at home with your kids this year, and let me know how much fun you had with them! Additionally, if you have any favourite outdoor fall activities that you do with your kids, drop me a line in the comments! I’d love to try them here with the hooligans!
10 Fun Fall Activities for the Backyard
Each of the activities below contains a clickable link that will take you to the detailed blog post.
Rake the leaves into an inviting leaf maze or leaf labyrinth! These always keep my kids busy and having fun for days.
Pick up some decorative corn cobs for sensory play! This fine-motor activity keeps the hooligans busy for days on end!
Set up a fall sensory bin using found items and thrift-shop materials. It’s a wonderful way for kids to explore the colours, textures and shapes of fall up-close.
Fall play on a mirror! A display of autumn-themed dollar store items is doubly interesting to explore when you set them up on a mirrored surface.
Collect a big bucket of chestnuts. My kids spend hours taking them out of their shells and then we use them for all kinds of play activities.
A corn and chestnut run keeps toddlers and preschoolers entertained for hours. It’s a terrific way for kids to observe gravity and it involves lots of physical activity as well as hand-eye co-ordination.
Make a leaf slide! Raking the leaves in your backyard into a huge pile at the bottom of the slide takes your slide from ordinary to extraordinary. Jumping in the leaves is fun of course, but sliding into them puts a whole new spin on things.
Set up an invitation to play with sensory materials on a mirror under a canopy of leaves or the clear, blue sky.
Set out a variety of natural fall materials for your children to explore at their leisure. Sunflowers, corn kernels acorns and chestnuts are aways popular here. Children love dissecting them, and my guys come and go from this activity for days.
A nature table laden with gourds, candles, pinecones, bark and other natural element provides loads of discovery and learning.
Fall Crafts for Young Children:
19 Adorable Handprint Crafts for Fall
6 Fall Tree Crafts for Preschoolers
14 Fall Crafts for Home or Preschool
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Jackie is a mom, wife, home daycare provider, and the creative spirit behind Happy Hooligans. She specializes in kids’ crafts and activities, easy recipes, and parenting. She began blogging in 2011, and today, Happy Hooligans inspires more than 2 million parents, caregivers and Early Years Professionals all over the globe.
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