Awesome Autumn Activities
The crisp autumn air is just around the corner . Help your little one learn and grow through exploration and play .
Autumn Activities
Anoka Preschool and Family Place Early Child Family Education ( ECFE ) and preschool staff shared a variety of awesome autumn activities to try this season .
Introduce your child to new sensory experiences .
• Dance , jump and crunch in the leaves .
• You can visit an apple orchard or pick up your favorite apples at the grocery store . Talk about the differences and similarities between the apples – whether they are red , green or yellow ; if they taste sweet or sour ; or if they feel hard or soft . If you are really brave , let your child fingerpaint with applesauce !
Talk about numbers .
• If baking tasty fall treats is a favorite family pastime , measure the ingredients together . Babies can play with measuring cups and spoons , and you can practice counting with your toddler or preschooler as you measure and prepare your treat : two cups of flour , one cup of sugar , three pinches of cinnamon ! Show your child how many fingers each number looks like .
• It ’ s likely too early to let your baby , toddler , or preschooler carve a pumpkin – but let them squish and squeeze “ pumpkin guts ” instead . Afterward ,
line up the seeds and count how many you found .
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There is value in just doing things together as a
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family – any time of year .
Move your body in new and different ways .
• Paint pumpkins – with a brush or fingers ! This is great for babies to develop shoulder mobility . Cut off the top of the pumpkin and hand your child a spoon or small shovel to scoop the insides out .
• Let your toddler or preschooler “ hammer ” golf tees into a pumpkin . This helps your child practice handeye coordination and fine motor development . Either leave the tees in the pumpkin for decoration or pull them out to let the light from a lit candle shine through .
• Spread peanut butter , sun butter , or honey onto a pinecone , and then use your hands to roll it in birdseed . Hang it from a tree or shrub that you can see from indoors and watch the birds stop by for a snack .
Tell stories .
• Grab a bag and go on a scavenger hunt ! A favorite activity to do is to collect items on a nature walk – leaves , sticks , acorns – and then make a collage at home . It ’ s easy to place those items under a piece of paper , and then rub a crayon over the top to see the texture of each item . Relive the adventures of the day by talking about what happened first , next , and then last . Understanding the sequence of events is important for young children as they learn how to read .
• Visit your local library to find new books related to harvest , apples , pumpkins , or leaves . Children enjoy seeing pictures and hearing new stories .
Most importantly , there is value in just doing things together as a family – any time of year .
www . ahschools . us / ecfe 7