Mother Nature provides an abundance of materials for fall family fun! The following activities won’t take a lot of time or cost a lot of money, but they will provide a great opportunity for some one-on-one time with your child.
Waxed Leaves
You’ll want to supervise this activity closely, but it’s well worth the effort! Melt paraffin – found in the canning section of your local grocery store – in a pan. When it’s completely melted, carefully dip colorful leaves into the paraffin with tongs. Remove, and let dry on waxed paper.
Texture Collage
Children love creating collages, and the more textures the better. Help your child collect fall items like leaves, twigs, pieces of bark, pine cones, seeds, dried flowers, etc. Provide sturdy cardboard the inside of a cereal or cracker box is perfect and lots of glue, then stand back and watch your child create.
Popsicle Stick Fun
Popsicle sticks are cheap they come free with popsicles and can be used in tons of ways. Here are a few:
Puzzles
Lay popsicle sticks next to each other, one for each letter of your child’s name. Write one letter of your child’s name on each popsicle stick then mix them up and encourage your child to lay them out in the correct order.
Variations: Draw a picture on the popsicle sticks instead of writing your child’s name. Write a number or letter on each stick and have your child put them in numerical or alphabetical order. Glue a picture from a magazine onto the sticks; when dry slit the picture between sticks.
Stories
Draw pictures, or write words or draw pictures with the words beneath them on a number of popsicle sticks. Choose a couple at random and use them to tell a story – the more creative the better!
Stick Pictures
Provide popsicle sticks and simple shapes cut out of paper then challenge your child to create pictures with these materials. Can he or she create a person? A house? What else can he or she make?
Remember that there is no “wrong” way to do these types of open-ended activities, so be appreciative of whatever your child comes up with; the goal is to have fun together!
Photo credit: Autumn Leaf Collage by www.ForestWander.com.
My kids seem to like anything that uses lots of glue haha! Great collection of projects, looks like fun 🙂