Fall means cooler temperatures, autumn colors and back to school, but it can also mean bored kids who miss going to the pool every day in the summer. Engage them with a variety of fall activities that extend past the usual jumping in a pile of leaves ideas and keep them busy even as the temperatures start to drop. Luckily, you can use items that you've found in your yard or in nature to put together most fall activities for kids.
Leaf Tracing
Once you've talked the kids into raking up your yard full of leaves, show them how to make interesting leaf tracings using crayons and paper. Have the kids pick a few different sizes and shapes of leaves, and bring them inside. Lay the leaves between two sheets of paper and peel a few autumn-colored crayons. Show the kids how to turn the crayons on their sides and rub over the leaf, creating an impression. Use all of the leaves to make a collage.
Lollipop Turkey Centerpiece
Fashion a turkey using a large glove and four colorful lollipops for your kids to enjoy as the centerpiece to your festive Thanksgiving dinner. Cut the four fingers from the glove and sew the holes closed, leaving a small hole in the center of each. Have your kids draw a turkey face on the thumb, and make a hat out of construction paper to glue on. When they are done, stuff the glove full of cotton or newspaper through the wrist, sew closed and insert four lollipops where the fingers were cut for a soft and sweet centerpiece.
Nature Hike Gourds
Gourds are usually on sale cheaply at the supermarket around the fall season. You can use them as the base for an interesting autumn activity that gets your kids outside, says FamilyFun.go.com. Pick a few well-shaped gourds and then take your kids on a nature hike. While hiking, instruct your kids to find materials that can be used for facial features and hair, such as moss, twigs and leaves. Head back to the house and glue your creation together, using the gourd as the head for your kids' silly creature and the natural materials for decoration.
Stained Glass Leaves
Stained glass leaves are easy for smaller kids to put together, and keep them busy and feeling creative. Cut a few leaf-shapes out of black paper, making sure that they have a thick border and are empty through the middle, notes Kaboose.com. Cut out squares of autumn-colored tissue paper and let your kids start gluing away to create a stained glass leaf. Start at the border and affix the tissue paper squares until the entire leaf has been filled out. Then, allow the leaves to be hung around the house.
Cornucopia Collage
Your children can learn more about things that they are thankful for by creating a cornucopia collage. Draw a cornucopia on enough pieces of construction paper for each child. Then hand out a stack of old magazines and safety scissors, and instruct the kids to fill their cornucopia with pictures that represent things that they are thankful for. Later they can present their pictures and talk about those things.
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