Fall Nature Play
In fall there are so many great natural items for children to play with. Open ended play gives a children a chance to use imagination, explore, and have great sensorimotor experiences. These are all important for children’s development.
You might ask “what do I do with these nature items?!” Set them out when your child is playing outside.
Let the child know that they are free to play with them. You can set out toy dishes. You can set out blocks on a blanket. Let the child then play. Some days they will be excited to play with these items, and some days they might not be interested.
Nuts: Acorn, Walnuts, Pecans and more
Keep an eye out for nuts that are dropping from trees around you. Have your children help you collect them, and then se them out for play. Kitchen play and tossing games are two great ways to play with nuts. Also they are great for smashing with a heavy rock!
Corn
Let children play with corn and see what they come up with! It’s fine if they “destroy” the corn, that is what it is there for.
Pumpkins: all sizes!
Pumpkins are so much fun for kids to play with. Do they want to wash them? Do they want to draw a face on the pumpkin with markers?
Pinecones
Pay attention to the pine trees around you. What are the pinecones like that are dropping? Pinecones can very in how sharp they are. A little bit of sharpness can be okay, and give children to work on how much pressure they use when holding an item.
Gourds
Gourds come in such fun colors, shapes, and textures that they give much scope for the imagination. A 4-year old put these two gourds on the rock to be a Queen and King eating dinner.
Bale of Straw
Straw bales are great to climb on, stand on, and jump off. They make a great table. Moving hay bales provides great heavy work experiences. And they provide wonderful sensory feedback. Straw bales are a great way to add variety to an obstacle course.
Leaves
One of the joys of fall is jumping in leaves and throwing leaves. Leaves can also be great playing with in an outdoor kitchen.
Osage Orange (Monkey Brains)
The fruit of osage orange trees are so much fun to play with. This includes throwing and kicking. These are often found growing near rivers. The fruit floats in water, so it can also be fun in water play.
