Autumn

Sunshine on your face, the earthy scent of damp leaves, and the excited squeals of discovery – nature offers a magical world for both children and adults. It's the perfect escape from screens and a fantastic way to nurture curiosity, build a love for learning, and create lasting memories. But venturing outdoors with little ones can feel daunting. What will keep them engaged? How do you create learning opportunities in the great outdoors? Fear not, fellow nature enthusiasts! Today, we're here to guide you on this incredible journey. For those with kids under 6, a book worth its weight in gold is "Nature for the Very Young" by Bowden, an educator with a wealth of experience. Her book delves into the unique perspective of young children – a world full of wonder and exploration.

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Activity! Firefighters!

You could light a candle and have the child blow it out. Talk about fire safety and practice going to your muster point. If you don't have a designated muster point, make one and practice several times getting there. Make an appointment with the nearest fire station

Activity! Be a Baker! Wake up early one morning and say today we will be bakers! Prepare:

2 tablespoons softened butter (microwave it a few seconds)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup milk (warmed slightly, not hot)
1 teaspoon active dry yeast
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour (or all-purpose flour with 2 teaspoons baking powder added)
Pinch of salt Optional: Sesame seeds, poppy seeds, or cinnamon sugar for sprinkling
Preheat oven 200°C (400°F)
Child mixes butter and sugar together with spoon.
Add warm milk and yeast, mix again
Add flour and salt to mixture.
When dough forms, turn onto lightly floured surface
Knead a few minutes
Form balls (6-8) and sprinkle with seeds
Bake in oven 10-12 minutes or until golden brown
Let cool, then transfer to a cooling rack

This recipe comes out, even if your measurements aren't exact! Try making the rolls into other shapes?

Consider mixing the different stages in a large ziplock bag as suggested by BusyToddler

Activity! Let's Play Library! On a rainy day, help child turn your house into a library! Have a place to make a library card, check out books and return them. Practice talking in a regular voice outside of the library, and quietly inside the library. Gather the dolls for book circle readings. Take a trip to the real library and talk about making a regular event of it.

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Activity! Leaf Mat

As you explore your neighborhood, ask child to collect some colorful leaves.

Glue them to construction paper
Cover your design with clear contact paper

Activity! Food Chain Mobile

food-chain-mobile.pdf

After you make the mobile, hang it somewhere a little high. Lie down below it, looking at it ask, why is the seed inside the mouse? Why is the mouse inside the owl? What would be inside you? Any answer welcome!

Activity! Catch A Web

Using black construction paper, ask child to catch you a spider web (preferably one not being used at the moment).

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Activity! Become a Worm Charmer~

(from 101 Things to Do Before You Grow Up by Stefanovic)

Of course you could dig them up or pour water on the ground to trick them out - but would you try to charm them out?? Here's what you should try:

Jump up and down on the ground
Play music
Push garden fork prongs about 15 cm (6 in) into the soil and then make them vibrate and ring
- Experiment with various fork sizes
- Push the forks to various depth
- Hit the prongs with different things, in different ways
- Add more than one fork
- Try the experiment at different times of the day

Activity! Hungry Birds

(Adapted from Play the Forest School Way)

If you find you often go on your hikes in the same place and child seems a bit bored with the path, try this game to spice up the journey! On one day leave the colorful string (try one bright color)- they will be tomorrow's worms. Keep count of how many you have distributed and try to find them all (some birds will pick up string for their nests). The next day pick up the bits of string while pretending to be hungry birds! If game is a success, try mixing in a brown or green in with your colorful string the next time you play - green and brown should be much harder to find!

Activity! Autumn 4 Sense Scavenger Hunt (from CBC)

forest

Activity! Temperature If you are having trouble explaining this concept, try this app as Play and Learn Science. Simple and unassuming.

Activity! Paint A Stick If you find a lovely long stick, ask it to be your walking stick. If it agrees, bring it home and paint it with a pattern and colors that suit you. Bring it on your next walk.

Activity! Pine Cone Weather Station Like tiny hangars waiting for the right moment, pine cones open and close in response to humidity to ensure the best chance for their precious cargo - seeds with wings as light as feathers. When dry weather arrives, the pinecone scales spread open, creating a welcoming launchpad. This ingenious strategy ensures that new pine trees can sprout beyond the crowded shade of their parents, increasing their chances of survival and growth. Place your pine cones near a window so they have the best chance of 'feeling' the humidity.

Activity! Rubbings and Huggings Give a tree a hug! What does it feel like?

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Try to find a place with at least two different types of trees. Using small papers (for young children), and a crayon with no paper (so they can use the whole surface of the crayon), make a rubbing of the tree. Staple some recycled paper scraps with the rubbing on top - to make a small booklet and give to child.

Activity! Forest Tag (Group game)

(101 Movement Games by Wiertsema) Ask children to be trees in a forest. Give them chalk and have them draw a circle around their right foot. This is the root of the tree. One player is 'it' and allowed out of their circle. They are blindfolded and try to tag as many trees as they can. Trees are allowed to try to move away from the tagger, but their right foot must stay in the circle. If you leave your circle or are tagged you are out and move to the side. Alternative, you join it (either get blind folded too or just join hands to it).

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Activity! Play Pooh-sticks!

Find sticks similar length, one for each participant
stand on a bridge over a stream or river
let go at the same time and run down stream to see who won!

Activity! Skip a Stone Across

Find a smooth, flat, oval stone
The stone should fit comfortably in the palm of your hand
Position yourself sideways, like standing on a skateboard
Throw the stone at a 20 degree angle to the water's surface (from about the height of your elbow)
Try to flick your wrist

Activity! If you are interested in the songs mentioned in the book - They are from Sesame Street

1) People in your neighborhood series They sing the song "Who are the people in your neighborhood?" in each one and explain a different job.

2) Up and Down Song

Rabbit safety

Activity! Rabbits and Hawks

Download and play this game with your kids. Talk about the Food Chain!

Activity! Predators and Prey (A Team Game)

(from Play the Forest School Way)

Go for a hike - ask children to collect small sticks (if for some reason sticks are unavailable, use other small objects). Split children into two teams (one adult per team). Half will be prey and half predators (they will play again and switch). Prey get some of the sticks; Let prey discuss their general direction and hiding plan. Prey have 15 minutes to place tracking arrows and hide all together. Leave about 15m (50ft) between final arrow to the X where the prey is hiding. While prey is hiding, let predators play with the sticks to make figures and faces, buildings or what they please. When it is time, let predators go track their prey. No going off by yourself~! You are a pack!

If prey is found, the predators have won. If the predators walk by the prey, the prey should jump out and yell 'stop!' Then they have survived! Switch teams and start again!! After the game you can ask children, other than hiding what other ways can prey avoid being caught by predators?

Activity! Things to do Outside in the RAIN

from 50 Dangerous Things

Stand out in the rain
Make mud pies
Mud faces
Snail race!
Building a dam

Mud Recipes

Make up recipes for

Boiled Button with Mud Sauce
Stick Stew
Backyard Fritters
Bark Sandwiches.

Activity! Snail Hopscotch

snail-hopscotch First player tossing their marker onto the hopscotch grid. They need to land it squarely inside a numbered square without bouncing it out. If successful, the hopping commences! Players use one foot to navigate through the squares in numerical order, skipping the square their marker occupies. Some variations allow two feet on designated squares, so be sure to establish this rule beforehand. With single squares, you must land precisely on that numbered square with your hopping foot. If there are two squares for a number, you have the choice of landing on either one. Reaching the end of the grid requires hopping over the final square(s) and turning around while maintaining balance on one foot. The return trip involves hopping back through the squares in reverse order, remembering to pick up your marker from its resting spot. Completing this entire sequence, hopping and maintaining balance on one foot, wins you the round!

Activity! Snail Cycle

(adapted from Games Book Owl Magazine)

Draw a giant snail maze for you to ride. Ride within the lines. Make it challenging for yourself with lots of round round turns - the more - the more fun!

Activity! Indoor Umbrella Games Kids love using their umbrellas, but being outside in the rain - isn't always possible. Let's play some indoor umbrellas games:

Make it spin! Practice spinning the umbrella while it is open.
Whose hiding under there?
Balance an umbrella on you foot!
Umbrella bucket - child uses an umbrella to carry plush toys, soft balls, small objects, from one side of the room to the other.
Shield umbrella - child uses umbrella as shield, you throw small soft toys or balls at the umbrella
Into the Hole - hang the umbrella (unfastened but not open). Throw small objects or small paper balls into the umbrella
Musical Umbrellas - If you have a group, try musical chairs with umbrellas (always one less umbrella than there are children playing! try a non-competitive version where it is the groups responsibility to get everyone under the umbrellas when the music stops; so two or more under one umbrella. If someone is left out, the whole group loses and you start from the beginning.

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Activity! Winter's Coming Go for a hike and have child collect pinecones (as many as they can carry or 10 - 20). Hide some pinecones around a room. The pinecones represent acorns and a squirrel needs to survive (squirrels need about 200 for a long winer). Desks and couches are trees, and 'safe' for the squirrels. 'It' is a house cat. Squirrels need to collect a specific amount (call it out before you start) while not getting caught by the cat.

Activity! Build a Den (From the Bumper Book of Nature)

A den needs walls and roof, create it with any material
Keep it Simple
Sketch it out
Accept input
Try covering the den with a sheet - or plastic cover
Cover with leaves
Old blankets on the floor
Admire the creation

Activity! Autumn Gardens

| PLANT | (try unusual varieties like) | Plant me next to... |

Collards (Tree collards, yellow collards, purple collards, Alabama blue collards) Plant Marigolds and Nasturtiums next to me!
Kale (Walking stick kale, Redbor kale, Bear necessities kale, White Russian kale) Plant me with dill and radishes!
Spinach (Giant nobel spinach, Corvair spinach, Bloomsdale spinach) Plant garlic next to me, we are friends!
Scallions (Red Beard) Plant me next to your lettuce, with garlic or spinach
Lettuces (Brune d'hiver, Land Cress, Mizuna, Mascara lettuce, Ruby Gem lettuce) Plant me next to scallions and radishes.
Radishes (Watermelon radish, White Icicle, French breakfast radishes, Black radishes, Chinese Rose) Plant with lettuce and spinach.

If you don't have a place to plant a whole garden, consider making a water bottle garden, like this without the fish or even the aquatic plants. Child will have fun putting it together and adding dead leaves and water to each section. Unlike putting water in from the top, you can easily see when the plant needs water. Add a weekly update of the garden as part of your weekend evening ritual.

Activity! Dwarf and Miniature

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If you do consider doing indoor gardening, consider planting miniature plants. Cherry tomatoes are a clear choice - try growing them upside down! But how about miniature eggplants, carrots and bok choy? For fruit, try thumb watermelon and miniature cantaloupe.

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Activity! Acorn Hunt Game (from Play the Forest School way)

First collect acorns, 5 for really young children, 10 or more for older kids.
Let child play with the acorns until they seem bored
Then introduce the idea that they are squirrels, preparing for winter and they need to hide their 'stash'
Tell them to hide their nuts in a defined area, smaller for very young, a little larger for a little older
Give them two- three minutes
Take the child for a walk (short - 5 -10 minutes)
Come back to the place you hid the acorns and see if the child can find them!!

Popping Touch Me Not pods

Activity! Seed Dispersal

Activity! Nut Rattle

birds

Activity! Quills and Inks

autumn-and-winter-activities-pfister

Find a feather? Make a quill!
Using a knife or razor - sharpen the tip
Simply mash up some ripe berries, like blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries.
Add a splash of vinegar and a pinch of salt for preservation and vibrancy.
You can thin the mixture with a little water if needed.

Activity! Download it

Download and play Bird Bingo Challenge!

Activity! Windmill Bottles

Have a handful of plastic bottle? string-of-windmills

Cut petals and twist so they can catch the wind.
Let children paint 'petals'
Make a hole in the cap.
String windmills and hang.

For older children try this! From Trash to Toys

rock collection

Activity! Climbing Tree

(From the Bumper Book of Nature)

Wear clothes you don't mind getting tears
Avoid climbing dead trees - their branches break more easily
Large, old trees are best
Take a minute to plan the route
Test a branch before putting your weight on it, by pulling on it hard with a free hand
When you are half way, stop and take a look!
Climbing down is harder than getting up, so take your time

Activity! Rope Swing

rope-swing-small

rope-swing.pdf

from 50 Dangerous Things

Activity! Veggie Monsters!

ugly-vegetables October 14th is named National Ugly Produce Day! If you can get your hands on a large quantity of 'ugly' vegetables or bruised fruit; you could make veggie monsters - use toothpicks to put together a body and face. Add raisins for eyes.