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Falling into Fall Fun
Autumn Activities for Toddlers and Preschoolers
By Beth Hering
Sandwiched between the thrill of summer vacation and the bustle of the winter holidays is the glorious season of autumn. Don't let this special time of year "fall" through the cracks. Plan some activities with your little one that will make it memorable!
When one thinks of autumn, the first thing that often comes to mind is leaves. "We like to go on a fall walk and find really big, colorful leaves," says Melissa Durante, a mother of three from Bartlett, Ill. "My daughter likes to keep one of each color she finds."
Rachel Del Rio, an early-childhood educator in Elgin, Ill., says that toddlers and preschoolers may like to take the treasures from their nature walk and glue them to construction paper, perhaps making a person by using an acorn for a head and leaves for the body. Here's another fun idea: Collect some freshly fallen leaves. Place them on a board. Place a thin cloth (like a piece of sheet) over the leaves and have the child hammer the leaves. The leaf color and shape will imprint on the cloth.
Of course all those beautiful leaves need to end up somewhere – and many will undoubtedly be in your yard. While you toil to pick them up, let your child "work" alongside with a plastic rake or scamper around the yard with a dump truck (the bigger the better) to collect leaves to be deposited onto a main pile. Don't be surprised, though, if a pile or two ends up a mess. Jumping and rolling in leaves is tempting fun for many toddlers (and some parents, too)!
Another sure sign of fall is the arrival of pumpkin patches. Jeremy Braccio of Phoenix, Ariz., and his family enjoy traveling to a farm in Prescott. "We usually get a big pumpkin to carve, and then my daughter, Sophia, picks out a small one for her room," he says. Some children may enjoy drawing on their pumpkins with markers. Others may find it fun to help you scoop the "goop" out of a carved pumpkin. (Be prepared for some great photo-ops but also for some messes!)
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