When surrounded by the rich hues of autumn, it is the perfect time to enter nature and experience its delight. Why not include all the fun, remarkable experiences that come with your wonderful kid in plant-inspired fun like art and hands-on lessons that will keep your children creative? With this to keep everyone interested, let us learn how to make this such an unforgettable autumn.
You can bring the warmth of fall indoors with the artful beauty of leaf printing. Collect various leaves of different shapes and sizes. Flatter leaves work best for this activity. Paint a thin layer of paint on the underside of each leaf, where the veins are most prominent, and press it onto paper to create unique prints. Immerse your kids to create various colors and patterns by designing greeting cards, posters, or even a mural with a fall theme. It will help them unlock their artistic self and develop an appreciation for the details of nature.
Teach your children to value sustainability by making your compost bin in the backyard. Set up a designated area for composting with bamboo canes and netting, and allow your children to collect fallen leaves, fruit peels, or other organic materials—layer materials in the bin, beginning with a small amount of water to keep things moist. Soon enough, they will comprehend the importance of recycling and how composting stimulates the development of plants as they witness the metamorphosis of waste material into rich soil. It's a field-based lesson in disguised fun!
Brighten up those chilly autumn evenings with homemade leaf lanterns. Take an old glass jar, like a jam or pasta sauce jar, and stick fallen leaves to the outside using Mod Podge glue. Apply a layer of glue between the glass and the leaves and another layer over the entire design. Once dry, tie twine around the neck of the jar for a more rustic look and add a battery-operated tea light. These lanterns will cast an enchanting glow throughout your home and make for a great memory when crafting with your kids. Smaller leaves are better for making leaf lanterns, and you can use the leaves of plants like Eucalyptus Tree or any plant of your liking.
Make your nature walks into a learning experience by creating a snap card game with natural elements. Collect pairs of leaves, petals, or flowers in your area. Flattening them between layers of newspaper and then placing a heavy book on them for about a week makes the leaves, petals, or flowers flattened and dry. Glue the flattened leaves, petals, or flowers onto small cards to create a custom deck of nature snap cards. These activities help your kids develop their skills as observers while teaching them an appreciation of the diversity of plants.
Begin by gathering thin twigs to make a circular frame. Then, secure the twigs using twine. Finally, allow your children to decorate the wreath with leaves, seed pods, dried flowers, and pinecones. You can also purchase a wire or rattan frame from a craft store if you want it to be easy. Hang it on your door or use it as a centerpiece, and your kids will beam with pride, admiring their handiwork.
Bring the warmth of fall to your table with this easy, yummy recipe that has kids wanting to help even more in the kitchen. Cut apples in half and core some of the insides out to create bowls. Stir oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter until a crumbly mixture forms. Fill the mixture into the apple halves and bake until tender. Beyond teaching kids how to cook, this activity allows them to enjoy a warm, seasonal treat, celebrating what the autumn harvest brings. You can plant a Blackberry tree in our backyard to get fresh blackberries for a blackberry crumble.
Let your child's imagination run wild by creating magical nature wands. Begin by cutting a star shape from cardboard, approximately 10 centimeters wide. Look in your yard or a local park for a strong stick to use as the wand's handle and gather colorful fallen leaves. Use the leaves to create a mosaic design on one side of the star, then attach the decorated star to the stick. Your kids will love using their handmade wands for storytelling, pretend play, or as unique decorations. You can use Pampas grass as a wand, too!
Convert part of your garden into a mud kitchen, where the kids will spring forth with creativity. Give them old pots, pans, and utensils to mix in soil, water, petals, leaves, and twigs. Challenge them with the ratios of water to mud to observe how the texture changes. Turn this fun pastime into an informal science experiment. It's messy, sensory, and endlessly entertaining! Help them plant some low-maintenance plants like Aloe vera and Snake Plants.
Now is the time of year to gather crops and the best season to include children in harvesting apples or other fruits or vegetables from your backyard apple tree or a farm nearby. The experience teaches the child where their food comes from, and they feel accomplished. This also helps them understand how to take care of outdoor plants. Use the collected produce to prepare a family meal, making a connection between hard work and its rewards. You can plant the Pomegranate tree with your kids and enjoy those later on.
Let the fallen leaves become characters in an imaginary world with your children. Use different shapes and colors of leaves to make faces, clothes, and accessories. Glue them on cardboard, then attach lollipop sticks at the back to become puppets. After creating these puppets, have your kids stage a puppet show about their leafy characters using creativity and storytelling.
Enhance the excitement of your family walks with a plant hunt scavenger hunt. Come up with a list of natural items that could be found, such as acorns, red leaves, or a specific kind of flower. Add extra challenges like spotting a tree with unique bark patterns. This activity keeps kids active, observant, and engaged with the natural world while making your outdoor time even more fun.
Get your kids involved in preparing seed bombs for next year's flowers. Mix some soil, clay, and wildflower or herb seeds into small balls. Allow them to dry and disperse around your garden or bare spots in your soil. Seeing those sprouts grow into full-blown flowers come springtime will be a sweet reminder of all the fun they had preparing the seeds.
Promote mindfulness and observation with plant journals. Give your kids notebooks where they can document their findings, including sketches, leaf rubbings, and pressed flowers. They can also note the changes in plants as the seasons progress. This activity develops a deeper connection to nature, creating a keepsake of their autumn adventures.
Remake fallen leaves into beautiful pieces of art. Place the leaves on a canvas to make animals, landscapes, or abstract designs. Or string leaves onto a branch with twine to create a mobile hanging ornament. These crafts serve as seasonal decorations and provide kids with an outlet for self-expression.
Tap into the magic of autumn by designing a fairy garden in a corner of your yard. Moss, pebbles, tiny plants, and twigs create a miniature landscape or rock garden. Add handmade furniture or decorations crafted from natural materials. This activity inspires imaginative play and makes kids wonder about the small worlds within nature.
We are licensed for a full-scale nursery with an extensive inventory of landscaping trees, fruit trees, palm trees, and the largest houseplant collection. If you want to enhance your curb appeal or turn your porch into a class act, Eureka Farms can guide you on how to do it all, from topiary trees and hedges to everything in between. You can rest assured that we will handle the shipment with the utmost care across the country so that when your plants reach you, they will be as fresh as new. These indoor plants require less upkeep, improve home air cleanliness, brighten moods, and provide essential touches of the natural world to the work-from-home office. Happy Planting!
