Looking for fun and engaging ideas to enjoy the fall season with your toddlers and preschoolers? Look no further than this fun Fall Story + Activity Bundle that will help you connect rich literature and fun activities in a way that your children will enjoy. Fall is just around the corner and with it comes the opportunity for lots of my favorite fall activities.
Crisp air, bright blue skies, and crunchy, orange and yellow leaves – fall is a time of changing seasons and it is a perfect time of year to enjoy more outdoor activities. The ideas for fun fall activities are endless!
My Fall Story + Activity Bundle for toddlers and preschoolers is a great way to plan some fall activities for you and your family. Full of easy fall activities, favorite picture books, and yummy recipes, you will be well-equipped to enjoy this amazing season. Before I give you more details about the fall bundle, let’s talk about planning and choosing fall activities for toddlers.
How to Plan Toddler Activities for the Fall
1. Make a fall bucket list – sit down towards the end of summer or in the early fall and make a list of all of the things you want to do and see in the fall. Some of our favorite autumn activities include nature walks searching for fall leaves; visiting an apple orchard and bringing home apples for apple sauce and apple crisp. Nothing says fall quite like jumping into a pile of crunchy leaves and emerging covered in bits and pieces of leaf. Of course no fall season is complete without at least one trip to the pumpkin patch to get lost in a corn maze, go for a hay ride, and pick the perfect pumpkin for your fall carving and baking adventures.
2. Plan – Think about which activities will require advanced planning or may be dependent on the weather. Also consider which activities may require some extra supplies or advanced preparation. A day at the pumpkin patch or apple orchard, for instance, will necessitate that you check the weather forecast and plan for a day that is clear and mild; a rainy trip to the apple orchard just isn’t quite the same.
3. Gather Supplies – Once your lists are made, begin to gather ingredients, art supplies, and anything else you need for your chosen activities. Are there pantry items that you don’t usually keep in your cupboards? What about the fall spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves), do you have a good supply on hand?
Choosing Fall Activities for Toddlers
As you plan your fall activities, consider the ages of your children. Young preschoolers will enjoy more hands-on activities and fall-themed educational bundles or worksheets. Toddlers will enjoy crafts and sensory activities such as a fall-inspired sensory bin. Children of all ages will enjoy fall-themed picture books and reading books together is a wonderful way to enjoy spending time together as a family.
If this is your first time choosing fall crafts and activities, consider keeping things really simple so that the experience will be enjoyable for both you and your kiddos. Remember the goal is to make memories and ENJOY your toddlers and preschoolers. Young children thrive when they are outside and fall is the best time of year to enjoy a plethora of outdoor fall activities. Try taking your fall picture books outside for reading time for a multi-sensory experience. There is something so invigorating about enjoy cool air, gentle breezes, and warm sunshine while reading a beloved picture book together.
Fall Sensory Play Ideas
1. Sensory bin – Create a sensory bin with leaves, sticks, acorns, corn kernels. Throw in a few animal figurines or tractors and let your kids play away.
2. Leaf Piles – Rake up a big pile of leaves and then let your children run through them and jump into them. This is a great sensory activity and kids of all ages will enjoy jumping into a good ‘ole leaf pile of leaves – and let’s be honest, parents will too!
3. Nature walk – Nature walks in the fall are next level amazing. From crisp fall air, to clear blue skies, to vibrant colors of changing leaves, there is so much to see and explore outside in the fall. Older children may enjoy making a collection of leaves with various types and colors of leaves or try leaf rubbing as a way to preserve a picture of your leaf. Don’t forget to label it and write where and when you found it.
4. Pumpkin carving – Pumpkin carving is a great sensory activity for toddlers and preschoolers. If you’re adventurous, let your little explorers play with the pumpkin guts as you scoop them out, maybe even challenge them to sort out the seeds. Carve faces and shapes into your pumpkins and then place candles or LED lights inside to enjoy the glow on a cool fall evening.
Fall Craft Ideas for Toddlers
1. Use nature items – collect colored leaves, sticks, acorns, corn kernels, etc, and make a fall nature collage.
2. Handprints – trace your toddlers hands and use the handprint to be a turkey’s feathers or tree branches.
3. Paint with pine cones – place a few drops of paint on a white piece of paper and then roll pinecones through to create a unique piece of art.
Fall Snack Ideas for Toddlers
1. Pumpkin seeds – Use the pumpkin seeds you scraped out of your pumpkin to make a delicious snack. Wash them off well and pat dry. Then place them in a single layer on a pan and drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt. Bake at 350 for 20-30 minutes or until dried out, crispy, and lightly browned.
2. Apples – Apple sauce or sliced apples + peanut butter – There are so many delicious fall treats you can make with apples.
3. Popcorn – A delightful snack at any time, popcorn is a fun snack to accompany all of your fall outside adventures. Trying sprinkling it with garlic salt and parmesan cheese for a fun twist.
Fall is one of my favorite seasons and there are few things I enjoy more than planning fun fall activities to do with my toddler and family. The best part about the autumn season is the fall colors abounding anywhere you look and the cooler weather means we try to be outside as much as possible. We enjoy everything from exploring pumpkin patches to picking apples at an orchard to raking and jumping in leaf piles. Simple picnic lunches or suppers are another delightfully easy way to savor the beauty of the season. Somehow these simple things help us slow down, relax, and enjoy each other and the season in a fun way.
Fall Story + Activity Bundle for Toddlers
If you’re looking for some fun ideas for fall, check out this Fall Story + Activity Bundle. It was created to help you enjoy the fall season with your toddlers and preschool children as you cuddle up to read wonderful fall-themed books and then connect as you create a craft or bake a delicious fall treat together. Each book was chosen for its rich text and language, vibrant and creative illustrations, and lessons of friendship, hope, and wonder. As a reading family, we hope to encourage other families to read together and forge bonds of connection around good stories.
In this guide you will find 14+ rich picture books with fall themes like pumpkins, apples, scarecrows, harvest, changing seasons, and more. Each storybook has a correlating activity or recipe that will help you connect in a meaningful way with your young children.
Recommended Picture Books for this Resource Include:
2. Apples, Apples Everywhere
3. A Pumpkin Prayer
6. Fletcher and the Falling Leaves
7. Bear Says Thanks
8. Evergreen
10. Tops and Bottoms
11. How to Make and Apple Pie and See the World
12. The Scarecrow
14. Sleep Tight Farm
15. The Apple Pie that Papa Baked
Craft ideas include making a tissue paper fall tree with the outline of your child’s arm and hand, creating a thankfulness leaf garland, making pumpkin spice play dough, and making a yarn doll. If crafting isn’t your thing, there are activity sheets to help your older toddlers practice fine motor activities like tracing lines and matching shapes and colors. Even older children will enjoy these coloring, tracing, and matching activities. Your children will enjoy exercising their memory as they match acorns, turkeys, corn stalks and other fall items in the memory game included!
Who doesn’t love the cozy smell of baking with cinnamon and apples or pumpkins in the fall? You will enjoy recipes for applesauce and chocolate chip cookies and learn how to roast pumpkin seeds for a tasty snack. Even if you are not typically a baker, I hope you will take the opportunity to spend time with your children in the kitchen making some of your favorite fall treats. Toddlers love helping in the kitchen and they will enjoy the multi-sensory experience and textures the kitchen as to offer. It is also an opportunity to practice fine motor skills and learn some foundational kitchen skills that will set them up for success later.
Fall is a great time of year for the entire family to enjoy outside activities together. Take a day trip to visit an apple orchard or pumpkin patch. Collect little pumpkins – or big ones – to bring home for your fall displays. Pick apples to make applesauce or apple crisp. Take a picnic lunch to your favorite local park and enjoy eating outside in the crisp autumn air.
Some of the best fall activities are free or inexpensive and can be enjoyed by both children of all ages and their parents. As you prepare for the fall I hope that you will take time to plan the activities, crafts, and baking projects that help you and your family to slow down and enjoy the beauty of the fall season together.
If you need a good resource to take the stress out of planning and preparation, don’t forget to check out this Fall Story + Activity Bundle to help guide you to excellent literature and craft-making memories. I hope you will be inspired to foster connection with your small children as you enjoy the season together.
Note: I always recommend that you check your local library first for picture books and then check online used book stores such as Thrift Books or Better World Books before you purchase new books. If you decide to purchase books through my link I get paid a small commission as an Amazon associate for qualifying purchases. Thanks for supporting my small business.
