Dirt and a Shirt: Fall Activities

Don't look outside (especially if you live in a climate like I do where it's still feeling like summer). It's September and Labor Day has come and gone - it's fall.
One of the things I like to do for the different seasons and holidays is to work on educational activities and crafts with the boys here at home. As a former teacher let me tell you that the time you spend with your child on learning activities (reading books, games, helping with homework etc...) is invaluable. Plus you'll have extra cute fall decor around your house! Win Win! :)

I don't do "school" all day. With our schedule it works out best to do these extra activities in the afternoon between nap time and dinner time. Those also happen to be our "bewitching hours" {can I get an amen! moms?! What is with these kiddos and THAT time of day?} so it's nice to have something for them to be busy with.

Listen. I know you have pinterest. There are thousands of adorable ideas out there. I'm not saying these ideas are the best. But what they are is easy. Are you likely to work on activities with your child if there is a lot of prep involved? Me either. These ideas have almost no prep and are still super fun for kids! I did most of these activities in my classroom when I was teaching so I know they are engaging.

Take a nature walk! Have your babies see what fall looks like and feels like. This is a great time to really boost their vocabulary. Talk with them about what they see, feel, hear. What changes do they see in the plants? Take your camera with you and go on a treasure hunt. Decide before you leave the house what things you can look for on your hunt and take pictures as you find them. And don't forget to collect fall leaves!

Literacy:

I like to have a stack of books for the season/holiday set out separate from our everyday books. I put mine in a bucket in their room.

This way any time the boys want to hear a story or before bed these books are easily accessible. Here are some of our favorites:

Use can use these leaf cut-outs in a million different ways. I bought a package of these at my local teacher store for $3.

Making words is a favorite activity of mine. You would put one letter on each leaf for your word. Younger kids can spell their names and older kids can spell word wall or spelling words from school.

Math:
I like to use these smaller leaf cutouts for math activities. Again so many ways you can use these.
* Make Patterns

* Younger kids - write a number on one leaf and draw that many dots on another and have kids match. Older kids - Match math equations on one leaf and answers on another.

* Write numbers on the leaves and have kids put them in order.

* Use the candy corn to measure different items (a pencil, crayon, book, toy, food...). This is a great activity to talk about math as well. Before you start have your kids talk about how many candy corns they estimate they will need to measure their object. After they measure a few objects have your child compare their measurements. Which one was longest? Shortest? Older kids can tell you how many more or how many less candy corns between two objects. The best part? Eating the candy corn when you're done! :)

Art:
There are so many cute little crafts out there. I'll just throw out a few I thought were cute, relatively easy and be the perfect fall touch in your home! And don't forget about those leaves you picked up on your nature walk. They would make the perfect collage or make your own leaf man!