Fall is here, the air is crisp, the leaves are gorgeous, and you're probably spending more time indoors. If you're stuck for ideas on what to do with the kids, let us help you out with our fun list of autumn activities for kids. You'll find loads of ideas using leaves, acorns, conkers, pumpkins, apples, and so much more. These fall activity ideas are perfect for toddlers and preschoolers, but fun for big kids too!
Whether you're looking for an activity that'll occupy the kids for a few minutes or a fun way to spend a few hours together in the afternoon, you'll find something to inspire you in the list below. Check out our Fall Bucket List or Autumn Bucket List while you're here. They're both filled with loads of activities that are sure to make your family's fall season extra fun this year.
We love fall, so you can be sure we have loads of autumn activities for kids right here at MLM. Take a peek at some of our favourites below!
Our Autumn Playdough Tree is a terrific activity for a chilly fall day. Go for a walk to collect some leaves or use fake ones. You can also use store-bought playdough or homemade. The activity is simple—make a brown tree trunk and branches out of playdough, and arrange your selected leaves to create a gorgeous fall tree.
Preschoolers will love this fun Apple Counting Activity using playdough. You'll need standard and colour-blocked dice to roll to play. For example, if 4 and red come up, your child should make four red apples to put on the tree. Your kid will ask to do this activity again and again.
What's more fun than squishy, stretchy slime? Our Fall Slime is made with contact solution and has the perfect amount of stretch that'll keep kids playing with it for hours. The glitter and the fall-coloured rhinestones add lots of sparkle, while the harvest spice fragrance oil makes this slime recipe smell incredible.
Need a simple playdough recipe for an autumn activity? Look no further than our No-Cook Autumn-Scented Playdough. It can be made in minutes, and the spices will definitely put you in the mood for celebrating all things fall. Add some leaves, pinecones, and fall-themed cookie cutters, and you're all set for hours of fun.
You don't have to wait for Halloween to start decorating pumpkins. Instead, our Playdough Pumpkin Faces let you make all sorts of playdough jack-o-lanterns with fun faces, so you'll know just what you want your real jack-o-lantern to look by the time October rolls around. Toddlers and some preschoolers may need help cutting out pieces for the pumpkin's face.
Let your baby in on the fall fun. Our Pumpkin Sensory Bag for Babies is the perfect way to let the baby engage in some sensory play. It's a no-mess activity that allows babies to explore pumpkin guts—squishy pulp, juice, and pumpkin seeds—all neatly contained in a plastic bag.
Why not save a few pumpkin seeds and have a go at making a set of dyed pumpkin seeds to use for fun sensory play activities or crafts?
Get the kids outdoors for a Nature Scavenger Hunt. Use our printable as you look for leaves, birds, pinecones, spiders, feathers, apples, and more. Start a collection of the fun things you find!
Our Printable Fall Scavenger Hunt for Kids is another fun scavenger hunt that will get the kids out in the fresh air this autumn.
Read the book The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle and then try this fun Spiderweb Fingerprint Counting Activity. It's great for toddlers, preschoolers, and kindergarteners who are learning to count. Make sure you use washable black paint or ink.
This Apple Tree Fingerprint Counting Activity is just like our spiderweb finger counting activity, but with apples on a tree. Children love getting their hands messy while working on their number recognition and counting skills.
And here's one more fall-themed math activity! Our Fall Leaf Fingerprint Counting Activity will look so lovely once your child decorates the tree with fall-coloured fingerprints. Use red, orange, and yellow to make the fall leaves.
Our Spider Sensory Bags for Babies and Toddlers is another simple way babies can engage in some sensory play this autumn, particularly when it's close to Halloween. This is such a fun way to use up some of those extra spider rings you're sure to have after the trick-or-treating and kids' Halloween parties.
The back-to-school season in September is a great time to make our Apple Scented Playdough. It's bright red and thanks to the cinnamon and nutmeg, it smells fantastic.
Grab a selection of Fall themed items and make a simple, but fun Fall Sensory Bin that toddlers and preschoolers will love.
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Here is another fun sensory bin to try this autumn, a Fall Leaf Sensory Bin. Use real leaves or fake leaves along with red rice and add some of our fall printables.
If you're looking for even more fun fall-themed ideas to fill your calendar, check out the creative activities below.
Encourage your preschooler to build with this fun fall-themed Candy Pumpkin STEM Activity by Lemon Lime Adventures. Using candy pumpkins and toothpicks, kids can make towers, 2D shapes, and 3D shapes. You'll be surprised at your child's ingenuity and problem-solving skills.
If you plan to carve a pumpkin, save the seeds for this Name Activity with Pumpkin Seeds by Fun-a-Day. Once you dry and dye the pumpkin seeds, they're ready for the name activity. You may need to write out the name for toddlers and young preschoolers, but children who are old enough to write their names can do this mostly independently.
This isn't your traditional bobbing for apples activity. In this Apple Fine Motor Activity from Fantastic Fun and Learning, your child will use tongs to grab the apples. Anything that involves water is usually a big hit for kids. In addition to working on fine motor skills, you can also use this activity to work on counting and sorting.
You may have done a similar activity using Borax, but if you don't like the idea of using Borax in your activities, salt is a great alternative. In fact, autumn is perfect for making these Salt Crystal Leaves by Living Well Mom. Suspend pipe cleaners shaped into leaves (or real leaves) in the saltwater solution, and see what happens!
Teachers and parents alike will love this Apple Tree Math Activity by Hello, Wonderful. It's easily adjustable according to age and ability. For younger kids, use addition and subtraction. For your second and third graders, delve into multiplication or division. All you need is paper and the printable template to prep this activity.
Lemon Lime Adventures' Fall Sink or Float Experiment is terrific for exploring density and buoyancy with your preschooler. Don't forget to record your hypotheses and observations in a science journal. It'll be so fun guessing which fall-themed objects will sink and which will float. Use apples, pinecones, mini pumpkins, acorns, leaves, erasers, chestnuts, twigs, etc.
Go on an adventure to collect conkers, acorns, pinecones, and leaves for this fun Autumn Preschool Math Activity by The Ladybirds' Adventure. Add the autumn-themed number cards to work on number recognition during play. Once the number cards are collected, encourage your child to put the numbers in order. You can easily adjust this according to age and ability; for instance, only include numbers 1-5 for toddlers who are just learning to count or 1-20 for children who are already comfortable counting that far.
Using dried beans for this Autumn Scoop and Pour Sensory Bin by My Bored Toddler is a brilliant idea. They can be reused many times, and they're not nearly as messy as rice or oats. Add real or silk fall flowers and leaves, dried chickpeas, etc. for your child to scoop and pour using different sorts of tools, utensils, and containers.
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Kids quickly learn that some objects are bigger or smaller than others. To help them build on those skills, try this Fall Relative Size Activity by The Wise Owl Factory. Sort pumpkins, pinecones, leaves, etc. into big, medium, and small categories.
Put on your lab coats or aprons, because these Pumpkin Potions by Thimble and Twig can get a little messy—and we love messy fun! The first potion is your typical baking soda and vinegar experiment, which is always a big hit with the kids. The next adds shaving cream for an added squishy element.
Leaf rubbings are lots of fun. Use crayons, pencils, etc. Our Family Code decided to use chalk and oil pastels for their Chalk Pastel Leaf Rubbings, and the results are just lovely. Gather leaves of all shapes and sizes for this activity. You could even cut them out once you're done to make a beautiful leaf banner for the mantle or to hang in the window.
Work on fine motor skills and phonemic awareness with this cute Fall Muffin Tin Syllable Counting Game by The Educator's Spin On It. Place a fall-themed card in the bottom of each muffin tin, and have your child place mini pom-poms in the tin according to the number of syllables the word has. You could also use this to practice counting; instead of pictures, put numbers in each tin.
Want a fun activity for family game night? You don't want to miss this Autumn Bingo game by Artsy-Fartsy Mama. It features adorable pictures of leaves, woodland animals, and other fall objects, making it super easy for younger kids to play. With ten different Bingo cards, it's terrific for small parties or classroom use, too.
Pin this list of autumn activities for kids so you'll have lots of fun things planned for the fall months. These fall activities are perfect for toddlers and preschoolers, but fun for big kids too!
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