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Bring the beauty of fall into your child’s learning experience in the classroom or at home. Sensory play activities are an important part of early childhood development, helping children explore and understand the world by engaging all five senses. Below are a few educational sensory play ideas using natural fall materials.
Start the season with an Apple Discovery Day. Cut open apples for investigation and label different parts: skin, flesh, seeds (or pips), and stem. Make apple stamps by dipping halves in paint and pressing them onto paper. Save some of the apples for taste testing and make a flavor comparison chart using descriptive words like: tart, sour, sweet, juicy, and crisp. Vote on your favorite apple: red, yellow, or green.
Gather a collection of pinecones and set up a pinecone exploration table. Children can sort cones by size, shape, and color. Use magnifying glasses to inspect the textures and patterns up close. This simple activity supports classification and observation skills.
Get crafty with leaf rubbings. Place leaves under paper and rub crayons over the top to reveal their textures and vein patterns. Use a variety of fall colored crayons and layer the leaves to create a bright fall collage.
Create a dried bean mosaic by gluing beans of different fall colors to cardboard. Select beans in warm earthy tones to reflect autumn like kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans, navy beans, split peas, and lentils. Placing beans carefully by hand offers kids tactile experience and fine motor practice.
Fill up sensory bins with natural fall materials. Create a base layer with wild rice, leaves, acorns, or corn kernels. Add scoops, toy trucks, small play apples, mini pumpkins, and pinecones for sorting, pouring, and imaginative play.
Make scented sensory dough together. Find a dough recipe scented with apple, cinnamon, nutmeg, or pumpkin pie spice (be sure to check for allergies). Use with fall themed shape cutters for added fun. Scent plays a big role in memory and can make learning experiences more immersive.
Let kids participate in pumpkin carving or dissecting. Scoop out the insides to explore the sinewy texture and examine seeds. Roast the seeds to eat or dry them out to use in crafting projects or counting activities.
Celebrate the season by helping kids learn through sensory exploration. Enjoy multisensory adventures with ordinary fall materials. Support early learning by tying in the scents, sites and textures of fall!
