The changing of the seasons each fall means incredible foliage, the return of snuggly sweaters, pumpkin-spiced everything, and best of all, an opportunity for children to spend time outside learning about all things Autumn! We’ve rounded up some fun ways you and your family can get outside this season to celebrate fall.
It’s the perfect time of year to learn about the water cycle and explore ice! This fun and refreshing activity is great for a warm summer day. In this activity, children will develop an understanding of the water cycle as they sing and move along to a song, read stories, and observe water changing from a liquid to a solid, and from a solid back to a liquid. These ideas can be adapted and used in a home setting or classroom setting.
Studies show that sensory table play can be calming, and provide an opportunity for children to work on their fine motor skills, creativity, and social skills- if they are playing at the sensory table with another child. In addition to these, sensory tables can also help develop literacy skills as children retell a story and bring it to life using items at the table! They are great for both home and classroom learning environments!
Step aside, lemonade stand! Enter: bike shop! This activity can provide hours of creative and imaginative fun, while also fostering a love for bikes! Here you will find fantastic children’s books about bikes, steps and resources for creating your own dramatic play bike shop, and our favorite children’s songs about biking. Move, learn and explore!
Exploring the outdoors is a fun learning experience for kids of all ages. This activity will encourage children to observe the world around them by looking for natural items and collecting them in a unique and reusable container. Enjoy getting outdoors in every season, while enhancing your child’s powers of observation with this Spring Scavenger Hunt activity, straight from the pages of the WinterKids Guide to Active Outdoor Learning.
With playgrounds, gymnastics, swimming pools, sports teams, and more currently closed for our safety, we’re having to find other ways to keep our children moving and active. Yoga can be a great option for all ages and levels! No gear is needed, it can be practiced in a small space, or outdoors, solo, or together.
LEARN, EXPLORE, and MOVE with us! These ideas can be adapted and used in a home setting or classroom setting. Follow along for our book recommendations, fantastic resources for learning more about birds, a simple binoculars craft for backyard bird watching, bird-themed Simon Says, songs about birds, and even bird-themed yoga!
Take the kids outside-your yard or a park or other outdoor space where trees may have dropped branches. Time to play “pick up sticks!” Seriation is arranging objects in order by size, location or position. Sorting and ordering are the building blocks of mathematics.
We were inspired by “I LOVE the Rain” (one of our books of the month) to make little stick rafts for bugs and fairies! We anxiously waited for a rainy day to bring enough puddles and streams, so that we could give this a try. Next time it’s raining where you are, gather your supplies, slip on those rain boots and raincoats, and head outside to create your own stick rafts!
Looking for an indoor project? Try this art project with your children Seed Mosaics from the WinterKids Guide to Outdoor Active Learning, Preschool Edition. Kids (and adults) can get creative and make attractive, edible (for our bird friends) art to hang outside for the birds.
Here is a simple activity for kids as you are gearing up for the new season and taking inventory for upcoming snow adventures. This is a great opportunity for kids to familiarize themselves with snow sports gear while working on their measuring skills.
Enjoy some time together outside while working on identifying patterns and creating patterns with natural objects. This activity is great for preschool to 2nd-grade level for either introducing the concept of patterns or for practicing and reinforcing understanding of patterns.
An outdoor, dramatic play activity inspired by the book Summer Supper!
After reading the story, children are invited to head to the farmers’ market to buy ingredients and make their own farm-to-fork dish! Succotash recipe card and farmer’s market shopping list downloads are provided in this blog post.
