Fall is an exciting time of year, even if you don’t live where the leaves change color and the air is crisp, there is still that back to school mentality and a bit of a cozy feel. It’s a great time to be outdoors, hiking, picnicking, enjoying time with friends and family, or just with your child. It’s also a time of year when many of us bring nature indoors in the form of mums, pumpkins, and gourds.
The cooler temperatures that many of us get to experience in the Fall makes for great hiking weather. If you are already an outdoorsy parent, I don’t need to tell you how fun it is to visit a pumpkin patch, hike on a cool day, come home for cocoa, or experience a bonfire. If you are not an outdoorsy parent, this is a great season to give it a try. Children thrive outside. If you have a favorite spot to visit in the summer, you and your child may find it fascinating to visit during the Fall and discover all the changes. Different treasures wash up on the beach at different times of the year. The view at the top of your favorite hill for summer hikes may be spectacular in the Fall.
Having a hard time answering those preschooler questions about why the seasons change? The University of Illinois Extension Service has a nice informational video. It’s a little dry for young children, but some like it and it can serve as a good refresher for you. Personally, I like to use a globe of the earth (because it shows the tilt), a person with a lantern or flashlight as the sun and yarn or tape on the floor to show the orbit of the earth around the sun. Your child will understand your explanation of the season better if he or she can see it and your child will remember it best if he or she gets the chance to be the sun and then the earth traveling around the sun. It makes a real impression when you can see how the earth is tilting away from the sun as the days and shorter and cooler.
http://extension.illinois.edu/treehouse/seasons.cfm?Slide=1
Need a few outdoor ideas for Fall, visit Happy Hooligans…
https://happyhooligans.ca/10-fun-fall-activities-kids-backyard/
Here are a couple fun leaf projects from Imagination Tree…
http://theimaginationtree.com/2013/10/coloured-salt-dough-leaf-impressions.html
http://theimaginationtree.com/2014/10/cinnamon-salt-dough-leaf-ornaments.html