The Platefull

Inspiring home cooks to be creative with accessible, nutritious recipes.

Fall Sensory Activity

~ Kids

I absolutely love Fall.  It’s definitely my favorite season of the year!  So, it’s no surprise that I love coming up with fun Fall themed activities.  Today I’m sharing a Fall sensory activity that we love every year!  It’s so incredibly simple to create.  I leave this basket out through the Fall season and it looks so pretty sitting in our playroom!  Fall decoration and activity all in one – can’t beat that!

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For our Fall sensory basket, I simply take Noah to a local pumpkin patch (or you could even pick these up at the grocery store!).  I let him choose a variety of gourds and small pumpkins.  I just make sure we get a variety of colors, textures, and shapes!  Then, I just throw them in a basket when we get home and let him explore them.

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Another really fun way to change this activity up a bit is to put the pumpkins and gourds on a mirrored surface. Just be sure it’s shatter proof for kiddos, as they will likely drop the pumpkins on the surface! This is a really fun way to talk about mirror images. They even get to see their own reflection as they play!

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Here are a few other ideas for adding additional elements to your sensory basket for Fall:

  • Help your children explore difference scents of Fall by adding spice containers to your basket.  Pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, cinnamon, and cloves are a few that are great!  I always supervise this activity to be sure Noah doesn’t spill or try to eat them.
  • When you are getting close to the end of the season, paint your pumpkins and gourds!
  • Cut them open.  Let your kids explore the inside.
  • Talk about the colors and shapes of the pumpkins and gourds.  Talk about the texture of their surfaces (smooth, bumpy, ridges, etc).
  • Encourage creative play.  Noah likes to drive little trucks around and over them and make bridges with the tree block pieces to connect one pumpkin to another.  You’ll be surprised what your kiddos can come up with!
  • Use the pumpkins and gourds to make imprints in play doh.

For more creative and fun ideas for Fall activities, I’m loving this post by The Imagination Tree!!