Toddler Approved Autumn Play and Learning Ideas
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The fall season is notorious for being a busy time in households.
With kids back in school, parents are running to get them ready in the morning and then rushing home after work to make dinner, help with homework, or take care of any other fall-related tasks that need attention.
It can be difficult to find time for fall activities when you’re so busy!
But fall is also the perfect time of year for children to explore their surroundings through sensory play and the traditions that you already know and love.
This article will give you plenty of ideas for fun fall activities at home that do not require much prep or expense.
Don’t forget to grab your free fall puzzle game in this post to get started!
Autumn Activities that Incorporate Your Daily Routines and Traditions
Some of the best fall-themed learning activities for toddlers are ones that you can incorporate into your daily routine.
You can support your toddlers learning by just being mindful about the things you do every day.
Chances are you will be playing fall music, walking through the fall leaves outside, celebrating fall holidays like Thanksgiving and Halloween, cooking with fall flavors like pumpkin spice, and baking with apples and other fall ingredients.
When you use these activities as learning tools rather than chores or another task to check off you start to make memories with your child and teach them new skills as well.
For example, let your child help you pick out recipes to make this fall by looking at cookbooks together or even scrolling for new recipes that catch their interest as well as yours.
Take time to make a list of the ingredients together. Let them make their own “list” while you make yours.
Then take a trip to the store together and have them help you find the ingrediants.
When it comes time to make the fall recipe allow them to help measure ingredients and dump them in.
By just including your child in fall baking you have worked on building cognitive, language, and fine motor skills!
Simple Fall Activity Ideas that Promote Learning
In my Fall Learning Guide for Babies and Toddlers, I have more ideas on how to keep a busy toddler learning and having fun.
Here are a few fall examples of how to help your toddler explore their environment while your child builds new skills:
Fall Science Activity
Will it float?
Take items that your child has found and put them in a cake pan filled with water.
Observe to see which ones oat and which ones sink. Pick items that you have found on a nature hike such as pine cones, leaves, or rocks.
Simple Fun Blowing Leaves
Play a game of blowing leaves!
This is a great way to encourage oral motor imitation and use the muscles in their mouth.
You can throw them in the air and blow at them or just set them on the table and see if your child can blow them off.
Autumn Inspired Sensory Play
Make a fall sensory box to explore inside. Put twigs, leaves, pine cones, or any other fall items for your little one to explore.
Supervise closely to make sure they do not put any of the items in their mouth.
Keep Toddlers Busy By Enjoying Cooler Weather Play Outside!
Fall is one of my favorite seasons for exploring outside because there is usually not a need for sunscreen or bug spray…at least where we live!
The fall breezes are also a welcome relief from the sweltering summer weather.
Even better, fall is an ideal time for fall learning activities because children begin to focus on the changing seasons and help prepare for attending preschool or daycare in the future.
When you just observe the changes with your toddler you can talk about all the changes that are happening such as the leaves changing colors and the drop in temperature.
By being mindful during outdoor playtime you can explore the new season together while your toddler learns more about the world around them.
Here are some fun ideas on how you can encourage learning while playing with your toddler outside:
Autumn Activity to Practice Balance and Coordination
Make a trail of leaves in your grass and see if your little one can balance while walking across them. This is a great way for them to coordinate and refine movements without the risk of falling.
Explore Real Leaves Together
There are so many fun things and autumn crafts you can do when there are lots of leaves on the ground to explore.
You can keep it simple by just looking at them together and talking about the size, shape, and sound they make when you crunch through them.
If you are feeling crafty you could also do a fall art project that utilizes real leaves like tracing them or gluing them on paper to make a collage.
Click here for more leaf activities for toddlers.
Fall Printables for Toddlers
Try fall-themed printable activities for toddlers like fall puzzle cards and matching fall pictures.
This is a great way to incorporate learning about letters, numbers, shapes, emotions, and colors while keeping your child entertained with a fun activity they can do independently.
My fall printable pack focuses on printables that will grow with your child and that you can use in multiple ways.
For example, I have a fall-inspired number and letter cards that you can use to just introduce them or print to sets to make a matching game.
You can take a look at my fall printable pack here.
Fall Songs for Toddlers
Enjoying music with your toddler is one of the best ways to encourage language development and many other skills.
Songs are fun and motivating for young children and also have lots of built-in repetitive practice of sounds and words which makes them perfect for developing language skills.
Here are a few of my favorite fall songs for toddlers.
Autumn Leaves are Falling Down
Have fun learning the actions and words to them or just dance and burn some energy on a rainy day!
Fall Games for Toddlers
Playing games with your toddler can be a great way to encourage new skills.
By playing fall-themed games you can practice colors, shapes, numbers, and vocabulary.
Here are some ideas for fall games for toddlers:
Fall Bingo Game for Toddlers
I love bingo for young children because it is so versatile!
For older kids, you can use the leaf markers included and play like you would a normal bingo game to encourage social skills and receptive language development.
Fall Scavenger Hunt
One of my favorite fall activities for toddlers is a simple scavenger hunt.
I like to focus on fall leaves and the colors that fall brings to the world.
This can be a fun way for young preschoolers to start learning colors as well.
Ask them to find a specific color of the leaf and see what they can come up with.
You could also do other items like acorns, sticks, or other fall items you see while out on a hike or walk.
Fall Puzzle Cards
These fall puzzle cards can be a fun structured activity to satisfy a bored toddler and let you have a few minutes.
The cards are simple and they come in 2 pieces and 4 piece sets.
You can grab your FREE printable fall puzzle cards here.
Try Out Some Simple Fall Crafts for Toddlers and Preschoolers
Fall crafts can make learning more fun and memorable.
For younger children, I would focus on art activities that are more open-ended and do not include lots of complicated steps.
Toddler approved fall crafts should be all about the process and not so
We want them to do the art project…not you!
One of my favorite ways to start fall art projects with little ones is to go outside and grab something for inspiration!
Maybe you can paint a pine cone?
Take acorns and use them as your “paintbrush.”
The possibilities are endless!
Every child is unique so just pick a few that you think they will enjoy the most and then focus on the process and having fun!
Here are a couple of other cute ones I saw that I think you might enjoy:
Fall Leaf Sun Catcher: This one is super simple and you will be able to use it for decoration at your house. Click here to check it out!
Paper Plate Apple Craft: Little kids love to tear paper so crafts like this one are fun for your little one and work on fine motor skills. You can see the full instructions on how to make it HERE.
Fall Cereal Tree: Colorful cereal makes the perfect art material to represent fall leaves. CLICK HERE to find out how to make this fun…and tasty craft!
Want more of my favorite ideas for simple fall activities?
Fall is one of my favorite seasons.
It’s filled with so many fun activities for toddlers and preschoolers, which makes it the perfect time to start teaching kids about this beautiful time of year!
You can download my printable pack and learning guide for more fun ideas and activities to try out this fall! I hope you enjoy these as much as we do 🙂
I like to explore fall together in simple and fun ways. Usually, I tie my little ones into the fall traditions I already love to do…even things like decorating the house! Spending time outside in the fall is my favorite because where we live there is no need for sunscreen or bug spray when the fall temps set in.
On fall days, my kids love to go outside and play in the leaves. There is also fun fall activities that we like to do in the community like visiting the apple orchard and pumpkin patch.
Fall is the perfect time to teach kids about fall leaves, fall colors, fall weather, fall foods (like pumpkins), and fall traditions. You can also introduce them to some fun fall crafts that you can do together like making a pine cone turkey or even creating an acorn painting!
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Kayla O’Neill has a master’s degree in education as well as a bachelor’s degree in special education with an emphasis in early childhood education. She has been working as a developmental therapist with babies and toddlers in early intervention since 2012. She is also a mom with two young children.