Fall season is a beautiful season in Tennessee. I feel so blessed to live in a state where I get to see the change of seasons.
Taken in Pigeon Forge, TN.
When the leaves of the deciduous trees change colors, the nature scenes in all parts of the state and nearby states are glorious!
Fall, with the arrival of more comfortable temperatures, is the perfect time to get outside with the children in your lives.
Here are some ideas for activities you can do with your children:
1. Go on walk or fall hike in a nearby park.
Take a bag or let your child wear a backpack so that he or she may collect special treasures (ie. acorns or other nuts, colorful leaves, small rocks/fossils). Along the way, tell stories sharing your childhood memories about making fall discoveries or collections.
My husband, Eric, and grandsons on a fall hike at Owl Creek Park, Brentwood, TN.
2. If you and your child collect leaves, you can preserve them by putting the leaves between wax paper and ironing over the wax paper.
Your child will probably enjoy watching you do this and then helping to cut around the leaves. If you have a lot of these “preserved leaves” they could be used to decorate a dining table for Thanksgiving. Or they could be used to play a sorting game, sorting by shape or color. Older children may enjoy making a scrapbook, mounting and labeling their leaves.
3. Researching with your child why the leaves change color is also a fun activity to do together.
Before researching on-line or at the library, ask your child to predict why the leaves change. You may want to record his or her response. When your child is older, you could listen to his/her response or watch the video together to create happy memories as you laugh together about the prediction.
4. Raking together is great exercise and every child I have ever known loves to jump in a big pile of leaves.
Be sure to take photos of your child in the pile. You may want to do this each year to put in a time-line type frame, showing the growth of your child and his leaf piles.
Picture was taken at the 39th Annual Harvest Days Celebration at Cannonsburgh Village in Murfreesboro, TN. This year’s celebration is on Saturday, October 22nd, 2016.
Learn more here: http://murfreesborotn.gov/parks
5. Look for the free parent magazines often located in stands at local grocery stores or libraries.
You can also find these magazines on-line. In these magazines, you can usually find a listing of free or low-cost events. For example, in the October 2016 Williamson County, TN Parent magazine, there is a chronological list of October things to do beginning on page 31 and ending on page 87. There is even a fall fun pull out guide! Your child might like to look at the magazine with you to plan some special fall outings. Show him/her how to put these events on a calendar.
6. Post a comment together on this blog or on the children’s blog.
I look forward to hearing about your fall adventures.