Outdoor Fall Activities for Kids

The weather is getting cooler, indicating the arrival of the much awaited fall. The leaves are slowly changing color, becoming brighter, and offering a rare beauty that is not seen or experienced at any other time of the year. Why then, must your little ones sit indoors, when there are such great outdoor activities that can have them enjoy the best of nature combined with a whole lot of fun? Accompany them in these different outdoor fall activities for kids, and have them perceive the beauty of the outdoors during fall in a completely unique manner.

While having your little ones perform any of the following activities, ensure that you, or someone, is around for supervision. Some of these activities cannot be performed without the help of an adult, and to prevent any bitter occurrences, ensure that there is someone who is keeping a watch and allowing them to have the maximum amount of fun with these activities.

Plant a Tree
While you may assume spring is a good time to plant trees, fall, though not ideal, can be a good time to plant trees too, as it is cooler and easier to work outdoors. Get a tree seedling (such as a fruit tree), and accompany your little ones while helping them to dig a small hole in your garden to plant the seedling. Add water into the hole, and plant the tree, by covering the roots with soil. Surround the base of the tree with dead leaves, bark and wood chips, that will be used by the tree for nourishment. Have your little one water the tree regularly and watch it grow as the fruit of one of the many outdoor activities for kids that she/he performed and enjoyed.

Fall Leaf Print
This outdoor fall activity for kids will truly get them to enjoy and appreciate nature, and create some beautiful arts and crafts in the process. Take them out for a stroll, and have them collect different types of fresh and moist fall leaves. Keep a watch for leaves such as poison ivy, sumac or poison oak. Also keep at hand these items: muslin cloth (unbleached - 12"x 12"), wooden blocks, glue, scissors, old newspaper, and a grocery bag. Anywhere outdoors, locate a hard working surface, and place a newspaper on it, followed by the muslin cloth. Randomly place a leaf on the cloth. Use the wooden block to bang hard on the leaf, so as to leave a print on the cloth. Ensure you are supervising this activity lest the kids hurt their hands. This may be slightly noisy, but that is exactly the fun part about this activity. Continue the same process with leaves of different colors, shapes and sizes, till the entire cloth is covered in leaf prints. Allow the cloth to dry, while you cut the grocery bag into the shape of a frame. Use the glue to stick the muslin cloth on the frame. Use this unique product of your fun activity as a gift for any occasion, or simply to adorn the walls of your little ones' rooms.

Rock Ornaments
This is one of the many fall outdoor activities with kids that will enable them to take in the beauty of nature while doing something creative and productive such as kids' crafts. Just like in the previous activity, go on a rock collecting spree with the kids. Try and pick up rocks that are smooth, and shaped in the form of the earth or ladybugs, or any such shape that resembles any other object. Clean the rocks with water and dry them. Now paint over the rocks in different manners, depending on their shape. To protect the paint, make a watery mixture of flour and water, and coat the rock with it after the paint has dried. Get as creative as possible, and create different rock ornaments for your garden, or use them as paperweights, or simply gift them to your near and dear ones.

The Leaf Pile Game
This is one of those outdoor fall activities that is actually most popular among all age groups. Simply have the kids help you rake all fall leaves into piles at different spots, and have them jump in and enjoy. To make a game out of this one, let one kid hide in any one of the many leaf piles, and suddenly emerge to scare the other ones and proceed with a game of tag. Let them use these leaves to have a leaf fight. Use the beautiful fall leaves to make the most of these outdoor activities.

Create Your Own Fossils
For the more curious kids, this is the perfect activity to enjoy this fall. On one of your long walks around, ask them to collect flowers, leaves, sticks and rocks of different shapes and sizes. Prepare some clay, and press hard, the different collected items in different pieces of flattened clay, to leave an impression. Now prepare some Plaster of Paris mixed in water. Remove the object from the clay, and pour some of the mixture into the impression, ensuring all crevices are filled. Allow it to dry and remove the objects from the clay. For a more authentic finish, paint the fossils in different colors. The kids are sure to enjoy this one.

During fall, you can make the most of the outdoors by having your kids engage in these fun-filled outdoor activities. It allows them to experience the beauty nature has to offer, and revel in the wonderful weather, while being creative, and using their skills to create interesting pieces of artwork.