The beginning of the school year is just around the corner! And you know what else is? Fall…my favorite season! The crisp air, the changing colors of the trees, and all the fun fall activities that come along with it. I can’t wait! Whether your kids are in school or like us, you homeschool, there may be a chance that you have young ones at home that need entertaining while you get things done. Having some fun fall sensory play ideas up your sleeves can be a lifesaver.
I started putting together sensory bins 4 years ago when my second child was starting pre-k. I needed to keep him busy while I did school with my eldest. They were so fun and engaging! He’d sit there for such a long time just exploring these bins I’d made for him. So I started putting some together with a different theme for each month. Switching them up kept things fresh for him. I now use them for my 3-year-old while I explain or correct the older kid’s work. I love that they help with language development, stimulate different senses, but at the same time, can be so relaxing, and of course, helps with imaginative play.
Out of all the seasons, putting together fall sensory play ideas is what I enjoy the most. Here are 5 fun activities you can set up at home for your little ones. Using things you probably already have at home and heading to your nearest dollar store for little trinkets to add.
Sensory Bases
Some of my go-to bases for sensory bins are beans, lentils, rice, playdough, pompoms, tiny rocks, water beads…the list goes on. For these bins, I dyed rice in a few fall colors…orange, yellow, and brown. It’s such an easy thing to do. Place 1 cup of rice in a Ziplock with 1 tsp. of rubbing alcohol and some food coloring. Next, close the bag and shake it all up till you get a uniform color. Lastly, spread the rice on a cookie sheet to dry for a day. That’s it! Not you have colored rice that will not stain your kid’s hands.
With very small kids at home, I like to make my own play dough. This way, I know if it ends up in their mouths that it was made with edible ingredients. Another reason is sometimes you just can’t find the colors that you want! Making it yourself, you can create every single shade and color of the rainbow. You can download the recipe as well as the task cards PDFs you’ll find in the sensory activities below. I printed them out on cardstock and in a true homeschooling fashion…plastified them lol. You’ll find a sheet for pattern practice you can use with pompoms. And some cute fall number practice cards with numbers 1-10.
Sunflower Sensory Play
The end of summer is marked by fields of beautiful sunflowers. This yellow and black themed sensory activity was so pretty to put together. I started by dying some rice yellow. Black beans seemed the best choice to go with the yellow rice and a fun texture for little hands. Using a smaller box within the sensory bin, lets you set up different colored materials. Of course, in the end, everything will end up mixed together lol, but fun nonetheless.
At our neighborhood dollar store, I got these tiny little wooden pots, mini sunflowers, wooden peg people, as well as these cork alphabet letters. Incorporating the latter helps with letter recognition. Provide scoops to fill the flower pots with soil mix, aka beans and rice, and plant sunflowers inside.
Apple Pie Sensory Play
This is such a fun bin to put together. Apple picking is one of our fall family traditions. Every year we head to the apple orchard and pick bags and bags of apples. Then, over the next few weeks, bake all the apple things we can think of, like these oatmeal-apple cookies. Of course, apple crisp pie is one of the kid’s requests. So when I put this little apple-themed bin together, my son was so excited.
Using wooden boxes as the sensory bins it my favorite, but of course, you can use any vessel that will keep the mess contained. I purchased them at a dollar store near me. You can use old-fashioned large oats for the base and add some cinnamon sticks. I found these tiny tart tins at the dollar store and used tan felt to cut out little makeshift pie dough tops. Mini erasers are a big obsession of mine! Whenever I find some, I’ll get them, no matter what they are. They make such great math manipulatives. These mini apple ones I’d found at Target last year. And finally, the small little apples I purchased from Dollartree this year.
What can your child do with the apple fall sensory play? Provide little scoops so they can develop hand-eye coordination by filling the little pie tins with oats. They can search for the mini apple erasers in the oats. Place little apples inside and cover with the pie dough. They can work on their counting skills with the 1-10 task cards. Such a fun apple season activity!
Nature Fall Sensory Play
This is such a beautifully colored fall activity. I used yellow, orange, and brown rice for this bin. You can find small acorns, pieces of wood, and small leaves for this bin out on a nature walk. I was lucky enough to find all these wooden items at the dollar store. Along with mini pots and peg people. I used 10 leaves and acorns in the bin for my 1-10 counting task cards. Hiding them within the rice to find was my toddler’s favorite! Once again, providing scoops or anything to transfer the rice into the pots to practice their fine motor skills.
Corn Fall Sensory Play
Another fun fall bin is this dry corn activity. I used popping corn as the base and added some fall-colored pompoms from Michaels. These were perfect for my pattern task cards. I provided little tongs to grab the pompoms and place them on the cards. Such a fun find, was this little wooden fence (which I use for Halloween as well) these tiny hay bales and mini pails at my dollar store last year. Always such great finds in the fall! You can add letter in the corn as well for your child to dig up.
Playdough Fall Sensory Play
This last one is probably my kid’s favorite. I think it’s safe to say, that most children love playdough. When I have the time to sit down with them, I love it too! Making my own playdough is not something I always do, but I really wanted fall colors for this, so whipped up a few batches. It’s really so fast and easy to make.
For manipulatives, I purchased some mini fall cookie cutters at Michael’s and had a tiny rolling pin. I also provided some cinnamon sticks, peg people, pieces of wood, acorns, plastic mushrooms, and made some fall stamps. At the dollar store, I got these mini wooden fall shapes that I stuck to a thick piece of branch to create the stamps. Such a fun fall play!.
And there you have it! 5 fall sensory play ideas you can put together for your little ones. These are just inspiration, you can put anything together you find around your home. I hope this inspires you to create a little magical play for your family. Thank you for stopping by today!
Elisa
