Fall Means Fun!

When was the last time you stopped to admire the beauty of God’s creation with your child(ren)? Almost every day during the fall, I am amazed by nature…a bright orange and yellow tree that hasn’t lost it’s leaves quite yet, the cool breeze that blows in a gentle reprieve from the summer’s heat, the apple trees at our local orchard whose branches are so heavy with fruit I for the life of me can’t figure out why they don’t break under the weight.

Preschoolers are naturally observant and mine in particular has really been receptive to my directing her attention to the things that make fall…well, fall. This past weekend, while my husband was home caring for our sick baby, I was able to spend some one on one time with Sara. We took a “nature walk” around our little suburban block and talked all about the trees and the leaves. We found deer footprints and collected pinecones to make birdfeeders. When we ran errands in the afternoon, we bought about twenty pounds of apples that I am hoping she will help me can as apple butter later this week. We have been reading several fall-themed books as bedtime stories over the past several weeks.

While I have not personally tried any of these yet, I have been thinking about a few more ideas to infuse a fall theme into our ordinary routine.
--Make leaf rubbings with leaves found in our own yard
--Have Sara participate in fall chores like raking the leaves and cleaning out the garden
--Roast one of our Halloween pumpkins and eat it for dinner

I would love to hear what your family is doing to celebrate fall!