Fun Fall Activities

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Fall is here and with that comes indoor activities. To help promote language, learning and social skills, here are five wonderful ideas for fall fun to share with the family:Let’s Make a Scarecrow – Scarecrows are a common symbol of fall, so why not make your own together with your child? Follow the instructions at the link, which includes pages you can print so you can help your child cut out the pieces, http://www.boardmakerachieve.com/Activity/1886239. Activities like this are great for practicing following directions, telling stories, planning, and sequencing…not to mention fine motor skills!Have a Puppet show: This is a wonderful way to prepare for any fall activity or holiday. You can use dolls you have or create sock puppets. You can create different costumes and characters for the dolls or puppets, then act out what is going to take place when the event gets here. This will help your child understand the hidden rules and what is expected of the event. It will also relieve your child's stress over the holiday while having a lot of fun.Box o' Beans: Get a box or a tub and fill it with dried beans. Then place small toys or objects related to fall in the beans. Your child can feel their way thru the beans to find the hidden toys/objects. Before letting them pull out each object, have the child guess what they think that they have found. This gives them a fun way to practice asking and answering questions.Face Plates: Making a face on a plate is a clever way to have fun while learning and talking about emotions. You need a paper plate, construction paper, and scissors to cut out eyes, eyebrows, a nose, cheeks and lips. You will also need a cardboard mount and fasteners. Here is the link to the picture and instructions: http://www.mrprintables.com/learning-about-emotions.html. To add some fall fun, use dried leaves or straw for hair or use fall colors like brown, gold, orange, and red.Snow Globes: Here is another crafty idea that helps build executive functioning such as using forethought to be able to plan and complete a task. Find a big jar and put what you like most inside. You can even create a solar system. Here are the instructions: http://www.redtedart.com/2012/05/09/kids-crafts-snowglobes/. This will sit proudly on a desk or table for ongoing fun.Have fun this fall and look out for the new book, Make Social Learning Stick!, by Elizabeth Sautter. This book will be on the shelf in a few months, and it will outline tons of simple and fun activities to support your child’s language and social development throughout the day.