This fall we enjoyed so many fun and educational learning themes from nature and our favourite books. Here are ten highlights from our sensory play activities over the past few months.
1. The Gruffalo Sensory Play
The Gruffalo is a firm favourite in our house. We’ve read it over, and over… and over. So, it was definitely time to do a sensory play activity based on the book.
For this play, I attempted to recreate the main scenes from the book around the Tuff Tray. The fox, owl, snake and Gruffalo each had their own areas for the mouse to visit on his way through the forest.
We do a lot of sensory and book play, but something about this play especially made me marvel at just how many learning opportunities are present in activities like these. And my kids were soaking them all up.
My 6 year old daughter immediately wanted to figure out the story sequence (and I read the book aloud to help her determine the order). While my 4 year old son wasn’t very interested in story sequencing, he was fascinated by the habitats the animals retreat to in the story.
And then both kids led the rest of the play and experimented with shape, size and speed in the Tree Trunk Dice Tower. They dug into (my favourite) dirt scented sensory mix and got creative decorating the Gruffalo sensory tray and building structures with the materials.
Of course, all of this while being immersed in the world of The Gruffalo – thanks to the gorgeous story blocks and animal figures. It was an awesome play.
Materials
- Gruffalo Wood Hand-painted Story Blocks – The Maple Mouse Sensory (save with code ‘houseofplay10’)
- Bajo Gruffalo and Mouse Jumbo Wood Figures, Felt Sheet Mats, Felt Acorns and Acorn Trinket Container – Sewing Seeds Play (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Tree Trunk Dice Tower and Gruffalo Sensory Tray – Cjeco-Play
- Papoose Toadstool Trunks and Raduga Grez Trees – Modern Rascals
- Tuff Tray – Scholar’s Choice (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY15)
2. Fall Nature Fizzy Potions
This is such an easy and fun activity and it’s really 2 activities in 1. The first activity is for the kids to gather nature potion ingredients. This could be anything that looks interesting to them including leaves, acorns, pinecones, sticks, rocks, chestnuts, and berries. My kids enjoy gathering the ingredients almost as much as they like playing with them.
Once the ingredients are gathered, set them out with some water, utensils and potion powder. I used a pre-made powder from Kidfolk and Co, but you could also make your own using this recipe. Nature Fizzy Potions is definitely a go-to activity for us (and a little secret – it works for any season at any time of the year).
Materials
- Magic Potion Powder – Kidfolk and Co. (save with HOUSEOFPLAY15)
- Yellow Door Education Forest Play Sensory Stones – Sewing Seeds Play (save with HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Resin leaves – Little Play Lab Co.
- Tuff Tray – Scholar’s Choice (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY15)
3. Sunflower Skip Counting
I’ll be honest, I wanted this Sunflower Kit from The Maple Mouse Sensory Shop from the moment I saw it because it’s so gorgeous. It reminds me of the beautiful sunflower fields I saw in Italy. It was only once I received it, that I realized how well thought out it is. It is perfect for math play-based learning!
My daughter is 6, so she started Grade 1 this year, and I thought we could ease into some low-pressure, play-based learning with counting, skip counting and arithmetic practice.
Materials
- Sunflower Flisat Bundle – The Maple Mouse Sensory (scented sensory filler, felt balls and sunflowers, wooden handprinted insert) (save with code ‘houseofplay10’)
- Wooden Letter Blocks – AW and Co. (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Bumbu Sunflower Stacker & Beyond Measure Boards Numbers/ Lines Reversible Mini Learning Mat – Wonder + Kind (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Sunflower Count and Clip Printables – My Mega Bundles
4. Thanksgiving Dinner Pretend Play
Do you have the Grapat Mandala? This is such a fun way to use it in play – we’ve been doing this activity for the past few years at Thanksgiving and my kids always love it.
The recipe cards from Spire Kids list the Grapat Mandala “ingredients” to include in each dish. It’s great for early math skills, shape matching, colour matching (my kids like to try an match the shades on the cards), creativity and dramatic play. It’s packed full of benefits.
We also added some of our felt pies to this play because every good Thanksgiving dinner needs pie for desert!
Materials
- Holiday Feast Recipe Cards – Spire Kids
- Grapat Mandala pieces – Sewing Seeds Play (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Felt Pumpkin Pie, Felt Blueberry Pie, Felt Mini Apple Pie – Tara Treasures (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Large Apple Pie with Apple Slices – Judy Tutti Fruiti
5. Pumpkin Spice Sensory Play
Once the weather starts to turn cold, nothing says “fall” like a cozy Pumpkin Spice play. I think it’s hilarious that my kids know what a pumpkin spice latte is. lol. It has become engrained in our fall culture.
We scooped, poured and added all sorts of fun loose parts. I added some white yarn and scissors so the kids could practice some cutting skills and making milk patterns in our coffees. This addition was a big hit. They loved measuring out the pieces of yarn, cutting them and then swirling the onto their pumpkin spice lattes.
Materials
- Sensory Filler – Readymade Play Canada (save with code PLAY10)
- Felt pumpkins, fall sheet mats, felt balls – Sewing Seeds Play (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Felt pumpkin pie with loose pumpkin pieces, felt coffee cup with interchangeable tops – Tara Treasures (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Resin leaf tray – Little Play Lab Co.
- Small wood pumpkin tray – Carved Together Co.
- Felt pumpkin spice cups and pumpkin pie slices – Judy Tutti Fruiti
- Resin pumpkin spice pieces, ice cubes and coffee cup trays – Playspiration
6. Road Trip Slime Pumpkin Pie
This might surprise you, but my favourite sensory material to bring in the car is now – Slime!
I never thought I would say that. I love that it all (mostly) stays together and doesn’t dry out and create little crumbles that fall all over the seats and car. Also – the kids love it- so it keeps them occupied and most importantly – this brand of slime will wash out of clothes, other fabrics and hair with vinegar! So I don’t have to worry if some goes astray.
We brought these little kits with us for our Thanksgiving weekend drive to the cottage. The kids were so excited when they saw the slime surprise I’d brought for them.
Materials
- Magic Slime and Magic Glitter (biodegradable) – Kidfolk & Co. (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY15)
- Eco Pie Plates – Stars and Sensory
- Resin – Playspiration
- Pumpkin resins and containers – Dollarama
- Polymer Clay Slices – I got mine from AliExpress, but you can also get them from Sewing Seeds Play
7. Sweeping Leaves
When I’m in the mood for a simple activity, Sweeping Leaves delivers. This activity took less than 5 minutes to set up. I made 2 tape squares (one for each of my two kids) and dumped a bunch of leaves and autumn loose parts in the tray. I used what I had, but you could also just collect some leaves and sticks from outside.
The objective was to sweep the leaves and other fall items into the square, collect them with the dust pan and then dump the pan in the bowl. Easy and fun, and a great way to practice those practical life sweeping skills!
We also read “Sweep” (one of our favourite fall reads) and talked about how sometimes our emotions can take over and what to do about it.
Materials
- Yellow Door Sensory Stones Forest Floor – Sewing Seeds Play (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Resin leaves – Little Play Lab Co.
- Tuff Tray – Scholar’s Choice (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY15)
8. Hibernation Play & Learn
We are explored woodland creatures and their habits in late fall and winter in this sensory Tuff Tray small world. Using the printable cards for guidance, we included some of our favourite woodland friends and the materials for them to find hibernation homes.
Our paper cache tree is made from recycled materials and gets quite a bit of use so I decided to make a half log to add to our collection. It’s made of cardboard rings that have been glued together, paper machéd, and painted. Now it’s a perfect little winter home for one of our animal friends. I have a post here on how I made the tree if you’d like more information.
Materials
- Felt Skippy Squirrel, felt acorns and acorn container, felt bees, felt snails, felt pinecone, Yellow Door forest floor sensory stones – Sewing Seeds Play (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Papoose Trees, Zooble Toys felt cave and stone, AW&Co. letter Blocks – Wonder + Kind Shop (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Pinecone Wood Tray and Wood Letter Blocks – AW&Co (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- 10 Wood fall oak leaves – The Maple Mouse Sensory Shop (save with code ‘houseofplay10’)
- Bathymetric Pond (upside down as a hill) – Aurora + Holly (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Resin fall leaves – Little Play Lab Co.
- Tuff Tray – Scholar’s Choice (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY15)
- Felt Papoose Hedgehog – Gnomes and Acorns
- Resin log slice – Olive Eve and Co.
- Eco-printed Dice Tree Stump – Cjeco-Play
- Printable Hibernation Cards – My Little Montessori
- Sensory filler, tree stump and half log – DIY
9. Pumpkin Pie Playdough
We’ve done a lot of pie related play this year. For good reason – it is a house favourite. It’s full of sensory exploration opportunities and learning possibilities.
This time, we made some festive playdough pumpkin pies while learning about fractions. My kids are certainly familiar with thinking about how many pieces of pie they get, so it was a good introduction to the concept.
I made the fraction pieces out of cardboard so the kids could made their playdough pies on top and then cut them using the guidance of the cardboard. I thought this would be a little easier for the kids since fractions are new to them. I composted the cardboard when we were finished, but you could easily cover them in clear packing tape if you want them to last for multiple plays.
Materials
- Playdough – Readymade Play Canada (save with code PLAY10)
- Resin pumpkins – Craft Minds Collection
- Eco-Pie shells – Stars and Sensory
- Whip cream, sugar and round loose parts resin – Playspiration
- Mini wood pumpkin tray – Carved Together Co.
10. Changing Seasons Sensory Sort
Once the snow suits are out, it really starts feeling wintery here. Even though it’s still technically fall, we ready to change over to winter and Christmas play.
To mark the occasion, we did some sensory play and read one of our favourite books about seasons changing – As an Oak Tree Grows. The kids sorted the loose parts and sensory materials into fall and winter items and made some of their own creative wintery scenes.
Materials
- Handpainted tree flisat insert and oak leaves – The Maple Mouse Sensory Shop (save with code ‘houseofplay10’)
- All felt (snowflakes, snowman, acorns, white tree) and Yellow Door pinecones – Sewing Seeds Play (save with code HOUSEOFPLAY10)
- Dirt scented sensory filler – Readymade Play Canada (save with code PLAY10)
- Eco printed dice tree shoot – Cjeco-Play
So that’s a wrap for us on fall activities. For more fall play activity inspiration, check our my other posts on apple themed play ideas and farm themed play ideas.
If you’ve read to this point and are wondering where our Halloween plays went, we did do them, but I didn’t have the chance to post them on here in time for anyone to be interested. I may put them up next year before Halloween or if you’re interested please check out my Instagram or TikTok. Things happen much closer to real time on there.