Autumn Inspired Activities

"Autumn time is melancholy;

Then the Winter storms are nigh;

'Mid the garden's fading relics

Mournful gusts are heard to sigh.

Autumn's a luxuriant season;

Then the Harvest glads our sight,

Fruits grow ripe; and, glittering pheasants,

You must fall for our delight."

~ Excerpt from "Seasons" by Sara Coleridge

Motherly Love by Jacob Henricus Maris

Autumn 

by Emily Dickinson

The morns are meeker than they were,

The nuts are getting brown;

The berry’s cheek is plumper,

The rose is out of town.

The maple wears a gayer scarf,

The field a scarlet gown.

Lest I should be old-fashioned,

I’ll put a trinket on.

• Read some autumn inspired poems to your family while drinking hot cider.

• Read some autumn inspired picture books:

Down Buttermilk Lane by Barbara Mitchell

 

Why Do Leaves Change Color? by Betsy Maestro

How Do Apples Grow? by Betsy Maestro

The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree by Gail Gibbons

 

The Story of Johnny Appleseed by Aliki

• Go apple picking.

• Visit a pumpkin patch.

• Make apple and/or pumpkin pies with your children.

• Find some pretty leaves and do leaf rubbings (If you have a tree field guide, try and label what kind of leaf it is).

• Do some bark rubbings (If you have a tree field guide, label the type of tree you rubbed and cut out your specimans and paste onto a poster board to hang in your home for fall fun).

• Do some iron on leaf crafts (When you have them completed, punch holes through the top of each leaf; run yarn or ribbon through the holes and make a leaf garland for your fireplace mantle or any other place in the house to give some autumn flavor to your home. The children will be thrilled to see their work displayed).

• Decorate your hearth or windows with a pinecone banner. Using this clip art from the Graphics Fairy, have each child color a few "cones" and attach to string and hang as a garland. You may want to decorate with some brown glitter. 

• Light your fireplace (if you have one) and snuggle together with all of the above…

Or go outside and play in the leaves!

Autumn by Norman Garstin

Do some yard work while the weather is so crisp and clean…

Start a compost pile with all those leaves…