The calendar says it is still summer, but all other indicators point to the fact that autumn is here. School kids in my area have been back in class for seven days, early mornings at the bus stop are quite chilly, and the leaves have begun to fall.
“You know what I love about falling leaves? I love to try to catch them!” a ten-year old told me this weekend. “My friends and I always do that at school.” I smiled at the image and remembered many days on the playground in Boston watching (and playing) the same unpredictable and invigorating game.
In areas where autumn leaves fall to the ground, it feels as though a new box of toys has been opened up. Raking leaves into a pile, jumping in, remaking the pile and jumping in again can delight and fascinate kids for hours. As children, my siblings and I would rake leaves into low walls that marked out our own “houses”. Creating various floor plans, with bedrooms, kitchens, doors and windows was a wonderful way to imagine ourselves in the grown-up world.
Decorating fairies’ houses and making crayon leaf-rubbings, searching for the most beautiful or the biggest fallen leaf, launching maple seed helicopters – the list is as endless as your imagination. As the summer turns to fall, enjoy one of nature’s most wonderful and playful gifts: leaves.
Great new logo. Is the boy the action hero and the girl the jumproper? You could invert the genders half the time.
-Concered Windsor parent
My aim was to make the children gender neutral…so I guess I better get back to the drawing board! Thanks for the feedback.
Love the post about leaves! My favorite thing to do with them is pick out the most colorful and then put them on a sheet of wax paper. Cover them with another sheet of wax paper and iron it and you have beautiful, fall-themed stained glass for the afternoon sun to shine through!
Thanks, Meg! Yet another fun activity to do with fall leaves…the list is truly endless! How about just crinkling them up in your hand to hear that crisp sound, or shuffling along in a pile up to your knees. Now you've really go me going…