BlogSeptember 2021

4 Outdoor Fall Leaf Activities for Kids

4 Outdoor Fall Leaf Activities for Kids

By Jeff Bogle

Sep 29, 2021

Fall colors undeniably beautiful and they provide outdoor activities for kids too! These leaf activities will make autumn weekends even more fun!

Autumn leaves are stunning to peep during a fall foliage road trip, while hiking in the fall, or when tossing them into the air in the backyard. Here are 4 leaf activities to make autumn weekends even more colorful!

Press & Preserve Leaves

Autumn will quickly turn into winter, meaning you may soon be swapping your rake for your snow shovel. While fall doesn’t last forever, you can preserve fall colors with this easy outdoor family activity. Find the most pristine and color-ful leaves, collect your heaviest hardback books, and tear off two sheets of wax paper. With the leaves between the pa-per and all that between the books, let sit in a dry place for a week. When you return, you’ll have a memento of fall colors!

Jump Into A Pile of Leaves

Of all the fall activities for kids, this one is the most iconic! Rake up a huge pile of dry, crunchy leaves (be sure to re-move all the sticks and twigs) then have your kid(s) run and leap into it! Once inside, encourage them to toss handfuls of leaves high into the sky, and have you camera ready because leaf activities don’t get more action-packed or picturesque than this!

Leaf “Boat” Races

Maybe you’ve docked your dreams of boating for the season but crunchy leaves make great little rafts! This is one of the fall activities for kids that may conjure fond memories of Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin playing their game of “Pooh Sticks”! Simply find a flowing stream, gather up some hardy leaves, agree on a finish line (a big rock or a tree alongside the water, etc), then you and your kiddo drop one leaf at a time into the water and see whose leaf wins the race!

“Go Fishing” with Leaves

Fishing is one of the best outdoor activities for kids but with school in session and the weather changing, maybe it’s challenging to get your youngest children out to your favorite fishing hole. In this arts and crafts activity, you and your toddlers can still go fishing in the fall by safely cutting fish shapes out of colorful leaves then glueing them onto blue construction paper. This homemade pond will have a tropical feel with all those fall colors!

Here are 6 more fun things to do on weekends this fall!

Jeff Bogle
Jeff Bogle
Jeff is a dad of teen daughters, avid traveler, photographer, and freelance writer. He’s penned stories on family travel, outdoor recreation, the environment, parenting, and more for Fodor’s, Reader’s Digest, Parents Magazine, Good Housekeeping, PBS, and Esquire, among other publications. Find him on his blog, OWTK.com and on Instagram @OWTK. Jeff is also the publisher of the quarterly literary zine, Stanchion