At The Goslings, we love being outside with the children all year round, but Autumn offers extra ‘treasures’ such as Autumn leaves, conkers, pine cones and acorns. The children love finding these items in the garden and we encourage them to play safely with them. It is amazing what they learn while playing with these items, from new words, through to growing their understanding of the world and what the different seasons bring.
Conkers, pine cones and acorns are great for imaginative play in the outside kitchen – becoming ‘pine cone soup’ or ‘acorn crumble’. They are a good way to introduce maths, through play, to the children talking about the different shapes, textures, colours and counting.
Sticks can be used to make numbers or your child’s name. Being able to recognise their name is important for when they start school to help them find their peg, drawer or drinks bottle.
When the leaves start to fall, the children love helping us clear them from the patio to make it safe and not slippery for them to run around. We have brushes that they can use to pile them up and get a system going of tractor drivers and trailer loaders to take them away! This is great for working as a team, taking turns and for getting physical exercise.
Our topic this term is ‘All about Me’. Using materials from the garden the children can make pictures of themselves and the rest of their family!
Other gardening activities we will be doing include, planting spring bulbs, talking about harvest time and what is ready to pick in the garden now, such as apples - unfortunately the squirrels have had the apples from The Goslings' apples trees this year, but hopefully we will still be able to make some apple crumbles.
We would love to see what your children have found in their gardens or on Autumn walks.
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