Outdoors activities to do with your children
Autumn has always been my favorite season, so of course I have activities to do with kids “en plein air”!
Plus, London is full of parks which in autumn are amazing, so let’s try to see what we can do!
For kids with special needs and sensory challenges, the outdoors is the perfect sensory playground.
Rolling down a hill encourages large motor coordination, vestibular orientation and motor planning. If you have a child who doesn’t like to roll, get a cardboard square and find a dry grassy hill to slide down.
Jumping in the leaves is a great workout and sensory integration therapy. Children will love to hear the “crunchy” sound of the leaves and it’s important for them to find their coordination stopping and jumping up and down!
Seasonal treasure hunt is a fun way to learn new objects around this season! Red leaf, yellow leaf, pinecone, naked stick, rock, burr and so on. If your child can write and/or read, you can also draw a map with him! Then let him free to go and find his treasure! You can even pull one object from the bag, hide it and see if they notice which one is missing.
Running and walking in the park is so much fun! Again, here you can develop motor skills, and do games as stop and go, chase, tag, hide and seek. All of these activities are easier to do in a playground instead to be indoors.
Pumpkins activities because when you say autumn, you say pumpkin! You can make a face, but you can also just have your kids dig out the guts with you. It’s a great tactile, sensory activity. Have them separate the seeds from the guts. You can dry the seeds, count the seeds and even cook them once back home!
Collect conkers, grab a bag and see how many conkers you can collect. Use them to play the classic game, or try some arts and crafts at home.
These are just some of my idea, but feel free to suggest more and don’t be scared: let your creativity takes place!
Enjoy the weather, the smells, the feel and the joy that comes with a great sensory outing this fall. You won’t regret it!
Flavia Capoano 