Falling for Fall

Holy moly the weather we are having here in New England is COLD!  Last week we had snow and a wind storm.  I am not quite ready to go into hibernation mode and I really wish I could head south along with all the birds!  I hope they all made it out of dodge already or they are having a tough, cold trip this year.  Earlier this week we had huge flocks of blackbirds pass through our neighborhood, as they do every year.  It's really neat to watch hundreds of birds foraging together in the leaves and grass.  When they fly they are huge mass blackness against the blue sky.  The Northern Juncos have not arrived here yet from Canada, but I expect them any day now.



We have been watching all the winter preparations going on around our yard.  The squirrels are foraging for food, as are the chipmunks.  All of our maples, birch, tulip and sassafras trees have lost their leaves.
Yesterday we spend the afternoon identifying leaves we found and doing acorn races down the driveway.  There are so many fun activities to do in the fall!

My kids spent the summer collecting rocks from various locations.  We had rocks all over the house!  Now I am happily converting that into collecting items they find that have fallen from trees and from around the yard.  All kids love collecting things and collections are especially handy to help them learn sorting , counting, comparing and contrasting.  Here's how you can help your children collect Fall items:

1) Ask you children to find a boxes, jars or plastic containers from your recyclables bin.  They can paint or decorate them prior to heading outside.
2) Once outside look for items on the ground.  You can look for  items in several categories.

• Seeds - Maple "helicopter" seeds, acorns, hazelnuts, rose hips, various cones, chestnuts, berries
• Leaves of all varieties and colors
• Twigs and branches
• Spent fern and flower fronds

Warning:  Do not let your children collect fungi or berries that could be poisonous.  If there is any question in your mind a "no touch" policy is best.

3) Spread all the items they have found out onto the lawn and have them sort them by color, type, size, etc.
4) Once you are finished investigating, you can use the items to make fun things like masks, decorative hats, mobile and much more.  Put all they items into the various containers, lable them and keep them inside so you have natural items to use in artwork or creations throughout the winter!

Check back next week for more fun Fall activities.  My next topic will be how to creat elf houses in your yard. Now go jump in a leaf pile!