Do you need to get out of the house? Need more ways to entertain you and your baby this fall? Make a cool or rainy fall walk into a fun walk – it doesn’t take much!
1. Go outside in the rain or just after a rain. Where I live, it rains a lot in the fall and winter. In fact, the year that my daughter was born, we broke the winter rain record and had rain for more than 30 days in a row. Needless to say, we went outside in the rain.
Invest in a good pair of rain pants, a rain jacket, and a hat. I find that hats that are separate from the rain jacket work best, because they let your baby have peripheral vision. Find a safe place and let your baby crawl around on the grass.
2. Show your baby how the rain collects on leaves. Pour the raindrops onto her hands or make them jump up into the air.
3. Enjoy fall smells! Go out to find some fall leaves. Smell the wet and the dry leaves. Talk about the differences. Yes, I know that your baby can’t talk, but chattering to your baby helps her develop language – and it gives you a reason to talk to yourself, which is always useful!
4. Take your baby outside in a carrier, and jump into puddles. Or take your almost-walking baby out to visit the puddles herself. Remember to pull the rain pants over the rain boots, unless you’re looking for the squishy boot effect.
5. Look for animals that are most active in the fall. Look for snails in the rain or morning dew. Watch the geese flying. Search for squirrels hoarding food for winter.
6. Feel fall textures. Feel the difference between crunchy leaves and wet leaves. Feel the outsides of smooth and bumpy pumpkins.
7. Enjoy the falling leaves! Jump in them, hide in them, and make them into piles.
8. If you live somewhere with maple trees, they are dropping their seeds right now. Find a brown half of a maple seed and toss it up into the air. Watch it helicopter to the ground.
9. Look for pine cones, nuts, and other natural goodies. Make a collection in the middle of the table. Find some larger items that baby can use as toys.
10. Sit outside with a blanket and a cup of tea and look at the stars and the fall moon. Smell the air, enjoy the evening, and smile at your baby!