Young Toddler Fall Leaf Play

Last fall it became very clear to us that our young toddler loves to play in the leaves – crunch them in her fingers, chase them as the blew around the yard, and stomp in them. This was an activity that I wanted to be able to bring indoors. This activity for toddlers does not give them as much of a sensory experience as the crunching of real leaves, but it is still very fun. It also (as a mom/educator) it does take a few of the worries out of playing with real leaves – they come from natures restroom, some of trees in our area are covered with poison ivy, and bugs – just to name a few. It also eliminates one of the major concerns that are present with toddlers, everything goes into the mouth!

We went to our local dollar store, Dollar Tree (if you don’t have access to a Dollar Tree you can shop online at their website). I spent $8 on leaves. These leaves were used in both a fall sensory bin and for this activity. I pulled the leaves off the stems and put them in a small storage container. This is plenty of leaves for our young toddler; however, if you are using this activity for a bunch of toddlers I would suggest spending about $20 on leaves.

For this young toddler activity simply let them play with the leaves. Don’t worry that the leaves will be thrown around, pulled at and crumpled.

The young toddlers will be able to work their large muscles by throwing leaves around and trying to catch them. They will work fine muscles by crumpling up the leaves. Depending on the leaves you purchase the leaves will have different textures which will also be a sensory experience for the young toddlers. You could also provide the toddlers with rakes and baskets. They can rake up the leaves and pick them up to put them in the baskets.


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