Easy Play Idea: Autumn Sensory Box

Autumn is here! It's one of our favourite seasons here at my house. The leaves are turning colours, the air is crisp, the evenings are beautiful, the afternoon sun is warm and welcome, and the lady bugs are everywhere! We have put together a discovery box to celebrate the coming of Autumn. This discovery box is chock full of fall goodies. There are so many textures, smells, and colours, all within a 20 foot radius of our home. And almost everything in the box was free. That's the best news of all! Now the children can play and discover Autumn even when it's cold and rainy outside. There have been many discussions about the items in the box, so be ready for a continuous stream of questions, and exclamations from the older crowd! 

How To Make Your Own Autumn Sensory Box

1. Choose a container or box. I used an old wine crate to hold our sensory items, but you could use any sort of basket or bowl or plastic container.

2. Gather materials from around your neighbourhood. Here is a sample of things you might want to use...

I made sure to gather leaves from the same tree that showed the progression of the autumn colour change so the children could examine this phenomenon right up close...

I also chose to use some clippings from plants from our garden that were still growing or had dried up, like the rosemary and the chives, to add a scent factor to our sensory box.

The ladybugs are, I'll admit, the most favourite component in the sensory box. I added them because the children wanted SO badly to bring every single ladybug they found outside INTO the house. I explained to the kids that ladybugs needed to stay free and in the wild to be able to live and take care of their families. We added plastic ones instead.

3. Add magnifying glasses, cups, scoops, tongs or whatever tools you might think would be helpful in extending the play. The squeezy tongs are the most used tool in our autumn box. They make really great ladybug catchers and require such focus and small motor control.

This little discovery box is so simple to put together, and will provide so much sensory stimulation for small children, I really hope you find time to make one for your home! Happy Autumn, everyone!