Sensory Rich Fall Activities

Fall is here and is my favorite time of the year! Fall has so many opportunities to get your kiddo engaged in sensory rich activities! This season can also bring some difficulties or challenges; the weather changes, allergies can worsen, change in clothing (long sleeve and pants), change in routine from a summer schedule and sun set and rising changes. To some these changes have little impact but to children, especially children with sensory processing difficulties, these changes can cause an immense amount of stress. Below are some fun fall activities that OT’s love to recommend!

1. Raking Leaves

• Raking is a fantastic heavy work activity that requires bilateral coordination and eye-hand coordination. Follow up with picking up heavy piles and placing in a bag for additional proprioceptive input. Also, get creative and have your little one organize shapes and colors, and use for a fall craft.

2. Coloring over leaves

• We love this one; it’s a great tactile activity that requires visual-motor integration, works on grasping of writing instruments and stabilization using the “helper”, non-dominant hand.

3. Visit the pumpkin patch and apple orchard!

• Pumpkin picking, apple picking & pulling wagons offer great opportunities for strengthening the upper body, building endurance and working with the eyes & hands.

4. Corn Painting

• Chuck the corn, pour paint out on paper plates, roll the corn in the paint, and get creative — roll the corn like a rolling pin to make unique designs . This craft is good for visual and emotional expression, spatial intelligence, color recognition, and proprioception.