Simple Play Ideas – Autumn Imaginative Play

This simple autumn imaginative play scene is easy to set up and will keep your kids playing happily for a long time.

Sometimes you need to let your children take the lead in setting up the perfect activity.

This simple autumn/fall small world play scene began when I added some extra autumn leaves into a box and before I could put it away my preschooler had been inspired to set up his own imaginative play world.

Autumn Imaginative Play

We’d collected way more leaves than we needed to do this leaf printing activity, so I dumped them in the old fruit box that was sitting on the table, thinking I’d deal with them later.

I walked past the box of leaves again a few minutes later and saw that my preschooler had begun adding items- some stones, some tree slices, pine cones, some wooden blocks and random animals. I smiled and asked if he’d like anything else to add to his box.

“The wizard, a wolf, and some fairies.” He knew exactly what he wanted, and who was I to argue?

As I wandered in and out, doing the laundry, sweeping the floor, helping with homework, I watched as he created a little imaginative play world among the leaves in the fruit box.

He played with his autumn fairy world off and on for more than a week, adding items, crunching up the leaves, and making up stories.

Sometimes we do awesome, fancy, projects and activities, but just as often it is the simple play ideas, the chuck a few leaves in a box activities, that are the best.

How to Set Up Some Autumn Imaginative Play

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Here are some ideas you could use to set up your own simple autumn/fall imaginative play.

First you’ll need a container or area to set up your imaginative play. A cardboard box is perfect, or you could use a large plastic tray, an under bed storing container (these are the perfect height for a sensory bin or imaginative play set up and the lid means you can easily pack them away ready to play again), or even a rug on the floor.

Next, add some autumn leaves. If you are not able to collect some real ones from your backyard or a park, you could use some artificial leaves, or simply cut up some tissue paper or even scrap paper into basic leaf shapes.

Now you could add some extra accessories and figurines, or you could ask your kids what they’d like to add. Here are some suggestions for items you could add to your autumn imaginative play set up:

• Animal figurines
• Insect figurines
• Fairies and elves
• Lego minifigs
• Wooden mushrooms
• Pinecones
• Sticks
• Grass
• Tree Slices
• Small wooden blocks
• Glass gems
• Pebbles/stones
• Feathers
• Acorns

What have you got lying around that you could chuck into a box for some simple imaginative play?

More Autumn/Fall Play Ideas

If you are enjoying the autumn season and would like some more autumn themed activities, take a look at these ideas: