Autumn is here and its breathtaking colors delight the eye. For garden owners, however, the joy is only short-lived, because with the falling leaves comes the annoying raking of leaves. TheGardening in autumnHowever, it can also be fun if the whole family joins in. In this article we reveal how you can get your children excited about raking leaves and turn the work into a fun family activity!
Raking Leaves in Fall: Why You Should Involve Kids?
Unlike adults, raking leaves is a real joy for children. Or at least it can be if you do it right. So you can turn the time you have to rake the leaves in the garden into a fun family activity. This way you can create great memories with the children and at the same time get willing helpers for the clean-up work. Children have quite a lot of energy, so make it easier for everyone by involving the whole family.
How to get your children excited about raking leaves
When it's fun, kids don't need much persuasion. Sometimes you just have to think of something to get the little ones excited about an otherwise unpleasant activity. And raking the leaves is no exception. Try these ideas to get your kids involvedRaking leaves in autumnto inspire.
Provide gardening tools for children
One of the best ways to make raking leaves fun is to provide younger children with their own rake, wheelbarrow, etc. so they don't feel left out. When they have the right tools, they even feel inspired to help.
Form a team
Make your weekly or monthly leaf raking an event and invite family, friends and neighbors to a “leaf raking party.” Your children will love chatting with friends and relatives while gardening.
- Organize fun games
To make the otherwise tedious task more exciting, think about somefun gamesto get the job done faster. For example, plan a prize for the person with the largest pile of leaves, the second largest pile, and the third largest pile. You can also give a prize for the most enthusiastic member of your cleanup team. Children love all kinds of rewards and prizes.
- Thank you for the help
Reward everyone with food and drinks after the work is done. Prepare various autumnal delicacies such as autumn cookies or candied apples. You can also offer your help in return. Lots of hands make raking leaves easier and a lot more fun.
Playing with the leaves
As you rake, make sure to enjoy all the fun things along the way. On autumn days, the children really enjoy gathering all the leaves into a pile and playing around in them. And the parents are just as happy when their offspring are having so much fun. Below we've rounded up the best ideas for playing with fall leaves:
- Simply have children jump into a large pile of leaves, or create a series of smaller piles and ask your child to jump from one to the next without touching the ground in between.
- Take turns driving the wheelbarrow or have a little race if there is more than one wheelbarrow.
- Or have a little competition to see who can collect the most leaves.
- You can also use the leaves to build great labyrinths that the children can run through. The only condition would be that the little ones rake up the leaves again afterwards.
- Take the children on a leaf hunt and arrange the leaves you find in a row to form an autumnal rainbow! Younger children will be very happy about this.
- Plan a treasure hunt by hiding various fall items (e.g. mini pumpkins, cookie cutters, sheet of themed stickers, orange crayons, etc.) in the piles of leaves. Give the children a list of all the things waiting to be discovered and get started.
Build shelter for hedgehogs
Don't know what to do with the leaves you collected? Just take the time and use it to build a hedgehog castle in a secluded spot in the garden. Gather the leaves into a pile of leaves where hedgehogs can hibernate undisturbed. You can make the shelter in the shape of a castle using a few branches and thus make it more stable.
Teach the children something new
While you rake the leaves with the kids, the little ones can learn something new about them. So teach children how to distinguish the different types of leaves. Explain to them why the leaves change color and fall from the trees every fall.
After raking the leaves, make crafts with the collected leaves
Crafting with autumn leavesis really fun for children. Encourage the children to help you rake up the leaves and promise them a fun craft right after. After you're done raking the leaves, collect some of the prettiest leaves and use them as craft materials for creative fall projects. There are a variety of crafts that use leaves. A quick search on our site will bring a lot of inspiration.
A simple and beautiful idea, for example, would be to make a wreath that you can hang on the front door. You can also use acorns, pine cones, or sticks that you picked up along the way while raking leaves. The natural material can also be usedCreate beautiful autumn pictures with children, which will certainly make the little ones happy.
Raking leaves to music is more fun!
And how about setting up a speaker outside and having a little party while you work? Let the music set the rhythm and you'll be surprised how much faster the work gets done when you're having fun.
