Fall is FINALLY Here, Please Tell the Weather | Day 11
On Day 11, September 24, 2026, I can say, it’s finally fall! Autumn is our favorite, which means I’ve been pulling out some of our favorite autumn activities that I haven’t used with my own children in nearly 10 to 15 years. I am so excited to bring these projects back and introduce them to my four-year-old triplet nephews for our Waldorf-inspired kindergarten.
We began by exploring a basket filled with some of our fall materials. There was a little wet-felted pumpkin filled with walnuts, our weather and calendar peg dolls, and some sweet autumn peg dolls that immediately caught the children’s attention. Of course, they wanted to take the peg dolls home, so instead we decided that we’ll make some of our own in an upcoming class. They also loved the little felted pumpkin and want to make one of those too. Just one basket gave us so many ideas for projects we can work on throughout the season.
The first thing they wanted to do was crack walnuts. I have this beautiful wooden walnut cracker, and each child took a turn cracking a walnut. We tried to keep the shells intact because I would love to turn some of them into little walnut-shell sailboats later. Even something as simple as cracking nuts becomes such satisfying work for young children.
Meanwhile, my 11-year-old nephew peeled a pomegranate for us. We saved all of the pomegranate skins because I want to experiment with them for a natural dyeing project later. I love how one activity naturally becomes material for another. Very little needs to be wasted when we begin looking at the things around us as materials we can work with.
Our kitchen work for the day was preparing two different varieties of winter squash, a honeynut squash and a red kuri squash, which was actually new to me. The children scooped out all of the seeds, and we roasted the squash alongside chicken for our fall meal. My 11-year-old nephew carefully processed and saved the seeds so that we can plant them later in the season.
The children were especially charmed by the little wet-felted pumpkin that I made with my own children many years ago. Seeing them enjoy something that has been tucked away for so long makes bringing these old projects back feel especially meaningful. We’ll be making our own felted pumpkins in one of our upcoming classes, along with another wet-felted wool ball that we plan to dye with madder root. There are so many beautiful autumn projects ahead of us, and I’m delighted that the children are just as excited about them as I am.
And then, of course, it was time for free play.
Honestly, I don’t think we ever leave enough time for imaginative play. I’m realizing more and more that our classes probably need to be longer because this is the part of the day when the children become completely absorbed in what they are doing. They need enough uninterrupted time to create their play scenarios, develop them, change them, and really live inside that imaginative world.
Our new wooden play structure has been wonderful for this. The children draped it with all of our different fabrics and turned it into a little fort. Then they incorporated the slide, first using it as the entrance and then flipping it over so they could climb out the other side. It was completely adorable.
At first, I worried that the play structure might be too large for our kindergarten room, but now I think it is exactly the right size. It gives all three children enough room to play together and leaves so many possibilities for how they can transform it. It is from Head, Hands, and Heart Boutique in Canada, and I’ll include more information in the description box.
I love bringing the children projects and activities that meant so much to me when my own children were little, but I equally love stepping back and watching what happens when they are given time for their own play. There is so much learning happening in those moments. They are creating, problem-solving, negotiating, moving their bodies, using their imaginations, and building an entire world together.
Eventually, it was time to gather their things, say goodbye, and wrap up another beautiful fall kindergarten day.
