Unseasonably warm and dry weather has meant the leaves are slow to change this autumn. Finally we’re spotting the first of the fall color, and we celebrated with a nature walk and leaf activity!

First up was a walk in the woods. We brought along a paper bag to fill with leaves, and Veronika loved dropping in our treasures.

She also discovered the delightful crunch that the leaves made if she scuffed her feet through them!

Once home, we dumped out the bag of leaves so they filled an old box. I showed her how she could simply scrunch her hands through the leaves…

…or toss them out and then fill the box back up again.

The drier leaves crumbled in her fingers, to her delight. Or, she could rip up the softer ones into small pieces, which kept her busy for quite some time.

Thanks to a gentle breeze, she soon had the idea to toss the leaves off our patio. I loved watching the wheels of her brain turn as she discovered that leaves don’t go as far as other things she can throw, like pebbles and acorns!

Then we picked up armfuls and tossed them over her head, where they scattered to the patio.

Or landed right in her hair.

As a final component of the activity, we took some of the prettiest ones inside and I showed her how to press them onto sticky contact paper.

Fold the paper over itself, and you have an instant autumn placemat!

In sum, there was so much joy to be had in this first batch of fall leaves!