Fun For Fall

Add meaning to your fall with these fun-filled family activities for the season.

Time to push aside your child’s back-to-school blues with some creative and easy family activities to do this autumn season! While the fall season is rarely seen in Karachi, it is one of the most colourful seasons to look forward to in the Northern parts of Pakistan, such as Islamabad and beyond. But who says that Karachiites can’t make the best of what they get? Whichever city you live in, make this fall fun for your children and yourself with Ms.T’s list of seven cool crafts.

Seasons greetings



One of the simplest activities you can do with your little angels is potato stamping. All you need is a few potatoes, a couple of shades of paint and a poster board. Ask your children to make fall greeting cards for their family and friends. To make the cards, cut out poster boards in desired sizes and then split the potatoes in half. Once this is done, carve designs on the insides of the potatoes (you can make flowers, faces or patterns). Have your children dip the potatoes in colour and stamp them on the card. Since the theme is autumn, choose colours like rust, orange, black, brown and yellow.

Autumn Art

Ask your children to gather different types of colourful leaves to see how the seasons change. Once the leaves have been collected, give them a sheet of orange, red or yellow construction paper and have them make a leaf collage for you. Put the dried leaves to good use and allow your child’s creativity to flow for a beautiful piece of art work which can go on your refrigerator door until the next season starts!

Plan your planting



In Autumn, the trees are changing colour and shedding leaves and it is the perfect time for you to plant seeds for an early bloom in spring. Choose an area in your garden that receives maximum sunlight and get your children to plant new trees and flowers there. They will not only love the digging, shovelling and watering the plants, but waiting until spring to see it sprout will also instill a sense of patience in them.

Funky owls



Children will love these little guys hanging in their rooms. All you need is empty toilet paper rolls, colourful construction paper, some glue, scissors and fishing wire. First cover each roll with construction paper completely and choose one side for the ‘head’ of the owl, pressing an inwards edge there with your thumb. Then press down the parallel edge to match the other and make it stick using glue. You will now see a curve. For the wings, cut a circle out of the remaining construction paper and then cut the circles in half. Two circles as eyes and a triangle for the nose work best. Allow your children to decorate their owls however they want and use a fishing wire to hang them from the ceilings or windowsills.

Family tree



Creating a family tree is perhaps the best way to use fallen leaves, and what’s more, you can get the grandparents involved too! Invest in a big, white poster board and some brown and green foam sheets, a stapler and black marker. Have the youngsters cut out leaves from the green foam sheet, big enough to be written on. The brown sheet can be used to make a trunk and branches. Give the kids the task of finding out who was born when from their grandparents and then help them staple their leaves. Alternatively, they can paste real dried leaves onto the white poster and stick pictures of family members on them. Either way, this activity is sure to keep your little ones occupied for a long time.

Catch the sun

In other parts of the world, the month of October is closely related to big, orange pumpkins and Halloween but it is rare to find the same spirit here in Pakistan. No worries, though, with this fun pumpkin sun-catcher, you don’t have to do too much to bring the magic of fall into your homes. Invest in a black foam sheet, orange crepe paper and a sheet of contact paper. Cut the thin outline of a pumpkin and set it aside. Then take the contact paper and place it downward facing (be careful it’s super sticky). Tear small pieces of the orange crepe paper and stick it onto the contact until it is fully covered. Add another layer of contact paper with the sticky side down this time and tape the black pumpkin outline onto it. After you trim the edges, you will have a good-looking pumpkin sun-catcher ready. Place it on your child’s window or take it along when heading out with your little one.

Published in The Express Tribune, Ms T, September 22^nd, 2013.