Leaf play: 20 active games to play with a pile of leaves
Autumn leaves look like a colourful blanket on the lawn, and they offer so many fun ways for your kids to engage in active play! Grab a rake, a sweater, and this list of fall games and head out to the crisp autumn air for fun with your kids.
These games are perfect for your yard or neighbourhood park. Before you start to play, make sure the leaves are free from any sharp or unsafe items—or “gifts” that pets may have left in them!
1. The Great Leaf Leap
Bound into fall with a leafy adventure! Rake up a pile of leaves and have your kids jump into a crunchy but soft pile of fun.
2. Leafy Treasure Hunt
Gather several of your kids’ small toys, such as plastic animals, toy cars, balls, or bean bags, and hide them in a pile of leaves. Give your child a basket and send them a-hunting!
3. Leaf Mountain Challenge
While it might seem like a sneaky way to get your lawn cleaned up, you can also make raking a fun challenge! Give your kids rakes and see who can make the biggest mountain of leaves.
4. Crunch!
The sound of walking in crunchy leaves is so satisfying! Rake leaves into a pathway and have your kids walk through them, finding the crunchiest leaves to make the best crackly and scrunchy sounds.
5. Leafy Angels
Making angels on the ground isn’t just a snow activity! Rake up a pile of leaves and have your kids lie on their backs in the pile. To make an angel, have them sweep their arms and legs back and forth like they’re doing jumping jacks. When they stand up carefully, voilà—a beautiful leafy angel!
6. Let it Rain
Have your kids gather together a large pile of leaves and then have one (the tallest child or an adult is usually best) throw the leaves skyward. The kids will giggle as the “rain” falls on them. This is a great chance to jump and spin in the rain, providing all the fun of rain without the coats and boots!
7. Leaf Trail
Spread leaves across your yard and using a rake, make a winding, curvy trail for your kids to walk or run through. Pack leaves into small borders to make the trail more pronounced.
8. The Great Leaf Hunt
Rake up a pile of leaves and have your kids root through it to see if they can find leaves in certain categories. Can they find a red leaf? A green leaf? A crunchy leaf? A leaf bigger than their hand or as soft as a bunny’s tail?
9. Fill the Bucket Race
Use a bucket or laundry basket for each child who’s playing the game. Rake up a pile of leaves for each player and have the kids stand in front of their pile. Set a timer for three minutes and have the kids pick up piles of leaves in their arms and run and drop them in their bucket or basket. When the time’s up, dump the leaves and see which child has gathered the most!
10. Don’t Drop the Leaf!
Balance a leaf on your child’s head and see if they can walk from one end of an area to another. Too easy? Have them walk through a deep pile of leaves while balancing the leaf or have them hop!
11. The Great Autumn Slide
Rake up a pile of leaves and place them at the bottom of a play slide or a gentle hill. Have your kids swoosh down the slide or roll down the hill, into the pile. (Expect gaggles of laughter!)
12. Tricky Leaf Pickup
Collect a pile of leaves and see if your kids can grab one at a time using tongs or a clothespin. Have them place each leaf in a container, such as a large Tupperware. How many leaves can they collect in two minutes? This is great for working on fine motor skills.
13. Swirling Leaf Catch
Stand at a point higher than your kids (on a deck, at the top of a play structure, at an upstairs window, etc.) and drop leaves one by one to see if your kids can catch the twirling colourful whirlybirds.
14. Pull & Explore
This is a great sensory play activity for babies or toddlers. Take an empty tissue box and remove all the plastic from the top. There’s a chance the leaves that your baby will be pulling from the box might end up in their mouth so choose a variety of leaves and, if you like, wash and dry them before you fill the box.
Then give the box to your baby and encourage them to pull the leaves out. While they’ll be working on their fine motor skills as they grasp and pull the leaves, they’ll also feel the different textures, and feel curious and proud of themselves for pulling each one out.
15. Leaf Targets
Divide leaves up into piles on the ground or put them in various laundry baskets or bushels. Place the piles or containers in various positions in front of where your kids will line up. Let your kids know that if they throw a ball into a pile, they earn points. The ones closest to them might be worth one point and those further away, two points. Make a game of it!
16. The Grass is Lava
Rake your leaves into small piles from one end of your play area to the other, making sure the piles are close enough together for your kids to jump between them. Let your kids know that they have to move from one end of the piles to the other without touching the “lava” (grass or dirt) on the ground. Once your kids master balancing and hopping between the piles successfully, spread the piles further apart.
17. Fan the Leaf
Set up a start and finish line and give your kids a paper plate or piece of cardboard. Place a leaf on the ground and see if they can fan it to the finish line. Use different varieties of leaves each time or have your kids race to see whose leaf makes it across first.
18. Leaf Soup
Give your child a basin of water along with spoons and have them gather a pile of leaves of different sizes and colours. They can tear the leaves into smaller pieces and add other natural items, such as pine cones, twigs, or pieces of grass into their concoction. Mix it all together until their soup is perfect for tasting (pretend tasting, of course!).
19. Leaf Bounce
Put a tarp, towel, blanket, or parachute on the ground and have your kids rake leaves onto it. With you and your kids holding the four corners of the tarp, wave it up and down and watch the leaves bounce, swirl, and flutter.
20. Bird Nest
Get your kids to gather a pile of leaves and build a small circular wall as the base of a pretend bird nest. They can use other natural items or continue using leaves as they build. Have them press leaves into the middle to make a bowl-like shape and then continue to build up the walls. Who knows, maybe a bird will decide to use it!
