19 Fall Outdoor Activities for Toddlers That Won’t Cost You More Than $20

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When the weather starts to change, you might think that fun fall outdoor activities for toddlers are out of the question. Truth is, it’s the perfect time to implement some fun fall activities that the whole family will love. Especially the toddlers.

When thinking about a fun way to play in the fall, it’s best to put fun into different categories. Not only will it be helpful for you, but also for your child. Knowing the type of fun they are having as they get older.

Late summer is a great time to start planning outdoor adventures for the fall. It’s the best time to see what the new season has to offer since things can change year over year.

There are so many fun things that you can do that are affordable. Also don’t require you to spend a lot of money. When you think about it, younger kids have the best time doing things that are little to no cost.

This post is about fall outdoor activities for toddlers.

The fall season is the best time of year for so many things. You get to dress up the front door with cool decorations. It’s a great time of year to try out cool fun outdoor activities. Also, you get to see the leaves change colors which is cool. There are also so many fun fall games that you can do with your toddler. Some include football, pumpkin games, and more.

If you have a younger toddler, check out my post on fall activities for 2 year olds. Some of the activities in this post might be a bit advanced for them. Some of these activities will be beneficial for toddlers who are between 3 to 4 years old.

Younger toddlers will still have a great time with these autumn activities, but some will work best for older toddlers. If your toddler has a fall birthday, my post on 2 year old birthday party themes will be great for this time of year especially if their birthday is at the beginning of the autumn months like September or October.

Fall activities for preschoolers

If there is one thing that toddlers love to do is run and jump around. These activities you can do in your own backyard. The goal is to make sure we can get your toddler to work on their fine motor skills as well and have some fun. We want them to have so much fun they don’t know they are working on all of these important skills for development.

1. Picking up pine cones and making fun crafts from them.
2. Helping to make a leaf pile and them jumping in it before it gets picked up on trash day. You can make a small or huge pile of leaves to play with.
3. Create a leaf slide where you can take the leaves and slide across them (like if you are doing a water slide.) This is recommended for older kids as this outdoor activity if not done correctly could hurt your toddler.
4. Take a bike ride. If you have a big yard, have your kid ride around in the yard to burn off some energy, and it’s a great way to get some other fun activities into the day.
5. Visit a corn maze. If you live in South Jersey or Philadelphia area, there are lots of great mazes in the area. You can usually find them in areas that have a lot of farms.

Outdoor fall activities for toddlers

If your toddler loves adventure go to a local park. Here are a few ideas that you can do at the park that your toddler will have lots of fun and so will the whole family. You can bring some of your favorite books to live by discovering some of the items outside while you are playing with your toddler.

1. Nature walk – while on the trail, take their little hands and have them touch and feel the different shapes they see like sticks and trees.
2. Bird watching – while at the park, have your toddler pick out different birds that they see. Depending on where you live, you may find that turkeys, swans, and geese are released for a few weeks and you can catch them eating and drinking out in the field.
3. Taking a wagon ride – one of my all-time favorite things to do in fall is to go to a pumpkin patch and ride on a wagon. The wagon takes you all around the patch where you can pick the perfect pumpkin to bring home and do fun fall projects with it.
4. Apple picking – Visiting an apple orchard is also another run place to ride on a wagon.
5. Scavenger hunt – you can really make this an awesome sensory play experience hack. You can place different items around the yard and have your toddler find them. You can even do this on a rainy day and still have fun.
6. Create a leaf maze – make a maze with the loose leaves that you have around the house. The autumn leaves make for great play time. You can add small toys to include some sensory play as well to make sure you are working on those fine motor skills.

Toddler pumpkin crafts

Growing up, some of my favorite fall activities involved pumpkins. There are so many things you can do with pumpkins it s no wonder why it’s a favorite season of many.

Here are some fun ideas that you can do with pumpkins that even the adults will find some enjoyment in. There is no particular order that you have to do these crafts. Finding time to make sure that you can get them all done is really the goal.

1. Take pumpkin seeds and put them on some craft paper to make art projects.
2. You can make a sensory bin out of fall favorites like pumpkin seeds, leaves, apple seeds, and more, and have them close their eyes and guess what it is. Pumpkin slime makes a great sensory experience for young kids since it really could be tons of things they are touching and feeling.
3. Go on a leaf hunt. Have your toddler gather up as many leaves as they can and whoever has the most wins a prize.
4. Make leaf crowns and put them on around the pumpkins. Emphasize the different colors of the leaves to make the crowns stand out. Kids of all ages will love this!
5. If your child really likes pumpkins, have them make their version of a pumpkin spice drink. You can add what you like to it, including aspects of the fresh pumpkin to make the drink pop.

Fall art projects

Young children love being creative. What better way to do this than with fall crafts. These work well as outdoor play activities because you can do them just before the cooler weather comes and it’s still a wonderful way to have a nice fall activity.

Remember, just because it’s cooler temperatures doesn’t mean you can’t have fantastic fun. Here is a list of some fall art projects anyone can do and it’s affordable.

1. Finger paints – grab a little pumpkin and have your toddler stick their hand in some paint and have fun. You can paint the pumpkin different colours to really make it your own.
2. Leaf rubbings – you can go outside and pick up different leaves and make a craft project out of them. It’s a really fun activity because all you need is some plain paper and some coloured crayons. Bonus points if you decide to use some paint.
3. Play trains – Get your toddler a train set and put fall leaves around it to simulate the fall season. Another great idea is to play with the train set outside to give it a more realistic feel.
4. See if your local high school has some fall events you can attend where you can get involved with the nature activities they have.

Trendy toddler clothes

While we have spent a large part of the post talking about all the things to do with your toddler outdoors, making sure they are dressed correctly for the cold weather is equally as important.

You don’t want your toddler getting sick. Last fall, I invested a lot in toddler fall fashion because living in the Mid-Atlantic, the weather changes quickly after the middle of September. Being able to get a head start on shopping is one of my personal favorite ways of preparing for fall.

Some universal items to make sure your toddler has are hats, gloves, and scarves. Everything else will vary based on where you live. Some places stay milder longer so you can push getting those items out longer but having gloves and hats all year round is a parent hack for sure.

Carter’s always has deals on clothing especially if you have a boy (like I do) they seem to have a large selection of toddler clothes that you can find what you are looking for regardless of the season or size. Target and Walmart also have items that work for toddler, but I find that Carter’s have better sets that go together.

Toddler rain boots target

Getting a good pair of rain boots is also a good investment. When playing outside in the fall, the mud can make for a very messy ride home. Typically buying shoes in the correct size for your toddler is the best option.

Rain boots already have an awkward fit so you don’t want to oversize and then have your toddler trip and fall. Toddlers are still growing at a decent rate so you will still have to buy a new pair every season.

Lastly, a good raincoat will help your toddler regulate the temperature based on how it is outside. Again, depending on where you live a full-on winter coat might not be necessary. A good rain coast can also serve as a light jacket. The linter that is in the jacket is the perfect mix between having some insulation to keep them warm when it might be a cool day raining. Or when its a warmer day with the rain and a light jacket is needed.

Art and craft blog

If you are looking for great craft ideas, check out this awesome blog, Happy Hooligans. It’s a Canadian-based blog with great ideas for crafts for kids. Another great website is Red Ted Art. Red Ted Art is a UK-based blog that was named after the son.

Their sites do have affiliate links. There are so many unique way to have fall outdoor activities for toddlers that if you don’t live in the United States, checking out other bloggers can give you great ideas on unique ways to make this fall season different than the last season.

Going outside during the most beautiful time of year to have fun learning has its benefits. The natural environment allows your toddler to have extra fun since it will be the first time they experience fall in this manner. Older children will love doing some of their favourite fall activities every year. You can even go as far as to make a fall bucket list of things that you want to accomplish each year to make it more fun and exciting.

This post was about fall outdoor activities for toddlers.