A list of 30 September activities for kids that includes autumn leaf crafts, apple recipes and activities, seasonal art ideas, book suggestions, and more!
Updated April 2023
Happy September, friends!
If you’re in the northern hemisphere, this is the beginning of autumn for you. It’s the time of year when the leaves begin turning a rainbow of colors, you can bake with apples and spices, get your sweaters out to warm up in the chillier air, and the kids head back to school.
Would you like some ideas of creative activities to do with your children this month?
We hope so, because we’ve put together this list of September activities for kids!
Plus a list of favorite children’s picture books for this month.
(And, if you’d like a printable version of the list, scroll down to the bottom of this post to sign up for a handy PDF version!)
30 Creative September Activities for Kids
12 Autumn Leaf Crafts and Activities
1. Try your hand at Zentangle Leaves.
2. Go on a Fall Nature Walk together and collect autumn leaves, acorns, pinecones, and other nature items.
3. Make Nature Crowns with brown paper bags and duct tape (use autumn flowers and leaves).
4. Make an Autumn Leaf Wreath together with doodled leaves or painted leaves.
5. Create Autumn Leaf Suncatchers.
6. Make Autumn Leaf Art (with pastels or paints).
7. Paint Coffee Filter Leaves with watercolors.
8. Make Melted Crayon Leaf Suncatchers with crayon shavings and waxed paper.
9. Paint Glue Resist Leaves rich autumn colors.
10. Use fall leaves, either plain or ones that you’ve decorated, to make a Leaf Mandala for your wall.
11. Collect leaves of various sizes and shapes to make Autumn Leaf Paintings (leaf rubbing with watercolor resist.)
12. Make Fall Nature Pendants with clay printing!
4 Apple Activities, Crafts & Recipes
13. Go Apple Picking or make a trip to your local farmer’s market to choose apples. Make sure you get several different varieties and have a taste test!
14. Try Apple Printing and make a DIY Apple Bunting.
15. Bake an Apple Bundt Cake together (or your favorite apple treat!)
16. Whip up a quick batch of No-Cook Playdough, add 1 Tablespoon of cinnamon, and call it Apple Pie Playdough. Use it to make pretend apples, cookies, cupcakes and more.
7 Kids Art Activities with an Autumn Twist
17. Try DIY Scratch Art using autumn colors and draw leaves, trees, acorns, animals, spider webs, and more.
18. Pointillism Art: use the eraser side of a pencil and a stamp pad or a Q-tip and paints to make animals, trees, or designs. Draw a tree trunk with black or brown marker (or tape) and put out paints or stamp pads in autumn colors.
19. Collage with the Autumn Harvest. Use glue to make mixed media collage art with dried beans, lentils, dried corn, seed heads, and pasta shapes.
20. Do Scribble Drawings and fill in the sections with watercolor paint in autumn colors.
21. Try some Shadow Art (set up objects in front of a light source and trace the shadows). Try using sticks, leaves, seed heads, or gourds with interesting shapes.
22. Take some paper and colored pencils or watercolors (or even your easel) outside for some Fall Observational Drawing and painting.
23. Collect pinecones, seed pods, bark and other natural materials and create a Nature Mobile.
4 Crafts to Make and Play with
24. Construct a Lighted Cardboard Dollhouse.
25. Make a fall themed sensory bin for lots of fun (and taste-safe!) exploration.
26. Make beautiful Rock Collage Art with Autumn Leaves to give as gifts, play with, or use as decoration.
27. Make a DIY Magnetic Building Set with Cardboard for lots of building fun.
3 More September Activities for Kids
28. Create a beautiful hanging DIY lantern with glass jars and go for a candlelit nature walk with family & friends.
29. Make your own Fall Sensory Bin with wheat berries, rice, or sand plus scoops, animal figurines, nature items, and/or red buttons or pompoms.
30. Head to the library and check out some Books about Autumn. You can also begin building a seasonal library for your home.
Need some suggestions? Ask your children’s librarian or try some of these:
- Wild Child by Lynn Plourde
- One Red Apple by Harriet Ziefert
- Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
- Fletcher and the Falling Leaves by Julia Rawlinson
- We’re Going on a Leaf Hunt by Steve Metzger
- I Know It’s Autumn by Eileen Spinelli
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