The kids are all in school and already anxiously awaiting Halloween and other holidays coming up. For our school age children, it seems like there is hardly any time for play with all the fall activities. Even though this is a busy time of year, kids still have a lot of free time and rather than having them sucked into technological gadgets, TV or Video games during those free times I would like to offer up a few suggestions to still keep them actively playing.
Fall is a time where some days are nice enough to be outside playing while other days are just too cold and you want to stay inside. Having the right combination of toys that can be used both indoors and outdoors could help save your sanity and keep the kids occupied and boredom at bay. Here are some of my recommendations for some of this year’s best fall toys. Remember that kids are getting a lot of paperwork, math, science and reading in at school so they probably won’t want to come home and do more of the same type of activities that they have been doing all day so it is up to us parent’s to find toys that are different and interesting and if they can help reinforce what they are learning in school all the better.
1. Role Play outfits or costumes as they are primarily know as at this time of year just go with the month of October. Kids love to play dress up and express their imagination by pretending to be someone or something else. Whether it is a costume for Halloween or role play outfits, hats, swords, tiaras, wands, or grim reaper scythes, this type of play is great for kids working out all day pent up schoolroom energy both indoors or outside. We would like parents to remember that this is great all year long so don’t throw out or pack those outfits away after Halloween.
2. Figurines, Animals, dinosaurs, army men, football guys and soccer girls are all great toys that can be played with inside on the floor or outside in the yard. Those sandboxes are still great to set up camp in and the sand doesn’t stick to your skin as much because you’re not sweating like in the summer. We recommend ZipBins inside that provide a playmat for the floor as well as a storage container and tote to take all your figurines with you.
3. Bumper Jumpers and other bouncing toys- these are great for toddlers and preschoolers to bounce up and down on and burn up that excess energy that they have on those days when it is too cold to go run outside.4. Radio-Control cars – you can set up a circular racetrack both outdoors or in the basement. Following a track helps build coordination. Remember to get cars with controllers that have different frequencies so that more than one car can race at the same time.
5. Marble Racer Max Traxx – cars can go anywhere; through the outdoor grass jungle, sandbox dunes, upstairs banister rail or cement basement floor. Marble racers are made here in the USA. They light up and flash when you race them and can be purchased with MaxTraxx which help add a race track to your play.
6. Shrinky dinks – Always a classic to bring out on a lazy Saturday or Sunday afternoon. Color and decorate them, put them in the oven and watch them shrink. Shrinky dinks are great for making ear rings, necklaces, charms, backpack tags or magnets. Kids always have fun with them. Just remember to leave the stove light on so you can watch them shrink.
7. Alex Little Hands kits – while intended for the toddler and preschool crowd, these art and craft kits are great activities for all ages. You can choose from kits like My Tissue Art, Paper Bag Puppets, Puffy Bunch, Paper Weaving, My Collage Farm, My Sticker Art, and Clay Pictures. Older children will also have fun with Ready, Set, Paste!, and Ready, Set, Cut!, which is a great kit for helping kids learn how to use scissors. What is really nice about these kits is that you get everything you need to do 4-8 projects in each kit. The box is also a great way to store all the pieces between uses. 
8. Beleduc Puppets- These small little hand puppets are being recommended here because they are cute, inexpensive puppets of animals, birds, insects, and dinosaurs and they are great for kids to take anywhere, inside or out, for great imaginative play. I can see kids running around the house with the butterfly and duck puppets, pretending to fly. You’ve heard the expression, “when pigs fly” and there is a pig puppet in the line that could fly with the right imagination.
9. Klutz books – Klutz has a book on just about every subject that is interesting to kids. Here too they can be done at home or taken along with them. My favorites right now are “The Klutz Book of Animation,” Klutz Make Your Own Video” and “Klutz Book of Paper Fashions.” These are great books that let kids create on their own about subjects that kids really like to learn about. How fun is it to create clay animation, movie videos and for the girls, becoming a FASHIONISTA! Also very popular this time of year is the “Klutz Book of Face Painting” which will give you all sorts of creative tips for using theatrical make up for Halloween this year.
10. Kites – WHAT!!! Who flies kites in the fall? Well, I do for one. Yes, here in central Illinois, we get some really great winds in October that make kite flying even better than in the spring so don’t be afraid to get those kites out and up in the air this year. Plus the second Sunday in October is designated as World Kite Day so I’ll keep my eyes on the skies looking for them and if you’re over near Allerton Park in October and you see one flying, it just might be me and my kids on the other end of the line.
Most importantly, as always, just get out there and have fun playing and experiencing all that life has around you!
