Autumn is here, but we don’t want to think about winter just yet. We enjoy new colors—another palette decorating our environment. We don’t want to stop being outdoors; we want to make the most of it before the weather decides our outings for us. For this reason, this month I’ve decided to share some ideas to bring nature into our programs and continue nurturing the curiosity of our little ones.

I want to invite you to create a surprise box, an autumn box. Let’s feed the curiosity of the little ones with a box that stimulates their senses, creativity, and intrigue. This box should be prepared before the children arrive at the program. Inside, we will place leaves of various sizes and colors. Every week, we will add more leaves. Around them, we will draw their different shapes, paint their various colors, observe their textures, and see how they change over time.

By the end of the month, we will have built a fictional ecosystem of activities using natural leaves. Our children will have explored nature with their fingers, but they will also have replicated it. They will have seen different shapes, different colors, recognized that time passes, that nature changes, and that diversity flows. The autumn box—a surprise box for a whole month’s learning using natural tools.