Autumn baskets - discovering squash and autumn

I've been talking and showing a lot of "autumn" to E who is delighted with the falling leaves, the chilly morning, the apple picking and everything else that comes with it.

I really wanted to bring a little of it indoors for E to really put his hands in it.  So I created two baskets for him (and the oldest as well) to discover.

The squash basket:

I put together a basket of squash to be explored. They are rather small, perfect for handling in the hand of a small child.

E loves to get them out and we name them when he does. We've been talking a lot about colors, so he points to the colors for us to name them.

For the benefit of my oldests, I have gotten a magnifying glass out for them to really look at the squash. I have also left cards with the names of the squash near the basket and a book about squash for them to look through. 

 I like being able to set a multi age activity that has an interest for everybody.

The sensorial autumn basket

M has been asking for one in a while.  A sac of black eye bean seen at the grocery store inspired it

I wanted to add to it every bit of autumn.  The falling leaves, the acorns, nuts, halloween, and so a little bit of everything created this.

You'd think children get over these at some point.  Well, I can say that this is a hit for everybody, older and younger.  E loves just playing with the beans, while M and W really uses the entire material at disposal to pour, stir, hide, count and so on.  

Just a note of caution though...

if you use beans with a young children, make sure that you always have the child under supervision so that he does not put the beans in his mouth and choke.