Drifting leaves, cool breezes, and a mist is in the air: it’s fall, and it’s the season when you take some time for quiet and family. The joys of fall abound, and they’re even better when they’re shared with your grandchildren. Is your garden ready for some outdoor time with your family this fall?

1. Love Your Leaves

Fallen leaves look like work to adults, but to children they’re an invitation to play. Recruit those who love to play with leaves and do some raking. Once the leaves are in piles, you’re ready to jump in! If you’d like to use leaves for decorating, turn them into autumn crowns, string them into garlands, or attach dried leaves to a wreath to make a fall door hanging.

2. Get Decorating

Fall is the season of harvest, and it’s also the season for Halloween. Between the two, you have almost unlimited opportunities for decorating. Create Halloween art, laminate it, and tuck it into the garden beds. Use old children’s clothes and stuff them with straw to make your very own scarecrow. Take a round of string or rope and weave it through the trees to make a do-it-yourself spiderweb that the children can play on and decorate with enormous spiders. Encourage your grandchildren to get creative and adorn your garden, child-style.

3. Perfect the Pumpkin Patch

Fall is the perfect time to get busy creating your very own pumpkin patch. Grow pumpkins or corn from spring into fall and create your own miniature corn maze or tiny pumpkin patch. Carve pumpkins into little lanterns, or add googly eyes, ears, and paint for an easy, preschooler-friendly pumpkin.

4. Create Homes for Creatures

During the fall, winter birds start to move back into your garden and animals start to create quiet places to spend the winter. Children love building forts, and you can use some of the fallen leaves and garden brush to make shelters for your local birds. If you have old pieces of pottery, turn them into shelters for frogs, toads, and salamanders by nestling them into the soil. Clean up your garden, but keep long stems open for nesting mason bees and other bugs that will help your garden in the springtime.

5. Dig in the Dirt

Is fall the time for gardening galore? It is! Fall is a time to harvest the fruit and vegetables that you have left in your garden. Add straw mulch to your garden beds and let the grandchildren enjoy it as you toss it in. Throw in some leaves as well to build soil over the winter months. Digging in the soil, your grandchildren will enjoy finding worms and other creepy crawly creatures as well.

Enjoy the Wet

If you live in a place where fall brings the cool and damp, rainy days will soon be here. Instead of staring out the window and looking glum, enjoy the rain in your garden. If you have soggy areas or swales that move water from one place to another, put on your boots and enjoy some puddle stomping. Smaller children love to play with water. When the sun comes out, get out some old containers and use them to scoop water and move it from place to place, or make a dam and experiment to see how the water flows and stops.

Focus on Fun, Not Maintenance

In the fall, the leaves and the rain come pouring down. When you’re thinking about fall activities, think beyond garden cleanup and clogged drains. Embrace this cool season with your grandchildren. With gutter covers and gutter heating products, Harry Helmet can help you focus on fun in your garden this fall. Our products reduce the amount of time you need to spend on maintenance so that you can spend more time enjoying your garden with your family. Contact us today for more information..

Written by Del Thebaud