Leaf Pile Leap and Rainbow Sort

What you need

• Rake, 1

How to do it

Grown-up prep: Pick a soft, grassy spot away from fences, rocks and the street. Handle the rake yourself or stay right beside your child while they use it, since the tines can poke or scrape. Before anyone jumps, sweep your hands and feet through the pile together to pull out sticks, pinecones and anything sharp. Lay the rake flat with the tines facing down, well away from the jumping zone.

1. Rake the leaves into one big pile, keeping the tines pointing down. Ask for help if you need it
   Ask: How tall do you think our leaf mountain can get?
2. Lay the rake flat, tines down, far away from where you'll jump.
3. Be a stick hunter! Pat and fluff the pile and pull out sticks.
4. Count down from three and JUMP into the pile! Fluff it up and jump again.
   Ask: What does it sound like when you land? Crunchy, swishy, or something else?
5. Sort an armful of leaves into little piles by color.
6. Pick one color pile and line the leaves up from tiniest to biggest.
7. Make a rainbow line on the grass: red, orange, yellow, green, then brown.
   Ask: Is there a leaf that's two colors at once? Where should it go in our rainbow?
8. Step back and admire your rainbow, then rake the leaves into a pile again. Ask for help if you need it
9. Take one last big leap! Then show a friend, or sort a new rainbow.
   Ask: What else outside could you sort into a rainbow next?

Play it again

• Shape detectives: sort the leaves by shape, like pointy, round or wiggly edges.
• Leaf line race: see who can line up ten leaves from smallest to biggest first.
• Mystery leaf: one person picks a favorite leaf and everyone else asks yes or no questions to guess it.