Here’s a really fun small world perfect for Halloween- pumpkin patch small world! We used real hay and soil in this hands-on play invitation. Such a great outdoor sensory activity to encourage all kinds of pretend play right outside!

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Invitation to Play: Pumpkin Patch Small World Sensory Play

Lucy is so excited to head to the pumpkin patch this fall and choose her Halloween pumpkin! She has been talking about it frequently over the last few weeks. Lucy’s excitement for her upcoming trip the pumpkin patch inspired me to create our latest play invitation~ a small world sensory play pumpkin patch!

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Materials for Halloween Sensory Play

• Some type of large container to set up your play area (We used Step2 WaterWheel Activity Play Table.)
• Hay
• Dirt
• Mini toy pumpkins (from our local craft store)
• Toy tractors, trucks, and figurines (from our house)

Set-Up for Halloween Sensory Play

Fill half of your container with hay and the other half with dirt. Add some toy pumpkins to your dirt to make the pumpkin patch. Add any toys you have from home like tractors or trucks.

How My Kids Played

There was such excitement on Lucy and Theo’s faces when they saw this invitation to play! Both kids started out by choosing pumpkins from the pumpkin patch and loading them up onto the trucks. Eventually their play turned into a pumpkin patch complete with a store. After choosing pumpkins, they’d drive them off to the store to purchase. Later they’d replant the pumpkins and start the process over again. Lucy is always very verbal when taking part in imaginative play. Her figurine had a lot to say! All the speaking done by Lucy seemed to serve as a great way to encourage Theo to interact as well. I noticed him really conversing with her! Theo seemed to mostly enjoy digging up pumpkins in the dirt with his tractor!

Tips

This was the perfect small world to set up outside. There was no worry about mess with it being in the backyard. When we are done with this small world, we plan on using the soil to plant some seeds in our little greenhouse and adding the rest of the soil to our fairy garden.

There’s no need to go out and buy new toys. Search around your house for some figurines your child loves or has maybe forgotten about. Placing them in this new setting may reignite their love of the forgotten toy!
 


 

Be sure to check out all the fall invitations to play shared each day this week from some of my favorite blogging friends and find some fall inspiration!

Simple Fall Themed Invitation to Play by My Nearest and Dearest

Fall Nature Collage Invitation to Create by Fantastic Fun and Learning

Squirrel Train Small World by Play Trains!

Fall Fine Motor Activity by Twodaloo