For a lot of the parents I know, fall brings anxiety.

Not back to school anxiety, but the looming inevitability of the cold weather and the fact that soon everyone will be forced inside. Together. All the time.

Sometimes these parents freak themselves out so much they forget there is good stuff to do in the fall…before the scary cold happens.

This week, after I picked up the boys from daycare, I decided that we would play outside for a while and enjoy the freak warm weather we were having in Michigan (almost 80 in October is pretty freaky for us).

Eddie grabbed his net that he got this summer for catching toy fish in his pool, and decided to grab leaves.

I decided Charlie needed to feel some leaves for the first time too.

While Eddie ran all over the yard (burning energy that would normally annoy me while I am making dinner), Charlie wiggled his toes in the grass and crinkled dry leaves in his chubby hands…all the while giving me stink eye for making him try something new.

So Charlie got some sensory and fine motor skills fun, and Eddie worked on his hunting and gathering skills.  You know, in case that becomes a necessity in our lives.

Actually, I told Eddie to find as many different colors and shapes as he could find.  Which was cool because at three, he is totally into showing off his mad skills in naming shapes and colors.

He even went so far as to start pulling leaves off bushes and trees.

Once he had a full net, he decided he would also like a full tummy, so we went in for some dinner while discussing the plans we had for our “catch” of leaves.

Over dinosaur-shaped chicken nuggets and yogurt, we decided that since Thanksgiving is next month, we should really make a turkey with the leaves.

So I traced Eddie’s hand to make the turkey shape, and he chose leaves he thought would look great as turkey tail feathers.

I put down some glue, and he would hold each “feather” while we practiced counting to 20.  There were six leaves we used total, so by the time we got to the last “feather”, Eddie was counting all the way by himself.

To let the glue dry, we went and did bath time.  When we came back, I cut a circle out of paper for the turkey head, and Eddie colored it.

By the end of the night, we had a Leaf Turkey.

You know, I am the least crafty person in the world, but stuff like this is totally easy, and takes up the night so we didn’t have as much issue with “the witching hour” like we usually do.

Plus Charlie was super content to hang out in his highchair and suck on some melon while his brother and mom got all artsy fartsy.

Eddie wants to make something out of twigs next.

I’ll have to get more glue.

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Katie Sluiter is a freelance writer and teacher who should probably be grading papers or changing diapers but is more likely blogging, tweeting, or just overusing social media in general. She chronicles all this on her blog, Sluiter Nation.

im·ag·i·na·tive/iˈmaj(ə)nətiv/
Adjective: Having or showing creativity or inventiveness.

What defines imaginative play? Some might view it as play that involves the use of the child’s imagination and nothing else-I myself used to be one of those believers. However as I’ve come to spend more and more time children, and have had time to reflect back on my own childhood, I realize that this isn’t entirely true. I now feel that good toys or props are a vital piece of play that seriously engages a child’s creative mind-but there’s a fine line between toys that encourage the use of imagination, and toys that completely take it over.

So what makes a ‘good toy’ for imaginative play? Of course it’s a matter of opinion, but I feel that in this case a ‘good toy’ would be one that acts as a sort of tool to crack open the imagination-wooden blocks, pretend food, people or animal figures-that sort of stuff. Obviously there is a lot of variation within these realms, but you get the general picture.

For the most part, a child will be able to take just about any object and turn it into something exciting. This is a beautiful thing-it means they’re exercising their minds, stretching out their thought processes, and figuring out the world around them. An even better way to encourage this is to give them a good toy that just begs for a whole new world to be opened up. Take a plastic animal figure, for example. There’s nothing particularly extraordinary about it-to us, anyways. But to a young child, this figure becomes a tool that allows them to express themselves, or a way to get lost in a total world of fantasy that just can’t be beat by reality.

Why is it important to keep this in mind? To take into account what makes a good toy for imaginative play? For me, aside from the obvious bonuses of a good imaginative toy, it’s because of the fast, high-tech times we live in. Kids are bombarded with screens, and images, and T.V. shows, and Apps that they become more and more reliant on. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think children are going to get their imaginations and creativity wiped out by technology, but I do feel that it’s getting to be a bit much. Perhaps it’s because I myself was raised with limited screen time that I feel this way, or perhaps I would have felt this way no matter what. One thing I do know, no matter how I came to the conclusion, is that the benefits of continuing to provide our kids with toys that inspire them are limitless.

Now the beauty of these times is that in spite of all the raging technology, we’re suddenly remembering how important it is to not become reliant on it. There are games and toys that aren’t electronic that go beyond the basics to push the imagination, and even things that are electronic that are proving useful to the creative minds of little ones.

Kids run on their imaginations. As we get older, we lose that spark and vivacity that causes us to see the world as a place with endless possibilities; or rather we see different, less exciting ones. Growing up, why wouldn’t a fairyland exist? Why wouldn’t an animal be able to talk? A child’s mind is precious, and they won’t have that curiosity and the ability to see the world as a place full of magic forever. So treat it right, open their eyes, and provide them with the best tools (or toys) that will spark imaginative play.

Want to know some of our favorite pretend toys?! Check them out here and inspire some adventures in your little ones today. http://bit.ly/QloKvV?a=blog

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This is a guest post by Julia from BestToysGuide.com. Involved in the toy industry since 2007, their website {http://besttoysguide.com} offers a variety of ‘best of’ lists, hands on toy reviews, and fantastic giveaways.