With autumn in full swing, kids may be forced indoors by colder temperatures, earlier nightfall, and inclement weather. To help them avoid additional device time during the fall months, get them outside whenever possible, and keep them engaged indoors with hands-on, screen-free play from Melissa & Doug!
At Melissa & Doug, it’s our mission to inspire kid-powered play that builds their skills and confidence to thrive in the world. We believe in purposeful play that's sparked by a child's imagination and its endless possibilities. We design every product with thoughtful details to inspire the kind of kid-powered play that helps shape who children will become. Because when kids run the store, build the castle, or serve up their latest ice cream concoction, they're not just playing—they're developing creativity and confidence. The play may be pretend, but the discoveries and skills are real.
In this edition of our Living Playfully blog, we’re supporting parents and caregivers with a curated selection of our best-selling learning toys plus some helpful fall play tips to help inspire hands-on, kid-powered play around your home.
Play Tips for a Screen-Free Fall
Around the House Fall Clean-Up
Use handy arts & crafts supplies such as paper, crayons, scissors, and paints to create a fall-themed art project. Then have our Dust Sweep Mop cleaning playset on hand for easy clean up afterwards! Plus, that kid-sized broom is fully functional, which means the fall leaves don’t stand a chance against your little helper.
This six-piece play set gives kids all the housekeeping tools they need to keep it clean! Sized just for kids and built to last, the broom, mop, duster, dustpan, and hand brush are comfortable to use and easy to store--just hang them from the sturdy cords onto the included stand for neat, compact storage.
Outdoor Autumn Scavenger Hunt
Use the wooden letter blocks from our Wooden Blocks set as a prompt to send your child on an outdoor scavenger hunt! A is for apple, B for bird, C for Cider, L for leaves…let their imaginations guide them!
Hours of timeless block play await your toddler! This wonderful set of 50 traditionally styled one-inch alphabet blocks features charming hand-painted artwork. Solid wood blocks with a colorful collection of pictures, letters and numbers encourage matching, stacking, sequencing and sorting.
Fall Food Festival
Melissa & Doug offers a host of fun, engaging pretend play food sets like our Deluxe Grill & Pizza Oven Play Set. Set up food stalls around your outdoor play space and put on a pretend food festival where guests can sample all the fun pretend fare.
Deluxe Grill & Pizza Oven Play Set
https://www.melissaanddoug.mom/products/deluxe-grill-pizza-oven-play-set
Fire up pretend play with this perfectly kid-sized wooden barbecue grill, smoker, and pizza oven play set! Pour pretend wood chips into the smoker box in the back of this lift-top grill. Budding young chefs three and older will love creating make-believe barbecue favorites like steak, chicken, burgers, hot dogs, corn -- and even play pizza!
Fall Holiday Shopping Spree
It takes a lot of work in the kitchen to make the holidays magical; give your little chefs a taste of what to expect by going on a pretend shopping excursion at our Fresh Mart Grocery Store to get ingredients for the holiday feasts, then whipping up delicious pretend dishes in your own play kitchen.
Shopping and playful purchasing is exciting at the sturdy wooden Fresh Mart Grocery Store! The free-standing play space with smooth, curved corners and edges lets customers 3 and older browse the shelves and pay for purchases on one side, and allows the grocer to ring up items on the other. Stock up those shelves with the Fresh Mart Grocery Store Companion Collection!
DIY Outdoor Dinosaur Park
Build your own dinosaur creations with our Blockables Dinosaur Play Set, then take them outside and play with them in nature to give a more realistic dinosaur park feel: Twigs make a great fence; feed your veggie Dinos leaf litter; little puddles can serve as lakes!
Kids 2 and older can easily snap together smooth, colorful blocks to create fun dinosaurs to play with, or combine to build their own silly characters and cool creations. Designed for toddlers developing hand-eye coordination and preschool-to-early elementary children building creative construction and storytelling skills. Compact, hands-on play keeps children engaged at home, during quiet time, or on the go without screens.
Decorate the Neighborhood for Fall
Get the little ones outside and build our Cheery Lane House Play Set outdoors! You can also download our FREE Cheery Lane Halloween Decorations Printable to spruce up the neighborhood with fun seasonal cutouts.
This unique dollhouse includes two figures and furniture, encouraging endless pretend play. Ideal for toddlers ages 2 and up, this modular house encourages creative expression, storytelling, problem solving, and spatial reasoning as children design, build, and play in a home of their own creation.
For additional toy content from Melissa & Doug, click thru the links below:
Shop Melissa & Doug Pretend Play Toys
Shop Melissa & Doug Toys by Age
Shop Melissa & Doug Learning Toys
Shop Melissa & Doug Arts & Crafts Toys
Explore Melissa & Doug Skills at Play
