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How to Make an Autumn Fidget Box

How to Make an Autumn Fidget Box

Make An Autumn Natural Fiddles/Fidget Box!

Autumn is a fabulous time of the year, with so many changes in the natural world and so many treasures to look for and find! We’ve been making a natural fiddles/fidget box, maybe you would like to make one too?

There are loads of wonderful, sensory things that you can add to a natural fiddles/fidget box. I’ll show you what we’ve put in ours so far, but we’re looking forward to adding some beautiful leaves when they fall soon too. Here are the other things we’ve found and added, as well as some ‘extras’ that we’ve included in our fiddles/fidget box too!

Pine cones – We live near some pine woods so we’ve gathered these lovely cones for our fiddles/fidget box

Wooden batons – These lovely, tactile wooden batons were cut from fallen branches in the woods near our home

Conkers – We had to walk a bit to where there is an avenue of horse chestnut trees, but it was worth it to get these smooth conkers (be careful if you use these that you supervise their use as they could be a choking hazard)

Feathers – Where we live borders the countryside, so there are plenty of pheasant feathers. There are lots of other lovely feathers that you can find though, just remember to wash them first so that they are nice and clean.

Shells – We also live near the sea (We know, we’re very lucky), so we could go and pick up some nice seashells to add to the fiddles/fidget box. Again, remember to wash them first

There are other natural things that we’re going to add to the fiddles/fidget box; I’ve mentioned autumn leaves, but we’re going to find some nice smooth pebbles too. We’ve also added a few ‘bought’ items but have tried to make them in keeping with the natural approach as much as possible, which for example means no plastic. Here’s some of them…

A colouring book and pencils

A natural linen scarf

Painted wooden dominoes

Painted wooden maracas       

Painted wooden twist-lock block

Wooden box – Finally, you’ll need a nice wooden box to put everything in. We’ve found one that we can paint or decorate to make it look special.

So, how about creating your own natural autumn fiddles/fidget box! It will be lots of fun exploring and collecting together, and you’ll enjoy using the fiddles/fidget box throughout the winter… maybe you could then make a spring one!

Get collecting!

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Mark Arnold

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Mark heads up Urban Saints pioneering additional needs ministry programme and is co-founder of the ‘Additional Needs Alliance’, a learning and support community. He is a ‘Churches for All’ partner, a member of both the ‘Council for Disabled Children’ and the ‘Living Fully Network’, and serves on the executive for ‘Children Matter!’ Most importantly, he is dad to James, a 17-year-old Autistic boy with Learning Difficulties and Epilepsy.

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