Make A Natural Autumn Fiddles/Fidget Box!

Autumn is a fabulous time of the year, 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 other natural items too… Here are the things we’ve found and added, what we’re looking for, 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 choke 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 sea shells to add to the fiddles/fidget box. Again, remember to wash them first

Pebbles or cobble stones – Find some nice smooth rounded stones, their weight can be really sensory, and for an enhanced sensory experience pop them in the fridge to cool them down!

Scrunchy autumn leaves – Collect some fallen autumn leaves, they are beautiful to look at and are scrunchy to feel! If you life you can stick them to a piece of paper to keep them longer.

There are other natural things that you could add to your fiddles/fidget box, a piece of bark perhaps, or a sprig of fir/pine needles? What ideas can you think of? We’ve also added a few ‘bought’ items but have tried to make them in keeping with the natural approach as much as we can, which for example means as little plastic as possible. Here’s some of them…

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! We would love to hear about your natural fiddles/fidget boxes in the comments! 🙂

Mark

All text and images © Mark Arnold 2021

See also:

Fidgets And Fiddles: Meeting Sensory Needs
https://theadditionalneedsblogfather.com/2021/08/31/fidgets-and-fiddles/