AUTUMN IS HERE!!
I absolutely love this season. Crunchy leaves, cosy nights in, early sunsets – perfect!
The only bad thing about this season is the crane flies – these long-legged monstrosities are EVERYWHERE and somehow manage to get into my house even when the windows haven’t been opened!
I can live with it though – just. Autumn is such a great season that I’m willing to put up with the influx of seasonal creepy crawlies.
Because of the temperatures not being too hot or cold (it might occasionally be a bit wet – this is the UK after all), autumn is the best time for enjoying lots of outdoor activities.
Here are 10 of the best autumn activities for children:
Jumping in leaves
There’s nothing better than going on a walk in autumn and hearing the leaves crunch beneath your feet! Kids love jumping in leaves and it’s still a fun activity for adults too!
And best of all – it costs nothing. You don’t have to travel far to find a big pile of leaves. You can enjoy the activity in a local park or even in your own garden.
It’s also a great opportunity to get the kids to help out with raking them too!
Drawing and painting
With its beautiful blend of reds, oranges and yellows, there’s no denying that Autumn is the most aesthetically pleasing season.
Seasonal items such as bright-coloured leaves, pinecones and fungi can be found lying around, making it the perfect time for children to do some foraging (or take a few photographs – some types of funghi might not be suitable for picking!) and draw and paint their findings.
Crafts
Once they’ve exhausted the drawing and painting activity, children can get a little more creative by doing some crafting. From flower crafts to wreaths, there are so many things that children can create using simple items such as paper, buttons and straw.
You can even collect leaves from the garden and create some lovely decorative items for the home.
Pumpkin carving
Despite Halloween being on the 31st of October, shops start stocking items for the event in September.
I have no idea why they do this. It felt a bit strange browsing a home decor section at the start of September and coming face-to-face with horror-themed accessories. It also left me wondering whether it was worth spending £50 on a pumpkin vase for an event that lasts just one evening.
And took me less than a minute to decide that it wasn’t.
The good thing about it is that pumpkins are available earlier than Halloween too, which gives families a bit of time to practise their pumpkin carving skills. Most supermarkets start stocking them around early October or alternatively, you can visit a local pumpkin patch. This is a great day out for families, as many pumpkin patches offer an array of events and children can choose their pumpkins.
Nature trails
I love a good nature trail.
With its wonderful colours and wildlife, autumn is the best time to go on one. You can create fun family games whilst you walk, such as seeing who can make the biggest pile of leaves, doing some den building or seeing how many squirrels or birds you can spot.
Trail activities
If you want access to activities that have already been organised, then some country parks offer cheap autumn activities for children, which they can enjoy while completing the nature trails.
We’ve been to many where the children have been handed a sheet containing pictures of trees or plants for them to identify on their walk. It’s a great educational activity that is often free.
They sometimes throw a prize in for those who can find all of the objects listed on the sheet too!
Baking
Baking is one of the best autumn activities for children (and a great alternative to role-playing if you’re anything like me). There are so many things that children can help to bake, from spooky Halloween cupcakes to autumn-themed biscuits that the family can enjoy as a treat after jumping in some leaves.
Autumn is also the best excuse to create a hot chocolate station (which MUST include a sizeable, nice-looking jar to store the biscuits that you’ve made!).
Feeding the ducks
Ok, so you can feed the ducks any time of the year, but there’s something special about doing this activity in autumn. The weather is just right and the sea of leaves, toadstools and colourful trees make any lake, river or pond look a bit more magical.
And children are always entertained when they’re surrounded by ducks!
It’s a lovely, peaceful activity (well mostly peaceful – unless there’s a massive swan who hisses at you).
Just don’t feed them bread!
Collecting conkers
It’s conker season!! Conkers remind me of my childhood and collecting them is a fun outdoor activity for children. Playing with them is just as fun too (even for adults!).
Bug spotting
Autumn brings SO many different bugs, including spiders with beautiful stripes (I’m an arachnophobe, but I still appreciate a pretty spider when I see one) and shield bugs (I LOVE these – they’re welcome in my home anytime).
And these long-legged horrors that I mentioned at the start of this post:
Bug spotting is one of the best autumn activities for children of all ages and because those pretty harvest spiders and not-so-pretty crane flies are EVERYWHERE, you can easily indulge in this activity in your garden.
And so…
With so much to see and do, autumn is sure to be a season where the kids don’t moan about being bored (to be honest I can’t guarantee that they won’t, but any of these activities are worth a try!).
Share your thoughts!