Autumn adventures – with a twist! The best autumn activities with kids
Family autumn activities
Autumn in a magical season! Here are my kid’s 7 favourite family outdoor activities for autumn. There’s more to this list than meets the eye… it incorporates many of the words that are sadly no longer deemed ‘relevant’ in our children’s lives….
- Conker fights
- Watch the winter birds
- Woodland walks
- Autumn pond dipping
- Autumn plants and colours
- Mini-beast hunt
- Blackberry tie-dye
With autumn magic in mind, it’s upsetting to learn that the Junior English Dictionary has been gradually removing words that they feel are ‘no longer common currency among children.’ Iconic autumn words like Conker, Blackberry, Acorn, Heather, and Bramble have been deleted.
Let’s show the kids how awesome autumn is!
These words may be deleted from the pages of a book, but luckily they’re very much still around and ready to be enjoyed at this time of year.
Autumn Outdoor Adventure Guides
As you head out on your autumn family adventures, make sure you have our Outdoor Adventure Guides to give you inspiration and ideas for awesome autumn family activities.
1. CONKER
Have a conker fight!
We all laughed when we were told conker fights were banned from schools for health and safety reasons. Really? Conker fights are the ideal family Autumn activity!
We like to harvest a bunch of conkers each year, searching underneath a variety of Horse Chestnut trees to find the finest specimens. We then take a scientific approach and test out a few different techniques which allegedly strengthen them in preparation to for fight season…
A few ideas are;
- Bake them in the oven. The heat should make them stronger
- Heat them just before the fight (warm them up your jumper before the match)
- Pickle them in vinegar for 24 hours
- Paint them with nail varnish
- Talk to them and tell them how strong, shiny, and invincible they are. This is my approach. Yet to see any positive results…..
We take conkering very seriously. Do these techniques actually make any difference or is the original, untreated conker still the best? Do you have a secret, winning technique? Please share!
Then drill a hole through the conker and thread some string or a spare shoelace through it and get ready for battle!!
Encourage the kid’s friends to join in – 99% of schools still allow conker fights….
2. BIRDS
Head out to discover the birds of Autumn
Our summer visitors have migrated by now but our residents are all still very much here and preparing for the winter ahead.
Bird Bingo
Use GoWildGoWest’s bird search game to find our Autumn birds. These are the birds deleted from the Junior Dictionary….
- Magpies, Wrens and Goldfinches may be in your garden or local park. The goldfinches will visit your feeders for sunflower hearts and niger seeds and if you’re lucky, you may have the little wren hopping around underneath.
- Look up high for chattering Starlings. From November to February head out to see the incredible murmurations.
- Head to a river (with a picnic?) to look for the iconic blue flash of the Kingfisher
- Rivers, lakes, and wetland are all perfect for the noble Heron
- Head to woodland to listen for the beautiful croak of the Raven. When you’ve heard it once, you’ll never forget it.
- Skylarks – these are easy to spot in Spring and Summer as they hover, merrily singing over farmland and highland. The challenge is to spot them in Autumn as they migrate to lower ground. Can you see them?
3. BEECH
Find autumn woodland walks near you
Another deleted word but let’s remember just how good Beech trees are! The vibrant green leaves in Spring and the beautiful reds, oranges, and golds in autumn.
Wrap up warm and visit one of the many deciduous woods across the UK to see the golden colours and run through the heaps of fallen leaves. Pick them up, throw them around and try to catch them. Look low at the beasties hiding underneath the leaves. Here are our favourite woodland walks near me: Bristol/Bath
If you want something more adventurous than a walk, take to the river on a kayak or swim to see the Autumn colours from a different angle.
Or choose a favourite local Beech tree and watch it change through the seasons.
Watch as Pip the dog makes the most of the Autumn leaves….
4. NEWT
Get your buckets ready for a pond dipping excursion
Head out on a pond dipping adventure armed with nets and buckets to see what you can find. Even in Autumn, pond residents are still active as they prepare for winter. Our little garden pond is teeming with life, especially if you look after dark. Find newts, frogs, bugs and beetles of all shapes and sizes.
5. HEATHER & FERN
Walk in the Autumn colours
Fern and Heather may be deleted from the dictionary but are at their BEST in autumn. Head out for a family walk on heathland, moors and bogs to see the purple of autumn heather, and gold of the fern. Find out about our recommended walks on the Quantocks, Dartmoor, and the Mendips all renowned for their autumn heather and fern.
Did you know that Heather was used to make brooms – can you make your own using a large stick, heather and string? Make brooms as a fun family Autumn activity – a great way to get the kids ‘helping’ with the chores!
6. IVY
Become a bug detective
Ivy is often seen as one of the ‘baddies’ of the natural world accused of strangling trees, but actually it doesn’t harm the tree at all, and Ivy supports at least 50 species of wildlife – a definite goody I’d say.
Those big juicy berries, the nectar and the pollen on the ivy are an essential food source for insects and birds during autumn and winter when there’s not much else about. It also provides shelter for insects, birds, bats and other small mammals. Insects forage on Ivy before hibernating so autumn is a great time to spot all kinds of beasties.
Don’t be afraid of anything buzzing around; bees, wasps and hoverflies all visit Ivy for pollen and nectar which are essential before winter sets in. If you sit still and watch, they may come close to check out what you are but they won’t harm you.
Find out more about being a good nature detective here.
7. BLACKBERRY
Blackberry tie-dye
There are many times that I’ve thanked the humble Blackberry for providing a much needed snack for the children on a walk. They’re also great for baking with and making potions but have you ever tried blackberry tie-dye!?
Check out our guide to Blackberry tie dye here.
