Autumn is a great time of year to wrap up and go exploring nature. There’s certainly plenty of weird fungi about right now, while it’s fun crunching through piles of leaves if you’re lucky enough to have a forest nearby.
@KidsYogaStories: “My daughter is actively learning about the changing of the seasons, how fruits and vegetables are grown, and how animals prepare for winter.
“We often think of learning as an indoor activity while being outside is playtime, right?”
“Well, let’s take our learning outside this fall before the cold weather comes in winter.”
Walk in the woods
In fact, going for a woodland walk to see what you can discover in terms of pine cones, berries, ferns and feathered creatures is one of the best activities to do at this time of year. The leaves are beautiful reds, yellows and warm orange colours and there are plenty of shiny brown conkers around to be picked up and played with.
And, even if the weather’s been wet and everything’s a bit soggy, that doesn’t matter when you have your wellies on. Pop on a cosy hat, scarf and gloves, grab your jacket, and you’re all set to get going.
Look for winged and furry creatures
Autumn is also a good time for birds to migrate to warmer climes so keep listening and looking up for some spectacular sights in the sky.
But it’s not just birds that are entertaining at this time of year – there’s also plenty of wildlife to look out for too. Squirrels will be searching for nuts to stock up for the winter while deer can be seen leaping around woodland areas now that the trees are bare.
Get den building
This is the best time of the year to create your very own hideaway. That’s because fallen branches can easily be collected and bunched together on top of one another to form a wigwam or whatever shape of den you fancy.
Take pics with leaves
Not only do colourful individual leaves look great photographed close up, but you can take videos of your dog or friends jumping into piles of leaves. Just remember to rake them up afterwards if you’re in the garden…
Play conkers
Get that pile of conkers you collected earlier and tie a piece of string around each one individually. Then you can go and challenge your friends. Here’s a good tip for you first though, before you string up a conker, place it in a bucket of water. If it floats it is hollow inside and won’t make a good challenger so discard it. If you want to win, that is…
Decorate pine cones
And talking of things you picked up earlier… you can paint pine cones then cover them with glitter for a really startling effect. They can make great Christmas decorations when painted chalk white, silver or gold and laid in a bowl together or attached to a fir garland.
Fly sycamore helicopters
Sycamore helicopters are long thin seeds which you’ll find on Ash trees and Sycamore trees. You can throw them up in the air and watch them spin before deftly landing on the ground. Also called spinning jennies or wingnuts.
