What to do in autumn

[Roses2024]

Hi everyone

In looking for ideas on what to do in autumn. The parks a bit wet, we've done museums and trying to stay away from soft play (there are bugs everywhere in my area and we just got over a chesty cough!).

I'm looking for ideas to do outside. We've got a beautiful nature trail and I've suggested looking for wildlife (occasionally a squirrel and sometimes there might be hedgehogs that we don't touch or disturb) and that's all I got! Our paths a bit slippy for going on bikes too. Any ideas would be amazing thank you!

How old are kids, how rural are you?

What age?

Just get a puddle suit for the park

A puddle suit, waterproof footwear and waterproof gloves are a necessity.

Take a squeegee and a towel to the park to dry off the slide/swings etc.

Feed the ducks. Do a treasure trail (find/spot a red leaf/acorn/stick/magpie etc). Just go for a walk. Play football/cricket/tennis. Collect stones, decorate and redistribute. Collect leaves for leaf printing. Make natural bird feeders and distribute. Walk between two places, stop for hot choc and get the train/bus back. Walk round town spotting Halloween decorations/Christmas decorations.

Thanks everyone for ideas! She's 4 and full of energy!

We do have a puddle suit and go jumping in puddles most of the time. Was just really looking for ideas on what else we can do.

Not rural but not a lot on atm. We've got a halloween party this weekend at the community centre.

Playdate?

scavenger hunt
conkers
roasting chestnuts
orienteering
leaf printing

Halloween/autumn crafts? Loads of ideas on Pinterest. Or halloween themed baking.

It'll be darker earlier from now so could you invite a friend round and have them both dress up for a little halloween disco and tea party?

My 3 year old randomly loves getting the bus for some reason so we sometimes get the bus into town and go for a hot choc/cake and a mooch around the charity shops.

If its not so cold that you need gloves, may be worth getting a meal thermos and having pasta, soups outside - a way to spend time outside and vary the endless meals. Check local orchards for apple picking. Any character trails in the area like gruffalo trails? Country parks - feed the ducks? Kites can be good this time of year.
Following for ideas mostly. We need to get outside, and its so hard when it gets colder and darker - hate how early everything shuts.

Parks are always pushed on here with puddle suits but they can be a bit dangerous, unless it’s all wooden. My then two year old slipped a couple of years ago going up some steps and had a really nasty gash to his face as a result.

We are going on an owl trail next week. Library is a good shout. But honestly the best thing I find is local Facebook groups to stay abreast of different things.

The National Trust list is moderately useful although quite a bit needs a beach
https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/50-things

My 5yo is really into the I Spy books - not just plants and animals but also the traffic one, we've had some great trips to find the "harder" tasks.

We go outside, wellies and puddlesuit. We've been to the park twice this weekend, a farm and a walk in the woods.
Or do inside stuff like cinema, swimming, walk around a museum.
There's loads of stuff.

We spend as much time outdoors as possible or they go totally loopy - woods, various parks, garden, etc. If we have a spade and a rake then they can often be kept happy for ages digging, and my oldest at the moment loves building nests for his dinosaurs and bridges out of sticks.

I tend to avoid too much indoors other than a long, slow trip round the supermarket or seeing friends at one of our houses as soft play near us is incredibly expensive and I can't justify it more than once a month or so!

Pottery
Local play farms
Swimming
Garden centres
Play groups
Bike/ scooter rides
Cinema

Mine is 3 and we just go out as much as we usually do or I'd go insane. Good waterproofs and wellies are a must.

We've done pumpkin picking and a Halloween trail and he has a Halloween party next week. We do our usual walks in the woods and bike rides etc. His nursery handed out a nature hunt sheet so we'll look for conkers, pine ones, different shaped leaves, animals, bugs etc. You can buy a magnifying glass or a pocket microscope to make it more fun. Or get her to take photos of everything with your phone. Growing up my mum used to bring paper and crayons and we'd do rubbings of different leaves. Pinterest has fun art ideas with leaves.

Taking a sandwich and a flask of hot chocolate always seems like a big treat to him too.

Swimming, farms, classes such as music ones, trampoline park (most have an under 5s session), toddler cinema showings.