Hello Autumn! My tips to get your kids outside this autumn

As the mornings seem dark and the nights are drawing in I was a little disappointed that ‘Summer’ was over. More because I seemed to have waited the whole of the summer holidays for those barmy summer days to start! But, with a slight chill in the air I’ve remembered all the wonderful things about being outside in autumn.

Here are my tips for getting the kids outside this autumn.

Leaf kicking and leaf art

Those pesky fallen leaves might be a pain as they block drains and become all horrible and slimy. However, they are fabulous when crunchy and which kids (big ones too) can’t resist kicking through the dry leaves? There’s something satisfying about running through them!

If you go walking in the woods take a bag with you to collect different coloured leaves. Try and get some of different shapes and sizes and when you get home make a leaf collage. Alternatively, if you’re brave with the paint make some leaf prints. My kids love this activity.

The best place to go leaf hunting near us is Chevin country park near Otley, West Yorkshire.

Bonkers for conkers!

We love conkers in our house and the kids seem to have a big hoard of them every year. It gets the kids outside and excited about hunting for them, and there’s always a race to see who can find the first one. If you’ve any left over after having conker fights it said that a few in the house keeps BIG SCARY spiders at bay!

We find our conkers near the footpaths by the river at Burley-in-Wharfedale, West Yorkshire.

Pumpkin Picking!

With Halloween, just around the corner don’t forget to go pumpkin picking. We try to go to a farm to pick our pumpkins, then have fun deciding what we’ve going to carve it into. Mr Hip2trek is better at doing this in our house, but we’ve tried all sorts over the years from cat silhouettes to minions. Get the kids involved scooping out the seeds, nice squelchy sticky fun! And if there isn’t a pumpkin picking place near you the supermarkets or farm shops usually have some good offers.

We like to go pumpkin picking at Farmer Copley’s near Pontefract.

Star gazing!

With those early darkening nights get the kids outside to spot a few stars and satellites before they go to bed. Take a torch outside and you might spot some bats.

After all those activities your little ones will have rosy cheeks and have earned a hot chocolate treat!

Autumn doesn’t have to be gloomy and miserable, get outside and go kick some leaves!

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