Autumn: 5 Great Activities to Celebrate It

October 27, 2022

Autumn is a fantastic and colourful time of year. There are lots of events throughout to keep everyone busy, including Diwali (see our earlier blog), harvest festivals, Halloween and Bonfire Night. As the nights draw in, the temperatures drop and traditionally we prepare for the colder months ahead.

In this blog, we focus on some activities which work really well in the school setting.

1. Going on an autumn walk in the park

That’s right, get your thick winter coats on, head outside and enjoy the colours in the park. Hopefully, you’ll have plenty of vibrant golds, oranges and reds to behold as well as a few evergreens for contrast. Take the opportunity to run and jump in the dry leaves and enjoy the wonderful rustling sounds. Then, think about what you can collect. There’ll be leaves, but also potentially conkers and acorns too!

Once back in the warmth of the classroom, you can identify which tree each different leaf came from.

Our activity, Deciduous or evergreen (free to play), will help with this and let you sort the leaves from deciduous trees (the ones which shed their leaves in autumn) from those from the evergreens, which stay green all year round.

2. Exploring why it gets darker earlier

We all know that the nights draw in at autumn time, but if you look at the time of the sunset on a daily basis throughout October, you can see how quickly this happens. On 1st October, we enjoyed daylight until 6.44pm but by the end of the month, the sun will be setting more than 2 hours earlier at 4.38pm!

This is all down to the Earth having an axis that tilts. In autumn, the UK and Northern Hemisphere point away from the sun, so have fewer hours of daylight and lower temperatures than in the summer as a result. It is the opposite for our friends in Australia; they get more hours of daylight and heat from the sun at this time of the year.

Many people think that sunsets are more vibrant in autumn and winter too, so why not ask your pupils to take some photos as a homework task and see what delights they can capture!

3. Thinking about harvests – past and present

Traditionally, harvest was a time everyone gathered in their crops and celebrated to show gratitude for another great growing year. People had to have enough to see them through the cold winter months, so a good harvest was imperative for survival!

Today, with 24-hour shopping, supermarkets and global food trade, the festival seems less relevant. It does, however, give us all a chance to give thanks for our food and understand where it comes from.

Many children don’t realise quite how far some food travels to reach us. Our ‘Where do/does XX come from?’ activities can help with this. Simply choose the activity on bananas, citrus fruit (left – free to play), cocoa, coffee or tea!

Harvest, as always, also give us a great opportunity to think about those less fortunate than ourselves, so is a great time to collect long-lasting foodstuffs for food banks and charities.

4. Making a ‘no-carve’ alternative to a pumpkin for Halloween

Pumpkins are synonymous with Halloween, and every year, examples seem to get more and more intricate. If the thought of leading a pumpkin carving session in your classroom strikes terror in your heart, rest assured that there are many alternatives which may be more appealing and just as much fun for the participants.

This blog is aimed at smaller children in a family setting, but nevertheless includes some great, creative ideas!

5. Enjoying a fireworks display

Last but not least on our list of autumn treats is Bonfire Night! A feast for the eyes, it’s a particular favourite for children. What could be better than a warm bonfire on a cold night, warming food and drink, the oohs and aaahs of a captivated audience watching the bangs and whooshes of fireworks, and the chance to stay up late?

After attending an organised display, perhaps you could get the children to create their own using our Fireworks display activity? The children can have fireworks in every hue possible, and a whole selection of different effects.

NOTE: Do your pupils know how to keep safe on Bonfire Night? We found this quick reminder from Newsround really useful!

Summary

We hope this blog has given you some ideas as to what you could cover this autumn to bring the season and all its delights into the classroom setting.

As part of the blog, we’ve included several of our activities which you can play for free. These are: Deciduous or evergreen, Where does citrus fruit come from? and Fireworks display. To play them, just click on the relevant link!

Want to see more activities?

If you’d like to see more of our activities, we’d love you to take out a free 28-day trial with us! Simply click here for this. You’re more than welcome to have a virtual tour via Zoom too. If you’d like one, contact us here and we’ll get in touch!