Autumn Nature Activities That Kids Will Love
Really Fun Autumn Activities For Kids
Don’t you just love watching the seasons change? These Autumn nature activities are the perfect way to get kids exploring and enjoying the outdoors this season.
This lovely selection of nature activities to celebrate autumn is taken from my free Adventures in Nature Autumn ‘Curriculum’ (you really should take a look at it if you haven’t already!)
So, here are a collection of 30+ autumn nature activities for kids.
I’ve divided them into a few themes and if you download my Adventures in Nature Curriculum you can explore the various autumn themes in more detail with the suggested books.
Autumn Seed Activities
The first set of activities explores the various seeds you can find during the Autumn. So, take a walk and keep your eyes peeled for acorns, conkers, beech nuts and pine cones:
1. Nature Bracelet
Wrap some sturdy tape around your child’s wrist (sticky side facing outwards). As they walk they can attach leaves and seeds that they find along the way.
Remember to have a conversation with your children about any poisonous or rare plants you may have in your local area. There are some plants my boys know not to touch like foxgloves and hogweed. Only pick when it is safe to do so and there is an abundance of something.
2. Create a Nature Masterpiece using blackberry ink. (Recipe included in Autumn Curriculum download).
3. Make little leaf jars.
Pop a leaf and its seed in little spice jars and label them.
4. Explore and group seeds.
Read a book like A Seed Is Sleepy by Dianna Aston and talk about the seeds you’ve collected. How are they dispersed (spread) across the land…Do they get blown by the wind? Float downstream? Get eaten and pooped out? Pop?
Can you group them by some of their properties?
5. Press seed pods in clay.
Make a circle with air dry clay and stamp your seed on one side and the corresponding leaf on the other side.
6. Look at seeds under a magnifying glass or handheld microscope.
Sketch what you see in your nature journal.
7. Use seed pods and other items to decorate a cardboard mask.
Buy a 3D papier mache mask to decorate or simple cut an oval out of cardboard. Decorate with nature finds.
8.Leaf Lanterns
Sandwich helicopter seeds and leaves between 2 sheets of glued greaseproof paper. Roll into a cylinder shape and stick camembert box or similar on one side. Add an LED light.
https://www.instagram.com/p/B3FelElIKfS/?igshid=1i2qn0cinl41p
Hedgehog Activities
1. Make a hedgehog home.
Lay a crate on the ground. Pile up twigs and cover with leaves to create a hedgehog habitat.
2. Clay hedgehogs.
Make a little hedgehog shape with clay and decorate it with twigs for spines.
3. Pine cone hedgehogs.
Collect some pinecones and make hedgehogs by gluing on some googly eyes.
4. Paper plate hedgehogs
Fold a paper plate in half, colour it brown, glue on an eye and use scissors to snip some spines along the curved edge.
5. Hedgehog Collage
Draw a hedgehog on a sheet of paper and decorate with leaves or twigs.
Autumn Leaf Activities
1. Mud Faces
Splodge a handful of mud onto a tree and use fallen leaves and seeds to make funny faces or tree monsters.
2. Autumn Leaf Bracelet
Thread leaves onto string to make an Autumn bracelet.
3. Leaf Mask
Decorate a mask using fallen leaves.
4. Autumn Finds Collage
Create a collage using things you collect on your nature walk.
5. Autumn Mobile
Create a natural mobile using branches and leaves.
6. Wax Resist Ribbings
Make some wax resist leaf rubbing paintings by placing a leaf under some paper and rubbing with a candle. Now use water colours on top of the wax.
7. Rock Friends
Draw a face on a rock and glue leaves on for hair.
8. Elf and Fairy Outfits
Make some elf outfits using leaves and petals.
9. Dragon Eggs
Make a dragon egg by covering a stone in clay and decorating with golden leaves and other bits.
Owl Activities For Autumn
1. Barn Owl Mobile
Visit barnowltrust.org.uk and make a barn owl mobile.
2. Owl Suncatcher
Create an owl suncatcher by cutting an owl shape in black card and cutting out detail. Glue coloured tissue paper behind.
3. Make a Quill
Make a quill by cutting a point at the top of a feather and write with blackberry ink (see recipe).
4. Owl Pellet Dissection
Not for the squeamish but a really interesting activity. You can either dissect a pellet you find or but one cheaply online. Use an online bone chart to work out what you’ve found.
5. Stuffed Owl
Stuff an old brown or black sock and use a glue gun to attach feathers for wings, twig claws, a leaf face and other natural items for eyes and a beak.
Pumpkin Activities For Autumn
1. Pumpkin Pie Playdough
Make pumpkin pie playdough and decorate with black cardboard shapes.
2. Choose a pumpkin
Visit a farm or garden to choose a pumpkin.
3. Pumpkin Mallet
Develop hand-eye-coordination by practicing hammering wooden nails into a pumpkin with a mallet.
4. Paint a pumpkin
Decorate a pumpkin with paints.
5. Pumpkin Pen Skills
Practice pen skills on a pumpkin with dry wipe marker then wipe clean.
6. Pumpkin Stamps
Cut a bruised apple in half, dip in orange paint and print pumpkin shapes. Draw on faces when dry.
Spider Activities For Autumn
1. Cute Clay Spiders
Make a lump of clay and stick 8 twigs in to make spider legs. You can also use natural finds to decorate with imprints.
2. Spider pebbles
Draw around pebbles with a pen and add 8 legs.
3. Spinning Webs
Pretend to be spiders and spin webs in your garden (using wool). Can you trap any grownups?
4. Watercolour Spiders
Splodge some watercolour onto some paper and use straw to blow it so it looks like it has spidery legs.
5. Web Dream Catchers
Make a star shape with 3 twigs and wind wool between the sticks to make a web.
Bat Activities For Autumn
1. Bat Hands
Draw around your hands on black card and cut out. Glue them to a toilet tube painted black and draw on a cheeky face.
2. Bat Shapes
Cut a bat shape into thick cardboard and glue another piece of cardboard behind it. Fill in the bat shape with black beans.
3. Bat Branch
Cut out some paper bats to hang from a branch.
4. Pom pom Bat
Make a brown pompom and add some black felt wings.
5. Echolocation Game
Play the echolocation game (see instructions).
6. Toilet Roll Bats
Stick wings to the side of a toilet roll and paint black. Add googly eyes and hang upside down from a branch.
Squirrel Activities For Autumn
1. Squirrel Role Play
Pretend to be squirrels and go hunt acorns.
2. Build A Drey
Draw a squirrel in the centre of a piece of paper. Glue collage pieces or natural materials to make a drey around it.
3. Fine Motor Acorns
Acorn challenge – can you move acorns from one pot to another with tongs or tweezers?
4. Playdough Mat
Have fun with a squirrel play dough mat.
5. Matching Acorn Caps
Paint acorns and their caps different colours and match them together.
6. Collage Tail
Print the squirrel picture and decorate by gluing leaves and cones to his tail. (See printable squirrel page in Nature Curriculum.)