Halloween is over, bonfire night has passed and the trees are looking pretty chilly out there, autumn (or fall for my American friends) has definitely set in. With this pretty season also comes the not so pretty, cold and wet weather. It can be tempting to just stay at home and consider hibernating until the beginning of Spring but there are still plenty of reasons to get out and enjoy the sunshine great outdoors.
1. Winter wardrobe – You now have a reason to wear your favourite scarf that has been hanging lonely on a hook by the door for the past 9 months. What about that coat you love that has been neglected during the summer months? It is time to wrap up and get to know and love your winter wardrobe all over again. Also, what a perfect excuse for a shopping trip – you can’t possibly go out for autumnal walks in the woods without a new pair of boots, surely?
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| Yay, it’s now cold enough for me to wear this very lumpy jumper I knitted. |
2. The park – There is no denying it, kids just love a trip to the park. The swing and slide set in the garden just won’t cut it sometimes and the only thing that will satisfy them is a trip to the local playground. No matter how hard you try to build some kind of fort/assault course in the house, at some point this autumn you will have to don your hat and gloves and take a crunchy walk through the leaves and go to the park.
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| Leo is not overly sure about the trampoline. |
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| See saw..Marjorie Dore |
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| Weee! |
3. Crafts – Been on Pinterest lately? Autumn craft ideas are everywhere and if you want to get creative you are going to have to get outdoors. You can’t make an autumn collage without any leaves, or an autumnal wreath without any conkers or acorns now can you? Also, how is your toddler going to make his stick man without any sticks?
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| These became a conkers caterpillar..it was destroyed before I had time to photograph it. |
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| Collecting conkers |
4. It is fun – The days of making sandcastles on the beach may be a distant memory and there may still be a few months to go before you will be building any snow men but that doesn’t mean Autumn can’t be fun too. Why not exchange the sand for leaves and make a big leaf mountain for your toddler to jump in. Throwing leaves in the air and running through them is also a big toddler pleaser, as is crunching through them and kicking them everywhere. In case you hadn’t already guessed, my little one just loves leaves.
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| Leaf mountain!! |
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| Crunch..crunch..crunch |
5. It is beautiful – If you just stop for a minute, embrace the cold and the change of season and look around, you will see that Autumn is in fact a really beautiful time. Brightly coloured leaves litter the ground and fall from the trees like flakes of snow The sun may go down early but a glowing sunset behind empty, naked trees is a very pretty sight. Get your camera out and get snapping because before you know it will be winter, the leaves would have turned to slush and more than likely (in the UK anyway) snowy scenes will be just be an unfulfilled Christmas wish. Enjoy the colours while you can.
Do you love autumn? Do you like to get out and about or do you prefer to stay in and hibernate? Is there anything you would add to this list? Let me know 🙂
