Falling leaves, warm forest colours and fresh seasonal produce mean there is something for everyone to enjoy during autumn. If you don’t mind getting your hands dirty, you can get crafty or cook up a feast from nature’s own larder.

Creature craft

The kids can get creative using objects on the forest floor to make imaginative creatures of the forest. Fallen leaves are great material for fairy dresses, while large tree seeds such as conkers, sweet chestnuts and fir cones are the makings of conker and pine cone creatures.

Use glue or plasticine to stick on arms, legs, hair, a nose, eyes and ears. Parents may need to help out when skewering holes into conkers so you can join the conkers together with twigs or matchsticks to make arms and legs.

Investigate the forest floor

Get up close and personal with the forest floor to see what lurks beneath the surface. Do you notice the leaves have many different shapes, textures and scents?

There are also many insects you can identify by looking under fallen leaves.

Tree seeds are abundant this season, including acorns, beech seeds and conkers. Outdoor and Woodland Learning Scotland have a great activity card you can use to help children learn about the life cycle of a tree. You can even try growing your own seed!

Forage up a feast

Mushrooms and berries are just some of the yummy sights during autumn. Foraging is a fun and inexpensive way to get to know which fresh ingredients are in your local area. Give it a go and show us the fruits of your labour.

Try making a blackberry smoothie by blending a handful of blackberries, yoghurt and some honey together. Alternatively you can make some delicious chickweed fritters.

Recipe: Chickweed fritters

You just need:

• 70g plain flour
• Half a teaspoon of baking powder
• One tablespoon grated parmesan
• Two eggs
• Two tablespoons of milk
• Salt and pepper
• Handful of chickweed, washed and roughly chopped (or use a mixture of leaves such as sorrel and mint)
• Oil for frying

1. Sieve flour and baking powder together.
2. Mix in eggs and add a little milk if the mixture is very stiff.
3. Add parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.
4. Mix in chopped chickweed.
5. Heat a tablespoon of oil in a frying pan. Drop spoonfuls of mixture into pan and turn once they are golden underneath. Cook for a further minute or so.

Serve hot or cold.

Make a leaf maze

Grab a rake or use your hands to make your own leaf maze or labyrinth with fallen leaves. Children will learn problem-solving skills and develop their spatial awareness as they stay in between the lines navigating the maze from start to finish. Big kids can be involved as well by designing their maze on paper first and then creating it themselves.