Summer is over and before we know it the dark winter months will be here. But those little ones and big ones still need entertaining. So I asked my local community what they like to do during the autumn and winter months, here are some of the results as well as a few of mine. The results are either free or low budget. The locations are in South Devon but the ideas can be applied elsewhere. The photo’s are by me – Unless stated.
Outdoor activities
- Go for a walk to a park, nature reserve or national trust location. Whilst there, collect leaves, pine cones, twigs, acorns, feathers, lichen etc. Save for a rainy day. Stover Country Park is a great place to visit in the autumn or any time of the year. But particularly in the autumn and winter as there are some great places to play hide and seek amongst the rhododendrons.
Dartmoor National Park is also great to explore during the winter months as the bracken has died off and no longer covering most of the trodden paths. Always check the weather and consider the conditions before venturing on the Moors.
- Rake up the leaves in your garden, or go to a local area with lots of trees dropping those leaves. Our boys enjoy helping rake up the leaves and then playing amongst them.
- Family bike ride. This time of the year is quite pleasant for a bike ride – no more excessive sweating whilst puffing up a hill due to the heat.
- Go to the beach. Just because the summer heat now seems long gone, autumn (and spring) is a lovely time to visit the beach. Exmouth, Teignmouth Dawlish Warren and Broadsands are a couple of our favourites. The huge tourist hoard has gone home, the sun can still be reasonably warm, however the air can be cool so remember to take an extra layer. Rock pooling and walks are fun activities.
- Blackberry picking. Then make a blackberry and apple crumble together – a firm favourite in our family.
Indoor activities
- Den building. Let’s face it everyone enjoys den building. Grab duvets, blankets and pillows and get constructing. Once finished, enjoy a picnic in your den or cookies and hot chocolate. If you are feeling creative or you have a creative little one take a look at Pinterest for some inspiration. Or if you don’t mind spending some pennies then take a trip to Hobbycraft – they have some great cardboard playhouses or space ships, which can then be coloured in.
- Do some baking. Autumn/winter is an ideal time of the year to help your budding chefs with some baking. Cookies/biscuits, muffins/cupcakes, flapjacks or even simple rice crispy cakes. And don’t forget the best part – the bowl licking after.
- Have a cinema afternoon. With the wonderful world of smart TV there are some great movies for free or to rent on Amazon Prime or Netflix and many more. Cheaper than going to the cinema. So, grab a bowl of popcorn, shut the curtains and snuggle up on the sofa.
- Create an indoor obstacle course. Plot out an obstacle course – items to jump over, blankets to crawl under and spots to skip on. I use this trick a lot, I have two boys after all. I will ask them to collect a marble or any item from their room and list which rooms they must go through first. These rooms then either have activities or an exercise to do in them.
- If you would rather they didn’t run around your house, a great indoor soft play space is Bear Feet, which now have a branch in Exeter as well as Newton Abbot.
Craft. My favourite! I am a lover of craft so I am always trying to find ways to get my boys doing more craft activities, with mixed results I must say. Grab the bag of goodies you collected on your walk and use them to get creating, let the kids decide what to do. If you, or they are stuck for ideas, here are some of my favourites and others recommended to me:
- Leaf painting, either paint the leaves or use them to make leaf patterns on a piece of paper, you could also dip any of the other items in the paint and see what pattern they make.
- Pine cone painting and if you have a dry spot outside the front of your house, they make a lovely decoration.
- For the toddlers, give them some PVA glue and let them just stick whatever they like on to some paper.
- The older children could create a picture using all the items they have collected. Maybe get them to think of an idea before they go for the walk.
I hope that this has given you some inspiration and eliminated some worry as to what to do this Autumn and Winter with your little and big ones. Below are the websites for the places mentioned above. I would like to say thank you to everyone who contributed their ideas. I wish you all a happy and cosy Autumn and Winter.
References
Stover Country Park – www.new.devon.gov.uk/stovercountrypark
Dartmoor National Park – www.dartmoor.gov.uk
The Devon Beach Guide – www.thebeachguide.co.uk
Pinterest – www.pinterest.co.uk
Hobbycraft – www.hobbycraft.co.uk
Amazon Prime – www.amazon.co.uk/gp/prime
Netflix – www.netflix.com/gb
Bear Feet – www.bearfeet.net