🍂 Autumnal Adventures: Seasonal Play Ideas

Sophie Ballinger

By: Sophie Ballinger | Date: 5/11/2025

A group of children looking at autumn leaves, inspectin them closely

Autumn has arrived - the air’s a crisper, the trees are glowing gold, and there’s something irresistible about the crunch of leaves when you nip out for a walk. Whether you’re exploring your garden, a local park, or visiting us here at Eureka!, it’s the perfect season to play, explore and discover together, and here are some hands-on autumn play ideas inspired by curiosity, creativity and a bit of science too.

🍁 Leaf Detectives

Head outdoors and see how many different shapes, colours and textures of leaves you can find. Can you match them to the trees they fell from?

Bring a selection home to make leaf rubbings, prints or your very own “autumn passport” book full of your discoveries and drawings.

🌧 Puddle Olympics

Rainy days = perfect play days! Pull on your wellies and see who can make the biggest splash, the longest jump, or the most dramatic puddle pattern.

You could even give each move a silly name – “The Splashinator”, anyone?

🩔 Help a Hedgehog

As the weather gets cooler, hedgehogs start looking for cosy spots to hibernate. Gather leaves, twigs and dry grass to build a little hedgehog hotel in your garden or local green space. Keep an eye out for tiny footprints once it’s finished!

🌰 Conker Creations

Once the conker battles are done, turn your collection into art! Decorate them with paint pens, googly eyes to make tiny creatures, or use them for counting, sorting and pattern play. It’s as much fun as painting rocks, but you can hang these up as decorations!

🌙 Night-time Nature

As the evenings draw in, head out with your torches after tea to explore your local area after dark. Can you spot bats, owls, or constellations in the night sky? Listen carefully – autumn nights are full of secret sounds, and usually it’s only tiny ears that can hear bats squeaking!


Autumn is a season made for curiosity – full of colour, changes and discoveries. So wrap up warm, head outside, and see what adventures you can find together!

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Eureka! The National Children’s Museum
Discovery Road, Halifax HX1 2NE. Map