The woods are our playground; sticks, berries, leaves, sycamore helicopters, pine cones and conkers provide the perfect ingredients for a season of outdoor fun and adventure. Here are our top 5 activities to get your young people outside and active over the coming months.

Den Building

Dens come in all shapes and sizes, but they all start with a good tree. You are looking for one with a natural fork in the lower branches, a long sturdy horizontal branch or lots of knobbly nooks and crannies to balance your sticks against. Use the trees branches and search for some long, sturdy sticks [don’t break any branches off living trees] to create the frame for your den and start building. Make sure they are well wedged in so they don’t topple over when you get in and weave the more bendy sticks in between to create cover and walls.

Natural Art

Take a minute to stand outside in the autumn and think about all the different colours, shapes and textures that you can see around you. Use your environment to inspire a piece of natural art. Make patterns using different coloured leaves and take a photo of your handiwork so you have a permanent reminder.

Go Undercover

Have fun with the piles of leaves which are falling at the moment and take Hide and Seek to the next level. Go undercover – get really well hidden and camouflaged outside in a natural place and challenge a family member or friend to come and find you.

Mini Rafting

Who can resist picking up a stick when you’re out for a walk? Woodland walks are so much more enjoyable when there is a purpose behind them, so put those collected sticks to good use by building mini rafts and racing them in a nearby stream or a big puddle left after those autumnal rainy days.

Campfires

A campfire warms your soul and your fingers on a crisp autumn evening. Nothing beats sitting round a fire sharing stories, toasting marshmallows or simply staring into the flames.

This article is provided by The Youth Adventure Trust, our charity partner. The Youth Adventure Trust believes that vulnerable young people should be given the opportunity to fulfil their potential and be able to lead positive lives in the future. 

Our aim is to inspire these young people to:

• build resilience
• develop confidence and self esteem
• learn valuable life skills; and
• achieve their full potential

We do this by providing a long term outdoor adventure programme and mentoring scheme which young people can access between the ages of 11 and 16.

To help support the charity and our future generations, you can find out more about them here.