Family Plans in the Autumn

While the fine weather may not be over for the year, the summer nearly is. As we head into September, the summer holidays are ending, the kids will be going back to school and it’s time to buy new uniform and stationery and it’s time think about plans you can make for quality family time with the days getting shorter, school taking up more time and the weather starting to worsen.

 Getting Ready for the Return to School

Back to school offers start to appear in shops from July, which can make the summer holidays feel a bit limited! If it suits you to pick and choose offers where you can get them, then you can pick out the necessary bits and pieces over the whole course of the summer, but for many the back to school shop is one manic day at the end of the holidays. For uniform, it makes sense to shop as close to the end of the holidays as possible, and get the best fit for your fast-growing kids!

In terms of family plans, this can be a stressful day, with reluctant kids dragged resentfully around shops by parents with fraying tempers. You can try to make it a more positive part of the family experience by incorporating a treat into the day – eating lunch together in the middle, or going to the cinema afterwards. Something like that – especially if you can make it a tradition – lowers the potential for resentment and makes it part of the seasonal turn toward the autumn.

Getting Outside

In the autumn the days get shorter and colder, so it’s even more important to capitalise on the good days to enjoy some outdoor time with your kids. Autumn is a great season for watching things change, from the crops in the fields to the leaves on the trees, so even if it’s just a walk through some residential streets there’s always something new to see.

If you want to make more of an event of it you can try something like a Treasure Trails scavenger hunt. The new boom in scavenger hunts make it easy to explore a new town or add focus to a countryside walk, with puzzles (complete with clues) and narrative.

In the Kitchen

One good way to make the most of autumn with your family is by bringing it into the kitchen. It’s the season of the harvest, with lots of exciting new seasonal ingredients coming to shops, and it’s a great time to involve your kids in the kitchen, introducing them to skills that will serve them well for the rest of their lives!