From apple picking and woodland treasure hunts to cosy story times and after-school baking, September is full of simple ways to enjoy the changing season together.

September is one of our favourite months at Binky.

There is something rather lovely about that first hint of autumn in the air. The frantic pace of summer begins to soften, children head back to school and suddenly weekends feel made for wellies, woodland walks and coming home to something warm from the oven.

It is also a month of transition. New classrooms, new teachers and new routines can make September exciting, but sometimes rather tiring too. So our September bucket list isn't about filling every spare moment. Quite the opposite.

We've gathered together some of our favourite things to do with children in September in the UK simple family adventures, seasonal traditions and quieter moments at home that encourage children to play, explore and notice the changing world around them.

Some need a little planning. Most need hardly anything at all.

1. Go apple picking or make and apple pie.

September is prime apple-picking season, and there are wonderful pick-your-own orchards dotted around the country. Heres a list close to London 

Or if you're in the north head to Ampleforth Abbey on the 13th September for their annual orchard pick

Give everyone a basket, find out which varieties are ready and let the children choose their own. It's an easy way to spend a few hours outside and a lovely opportunity for children to see where their food actually comes from.

Then comes the best bit: deciding what to make with your haul.

Apple crumble? Apple cake? Baked apples? Or simply slices dipped into something delicious after school?

Binky idea: Let the kids make their own crumble, by adding extra ingredients to a basic crumble mix, like mini marshmallows, Chocolate Chips, fruits and nuts. 

Just remember to serve lashings of yummy custard! 

2. Go on a woodland treasure hunt

This was one of the ideas we loved for our September Binky Journal, because autumn turns even an ordinary walk into an expedition.

Make a little list before you leave and see if you can find:

• An acorn
• A conker
• A feather
• Three differently shaped leaves
• Something red
• Something yellow
• Something prickly
• A pine cone
• A particularly good stick
• Signs that autumn is beginning

Younger children can collect treasures in a little basket; older children might photograph what they find instead.

And naturally, the very best stick must come home. We don't make the rules.

3. Press the first autumn leaves

Those first beautifully coloured leaves are too lovely to leave on the pavement.

Collect a few favourites on your walk, place them between sheets of paper and press them beneath a pile of heavy books.

A week or two later they can become autumn pictures, homemade cards, bookmarks or decorations.

It's a wonderfully old-fashioned children's activity which is precisely why we love it.

Check out our flower press here 

4. Visit a farmers' market

September markets are glorious: apples, pears, late summer berries, squashes, sweetcorn and the first proper signs of autumn.

Give children a small budget and let them choose one fruit or vegetable they haven't tried before.

Take it home, find a recipe together and make it part of supper.

It turns an everyday food shop into a small adventure while giving children some ownership over what the family eats.

Check out Londons farmers markets here

Plus more across the UK here

5. Make something from your nature collection

If your pockets inevitably come home filled with leaves, acorns, conkers and sticks, put them to good use.

Make leaf rubbings, paint acorns, create funny little conker creatures or arrange leaves into animals and faces.

At Binky, we are great believers that children's creativity doesn't require an elaborate Pinterest-worthy craft table. A few interesting materials, some glue and the freedom to experiment are often far more inspiring.

There doesn't need to be a prescribed end result.

Process over perfection. Always.

6. Make an after-school autumn ritual

September can be exhausting for children, particularly those starting nursery, Reception, secondary school or simply adjusting to a new school year.

One of the themes we wanted to explore in Binky's Journal this September was creating calm after school.

Rather than rushing straight into clubs, homework and questions about their day, try creating a small ritual that signals: you're home now.

Shoes off. Favourite snack. Ten minutes curled up with a book. Drawing at the kitchen table. Building something. A little uninterrupted play.

Children don't always need us to extract the story of their day the moment they walk through the door. Sometimes they need space to decompress first.

7. Have a family games night

As evenings begin to draw in, reinstate family games night.

Let a different person choose the game each week, make popcorn and put phones away for an hour.

Games are brilliant for developing patience, turn-taking, problem solving and resilience — but children don't need to know any of that.

Check out journal post here to get more inspiration 

8. Go on a conker hunt

A quintessentially British childhood tradition.

September marks the beginning of conker season, so find your nearest park, woodland or horse chestnut tree and start collecting.

There is something immensely satisfying about cracking open that spiky green shell to discover a perfectly shiny conker inside.

Take them home for crafts, counting games and autumn displays or teach children the gloriously analogue playground game generations before them played.

9. Bake something together

September is when turning the oven on becomes appealing again.

Try apple crumble after your orchard trip, blackberry muffins after a country walk, cinnamon biscuits or a simple loaf cake.

Give children proper jobs rather than simply letting them watch: weighing, pouring, stirring, kneading and decorating.

Yes, there will probably be flour on the floor.

Consider it part of the experience.

10. Go blackberry picking

11. Go for a bike or scooter adventure

September often gives us those wonderful bright, crisp days that are neither too hot nor properly cold.

Pack a flask and a snack, choose a traffic-free route and head out on bikes or scooters.

Instead of making the destination the important part, let children stop when something catches their attention.

A playground, an enormous puddle, a strange-looking tree or a good hill to race down can become the entire adventure.

Childhood doesn't always need an itinerary but the right kit will certainly help to get them outside.

12. Create a rainy-day box

There will, inevitably, be rain. This is England after all.

Rather than reaching automatically for a screen, create a Rainy Day Box together.

Fill it with craft materials, puzzles, stickers, colouring pencils, beads, cards, a favourite game and perhaps one or two things the children haven't seen before.

Keep it tucked away and only bring it out on particularly grey afternoons.

Suddenly rain becomes rather more exciting.

13. Start a September bookshelf

This is another idea we want to make part of Binky's Journal: a little seasonal Binky Bookshelf.

Choose four or five books and place them somewhere children can easily reach them. Mix favourite stories with something new, a nature book and perhaps a book connected to something your child is currently fascinated by.

September is perfect for stories about autumn, woodland creatures, starting school, friendship, nature and change.

Then make time for a properly cosy story session.

Blankets encouraged.

Hot chocolate optional.

14. Make the most of an ordinary Sunday

Perhaps our favourite idea of all.

Don't plan anything.

Go to the park. Take the dog for a walk. Kick through leaves. Stop for cake. Come home and build a den. Put a film on. Make soup. Read together.

There can be a temptation to make childhood relentlessly special. But when we think back to our own childhoods, it is often the wonderfully ordinary rituals that stay with us.

September doesn't need to be packed with activities.

It can simply be the month when everyone comes back together after summer and settles into the rhythm of family life again.

The Binky September Bucket List

So, if you're wondering what to do with kids this September, here's our list to save for the month:

Pick apples • Hunt for conkers • Collect autumn leaves • Visit a farmers' market • Go blackberry picking • Make autumn crafts • Explore a woodland • Bake an apple crumble • Visit a farm • Go for a bike ride • Have a family games night • Make homemade soup • Start an autumn bookshelf • Create a rainy-day box • Go on a nature treasure hunt • Have a cosy film night • Make time for uninterrupted play

You certainly don't need to do them all.

Choose a handful, write them on a piece of paper and stick it to the fridge. Let the children decide which adventure comes next.

Because at Binky, we believe some of the very best childhood memories begin with something incredibly simple:

"Shall we go and see what we can find?"