Autumn, or fall for my readers in the United States, is a treasured time of year for many. So, finding autumn activity ideas ahead of time is the perfect way to honour this much-loved season.
Wrapped up in a cosy blanket, in front of the first fire of the year, with a steaming hot chocolate in hand, it’s no wonder that autumn is a favourite season for many. It’s often dubbed the cosy season, and with good reason. While summer is a time for living outwardly, autumn is a time to begin retreating inwards. It’s a time when you might begin to think about the endpoint for the year’s big project or goal on your list, and long for a slower pace of life when compared to the rush of the summer months.
A list of autumn activity ideas
In preparation for the season, I’ve compiled my personal list of simple autumn activity ideas. I hope they provide you with warmth, comfort and joy this autumn.
Wind down projects
Before we get into the fun activities… I mentioned winding down projects in the introduction because I believe it’s an important, and often overlooked, theme of autumn. In the season following autumn, winter, we will truly be retreating. The weather turns substantially colder and, as our ancestors sought shelter, we have the desire to hunker down, too. So, autumn is the perfect season to begin in preparation for the upcoming winter months.
Do you have a half-finished or outstanding task in your life or home? At the time of writing, we’re halfway through repairing all of the skirting boards in our house. The kitchen, pantry and snug are in the midst of a sort-out, and we have three pieces of art from our holiday in Cornwall that are yet to be hung on the wall, pending the purchase of picture frames. We’re also decorating our baby’s nursery, and have boxes of items displaced across our home as a result.
Autumn is the ideal season to close these projects, and, as is the case for me, avoid the temptation to start new ones. Instead, write down the new project ideas in your planner and save them for spring.
Administration counts, too
I wholeheartedly recommend closing the invisible jobs, too. Book the dental appointment that’s been at the back of your mind all year, back up the thousands of photos accumulated on your phone to a hard drive or the cloud, and unsubscribe from marketing emails in your inbox.
In addition, if you’re a homeowner, early autumn is the time to book the annual chimney sweep, gutter cleaning and boiler service, ensuring a protected home for the colder months ahead.
Decorate the house
Before driving to the nearest homeware shop for a haul of seasonal decor, I feel called to mention that the mounds of autumn decor showcased by influencers aren’t necessary to create a cosy home for autumn. Of course, if you’d like to invest in seasonal decor and know that you will reuse it year after year, have fun with it. But, you can create a cosy atmosphere much more sustainably with a handful of items that might already exist in your home, such as candles and blankets.
If you plan to eat pumpkins this autumn, you can make a display of your produce on the dining room table, or buy a bunch of seasonal flowers, such as chrysanthemums, from your local florist or supermarket. If you’re creative, look on Pinterest for home crafts, such as garlands made of autumn leaves or bowls filled with pinecones. You could even paint a picture of an autumnal scene and put it in a frame for the season. Daphne’s Diary is a wholesome magazine for crafting activities, guaranteed to provide entertainment on sleepy Sunday afternoons amid the changing season, and to give you some inspiration for decorating your home.
Create a cosy day at home
One of my favourite autumn activity ideas is to create a textbook autumnal day at home. I’ve created a step-by-step of my ideal day, that you’re welcome to use for inspiration…
Morning
A crisp autumn morning calls for a slow start to the day. Put on a pair of thick socks (or your slippers!), make yourself a coffee in your favourite mug, and prepare an easy breakfast, such as a warm pastry. Play an acoustic autumn playlist and relax in the living room with your journal, book or magazine, letting the light stream in through the window for a peaceful hour.
Get ready for the day, wrap up warm, and go on a long morning walk around your neighbourhood. Breathe in the fresh air and, if called to, bring a journal or sketchbook to capture the changing nature by hand, in your own words or drawings.
Afternoon
Make a nourishing lunch in the kitchen. I’d choose a warming soup and crusty bread, with flavours such as butternut squash, potato and leek, or tomato. Then, get snuggled up in the living room with the fire burning, if you have one, your favourite blanket, a drink and a book, game or activity. It could be time for a cosy game on your console, or a crafting project that’s been on your list.
If you prefer to be up and on your feet, you could spend the afternoon baking an autumnal dessert, such as a pumpkin pie. I tried to make one a couple of years ago and didn’t quite get the pastry right, so I plan to recreate it this autumn (hopefully, with better pastry results).
Evening
As the night starts to draw in, it’s the perfect time to enjoy a hot bubble bath with an autumnal bath bomb, before putting on a clean set of pyjamas and woolly socks for the evening.
If you’ve been busy crafting or baking in the afternoon, you might want to order a delivery from your local takeaway. Set up the television for a comforting movie night, perhaps, starting with the first Harry Potter film (you can continue watching the Harry Potter films throughout autumn, too). To finish the evening, enjoy a slice of freshly made pumpkin pie with a cup of tea, before closing the house for a new day.
Go pumpkin picking
I appreciate that this is one of the more obvious autumn activity ideas on my list, but it’s quickly gaining popularity in England with new pick-your-own-pumpkin fields appearing every year. This activity isn’t just for kids, either! Wrap up warm and drive to your chosen venue, take Polaroid photos among the rows of pumpkins and choose colourful treasures to take home. There’s often a local farm shop to peruse while you’re there, too.
Follow the activity with a pub lunch, and set a date close by to carve the pumpkins afterwards. Just be sure to use the flesh of the pumpkin to create a delicious soup or puree afterwards.
Celebrate Halloween
Historically, Halloween was known as Samhain, which honoured the end of the harvest and welcomed the dark half of the year. As someone who lives in a farming community, I feel called to make the effort to celebrate this occasion.
In our household, we plan to light our homemade Jack-o’-lantern by the front door, fill a big bowl of sweet treats for the trick-or-treaters, and play board and card games into the evening with hot chocolates and freshly baked goodies. Of course, if you want to take the celebration to the next level, you could throw a fancy dress party with music, drinks and traditional games like apple bobbing (if you don’t find it too messy).
A list of autumn hobbies
I will be going on maternity leave during autumn, and aim to keep my mind, body and spirit in the happiest position I can. So, there are multiple hobbies I’m looking to either continue or start for autumn. I hope they will be of interest to you, too.
Cosy colouring
I recently mentioned in my previous blog post, A guide to living each day to the fullest, that I’m eager to try colouring again. Albeit, switching from coloured pencils to acrylic markers. I’ve enjoyed watching TikTok videos of people colouring in the pages of the Coco Wyo books – they even have a Halloween-inspired colouring book that I have on my wishlist.
Reading magazines
It’s no secret on Intentional Lucie that I love magazines. My favourite publications are Daphne’s Diary and Flow, so I’ll be picking up the autumn issues to read with a cup of decaf tea, and try the little crafting activities among the pages.
Baking autumnal treats
I have an on-off relationship with baking. When I make a delicious bake, I feel proud and wonder why I don’t do it more often. Yet, when my creation is substandard, I feel frustrated about the mess I’ve created in the kitchen when making it. Even so, I want to intentionally choose a handful of autumn recipes to bake for the season, including my second shot at a pumpkin pie.
Practising gratitude
Again, I mentioned in last week’s blog post that I plan to redo The Magic by Rhonda Byrne. In order to embark on a positive autumn, it helps me tremendously to practice gratitude for the season and celebrate all of the good that I have in my life.
Cosy gaming
It might be niche, but I own a Nintendo Switch Lite and plan to revisit my old favourite games, namely Animal Crossing: New Horizons and Stardew Valley, under a blanket on a cold and drizzly autumnal day. I also re-downloaded The Sims recently, which makes me feel incredibly nostalgic and provides me with hours of entertainment.
Reading
Finally, getting lost in a good book is an essential hobby for me as the season turns. My guilty pleasure is romantic fiction, with Suzanne Snow being a firm favourite after I discovered one of her books in my local library a few years ago. To make a change, I jumped on the bandwagon and bought a copy of A Court of Thorns and Roses (ACOTAR) on holiday, but only time will tell if I make it through the first chapters before reverting to my old favourites.
Whether you clicked on this blog post in search of autumn activity ideas or autumn hobbies, I hope my personal lists have unlocked some inspiration. What is your favourite way to honour the season of autumn?