8 October 2025

While exploring the outdoors, we are becoming more aware of the changes happening all around us. We noticed that we need to wear warmer clothes now, and our fingers are starting to feel cold when we’re outside. To help us notice and remember these seasonal changes, we decided to go on a ramble around the school grounds to spot the colours and signs of autumn.
To record what we observed, we created journey stick/ story sticks. These helped focus the children’s attention and reminded them of the things they saw on their nature journey. Each child chose a stick and, as we walked, they collected natural items that caught their attention: colourful leaves, feathers, bits of bark, rose hips, blackberries, and other treasures from the ground. These were carefully attached onto their sticks and anything extra placed carefully in tiny hands.
The children enjoyed searching, picking and naming the items, talking about their colours and textures, and sharing stories about where they found them. We found acorns from the oak tree, and the children were amazed by the little lid or hat on top. They were full of ideas about what could be inside, some thought it was a seed and suggested planting it to grow a tree. Others imagined their journey sticks as magical tools were magic nature wands changing leaf colours and making leaves fall. The activity encouraged the children to look closely at the world around them, to be curious, and to share their discoveries with one another. We discussed the various sizes of the leaves and the many different shapes and textures, some were fluffy, thick, thin, and some even crispy. One child found some litter and attached this to his journey stick. This was a great chance to discuss how litter can be found in nature and that it should not be there. It is our job to keep our environment clean and tidy and to always recycle or be smart with waste. We used the feeling faces cards to show how we felt during our Forest School adventure. We were washed our hand with soap and water after the activity.
We will take our journey sticks back to the classroom to help us remember what we discovered on our walk. They will be used to investigate leaf types, learn the names of trees, and support more learning about the changes in the season of autumn.