Five autumn woodland walks to try before half-term

Autumn might be the best season for a family walk. The light is golden, the paths crunch, and every few steps there's something new to pick up: a conker, a sycamore helicopter, a leaf in a colour you can't quite name.

With half-term coming, here are five woods we love for an autumn walk with children, and a few ideas to make the most of the season wherever you go.

Before you set off, always check the site's own website for opening times, parking and any path closures. Autumn weekends can be busy, so an early start helps.

1. Westonbirt Arboretum, Gloucestershire

If you want colour, this is the place. Westonbirt is famous for its autumn maples, and on a bright October day the reds and oranges are spectacular. There's plenty of space for small children to run, and paths that suit buggies in many areas.

Try: a leaf colour hunt. How many different colours can you find? Can anyone find a leaf that's two colours at once?

2. Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire

Home of the Major Oak, a huge, ancient tree that's well worth the walk to see. Sherwood's oaks drop acorns by the thousand in autumn, and children of all ages enjoy imagining the forest in the time of the old stories.

Try: an acorn count. Who can find an acorn still wearing its cup?

3. Fineshade Wood, Northamptonshire

A lovely mixed woodland with wide paths that work well for families. Fineshade is known for its red kites, so keep looking up: with their forked tails, they're easier to spot than you might think.

Try: sky spotting. Lie on your back for a minute (on a coat!) and watch the treetops move.

4. Delamere Forest, Cheshire

Delamere has a lovely mix of woodland and water, which makes for a varied walk. Autumn mornings can be misty and atmospheric, and there's usually plenty of mud for wellies to find.

Try: a sound map. Stop, close your eyes and point to every sound you can hear. Birds? Water? Leaves? Footsteps?

5. Bedgebury Forest, Kent

Bedgebury's pinetum has conifers from all over the world, so there's interest even as the leaves come down. It's a good place to compare fir cones: big, small, long, round, sticky.

Try: a fir cone line-up, from smallest to biggest. Then leave them for the squirrels.

Wherever you walk: autumn ideas

You don't need a famous wood to have a brilliant autumn walk. Any local park with a few trees will do. Some seasonal favourites:

• Conker hunting. Look under horse chestnut trees for spiky cases. The shiniest conkers are inside ones that have only just fallen.
• Helicopter races. Drop sycamore seeds from as high as you can reach and see whose spins longest.
• Leaf piles. Find a big one and jump in. Check for anything prickly first.
• Mushroom spotting. Autumn is the best time to see fungi. Look closely, take a photo, but don't touch or pick.
• Kicking leaves. The simplest game there is, and still one of the best.

Light and timing

Autumn days get short quickly, especially after the clocks go back at the end of October. Plan to be heading back to the car well before sunset, as woods get dark sooner than open ground. A torch in the bag is a good idea if you're cutting it fine.

Turn any walk into a story

Our play-anywhere stories unlock chapter by chapter as you walk, so they work on any of these walks or round your own local park. The Lantern Seeds feels especially autumnal: Nutmeg the owl needs six glowing seeds found before nightfall, and the challenges along the way include finding an acorn, a conker or a seed.

Download a story at home, pack the wellies, and enjoy the crunch. Find more stories and trails on the Discover page.