Last Sunday we awoke to a grey drizzly day. As we breakfasted on pancakes the clouds began to clear and the sun slowly filtered through. We packed into the car and headed to Westonbirt Arboretum to enjoy the crisp, sunny, autumn morning.

Westonbirt has a new tree top walkway so we started there. I was really impressed. We got a different perspective on the trees and there are info stops to educate and inspire a love of trees and forests.

At the end of the trail we found ourselves in Silk Wood which we aren’t as familiar with as The Old Arboretum. Silk Wood is the dog friendly area and having some of the cutest furry companions running around us definitely added to the fun.

In Silk Wood we were surround by autumnal colours. Time for some leaf catching. Mr Purple and the children whirled around catching leaves. When you catch one you get a wish, it was a lucky day and lots of wishes were made.

We visited the arboretum armed with ideas thanks to the Forestry Commission’s colour me happy campaign. If you visit this page there are lots of ideas for autumn in the forest, including an activity pack for children.

Robo Boy used the pack to undertake a leaf litter investigation. Armed with his tick sheet he diligently checked around fallen logs and under leaves, spotting seven of the eight potential mini beasts. He even added his own tick box for ants which he found in plenty.

With an autumn craft in mind we asked the children to collect as many different coloured leaves as they could find. They all enjoyed searching for brown, red, orange, and golden coloured leaves. When we got home we used the leaves to make this fantastic autumn picture.