Little Sprouts Weekend: Week 8
Autumn is changing colour.
But not all at once.
One tree might still be almost completely green while the one beside it has turned yellow.
There might be bright red berries in a hedge, copper leaves on the ground and pale seed heads catching the light.
So this weekend, instead of simply looking for “autumn leaves”, we're going to see how many different colours the season is actually making.
Your question is:
How many colours of autumn can you find?
At a glance
Best for: Ages 3–9. Younger children can look for three colours instead of five.
Time: 10–20 minutes
You will need: Nothing
Where: Garden, park, woodland, roadside walk, estate or anywhere with plants and trees
Adult preparation: None
Every Friday, Little Sprouts Weekend delivers one simple outdoor activity to your inbox.
Each is rooted in Irish nature, folklore and the changing season. Nothing elaborate. Nothing that requires preparation.
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This weekend's Little Sprouts adventure
1. Choose five autumn colours
Before you head out, choose five colours to look for.
Try:
- green
- yellow
- orange
- red
- brown
You can add others if you spot them.
Perhaps purple berries.
Cream-coloured grasses.
Grey bark.
Or even something almost black.
There isn't one correct autumn palette.
That's part of the adventure.
2. Find one thing for each colour
Start walking slowly.
Can you find something natural that matches each colour?
It might be:
🍃 a green leaf that hasn't changed yet
🍂 a yellow birch leaf
🍁 an orange or rusty leaf
🔴 red rowan berries
🤎 a brown seed head or fallen leaf
You don't need to pick them up.
Pointing, photographing or simply remembering what you found is enough.
3. Look for a leaf with more than one colour
Now make the search a little harder.
Can you find one leaf showing two or more colours at once?
Green becoming yellow.
Yellow turning brown.
A red edge around a green centre.
Hold it where it is if you can and look closely.
Where does one colour end and the next begin?
4. Find the brightest colour
Ask everyone to choose the brightest thing they can see.
It doesn't have to be a leaf.
Perhaps it's a berry.
A mushroom.
A flower still hanging on.
A rosehip.
A patch of moss.
Or sunlight shining through a yellow leaf.
5. Choose your family's “colour of the weekend”
Before you finish, each person chooses one colour that feels most like autumn right now.
There doesn't have to be agreement.
One child might choose orange.
Someone else might notice that most of the landscape is still green.
That's exactly the point.
If you noticed just one colour you hadn't paid attention to before, the adventure counts.
No woodland nearby?
You don't need one.
Try the adventure:
- from the doorstep
- in a small garden
- along a street with trees
- in a local park
- from a buggy walk
- even by looking through a window
Autumn doesn't only happen in forests.
A rainy day version
Rain can actually make autumn colours look stronger.
Look at wet leaves on the pavement, berries in a hedge or fallen leaves stuck to the path.
Can you find five colours without going far from home?
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Why do leaves change colour?
For most of the year, leaves look green because they contain lots of chlorophyll.
Chlorophyll helps plants capture energy from sunlight.
As autumn days shorten and temperatures begin to fall, deciduous trees start preparing for winter.
The green chlorophyll gradually breaks down.
And when that green colour fades, pigments that were already present in the leaf become easier to see.
Carotenoids help create yellow shades.
Other pigments, including anthocyanins, can create reds and purples.
Together they give us the yellow, gold, orange, red and brown colours we associate with autumn.
So those colours haven't necessarily suddenly appeared.
Some were there all along.
The green was simply hiding them.
Autumn doesn't look the same on every tree
Different trees create different autumn displays.
Even two trees growing close together can change at different times.
The Tree Council of Ireland notes that silver birch leaves turn yellow in autumn, while rowan can produce deep fiery reds and yellows alongside its bright berries.
Ireland's native trees also include oak, birch, rowan, hazel, hawthorn, willow and many others, so an ordinary walk can contain far more variety than we sometimes notice.
Try asking:
Do all the trees on this path look like they're in the same season?
You might be surprised by the answer.
Why are some leaves still green?
Trees don't all work to exactly the same timetable.
The amount of light a tree gets, its species, the weather and local growing conditions can all affect what you see.
That means October can feel like several seasons happening together.
Some branches are still green.
Others are turning yellow.
Some trees are already dropping leaves.
And evergreens are carrying on as if nothing has happened at all.
This makes autumn a particularly good time to revisit the same place each week.
You can actually watch the landscape change.
Look beyond the leaves
Autumn colour isn't only in trees.
Ask your Little Sprout to look lower down too.
You might notice:
- scarlet rowan berries
- dark blackberries still hanging in the hedge
- rosehips
- brown seed heads
- green moss
- pale grasses
- black seeds
- yellowing fern
- reddish bramble leaves
The Tree Council notes that rowan berries turn scarlet and provide food for birds into winter.
So some of the brightest autumn colours are also an important part of the season's food supply.
A colour question for grown-ups too
Adults are very good at naming things.
Oak.
Rowan.
Birch.
Hawthorn.
But children don't always need the name first.
Sometimes it's more interesting to begin with:
What colour is it?
Is it lighter or darker than that one?
Does it look different underneath?
Can you find another one almost the same colour?
Identification can come later.
First, notice.
Questions to wonder about together
Try whichever ones spark a conversation:
- Which autumn colour did you find most often?
- Which was hardest to find?
- Can one leaf have three colours?
- Why do you think some leaves change before others?
- Are there more green leaves or coloured leaves where you are today?
- What colour do you think this place will be in another two weeks?
There are no test answers.
You're simply paying attention together.
One thing to notice before Sunday ends
If the weekend gets busy, make this one tiny.
Find one leaf with more than one colour on it.
Don't worry about collecting it.
Just stop and look.
Notice where the green becomes yellow.
Or where the edge has turned brown.
Or where red has begun appearing around the veins.
Autumn rarely changes everything overnight.
Most of the time, it happens little by little — one leaf, one branch and one colour at a time.
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Each week, Little Sprouts Weekend brings you one small seasonal adventure to enjoy together.
One story. One little adventure. One thing to notice before Sunday ends.
It's created for families with children aged 3–9, with simple ideas designed to work without a garden, specialist knowledge or a big shopping list.
When you join, you'll also receive Four Stories for the Turning Year — a free collection of Irish nature myths, one for each season.
Free to join. A new adventure every Friday.
Frequently asked questions
Why do leaves change colour in autumn?
As days shorten and temperatures fall, deciduous trees begin preparing for winter.
The green pigment chlorophyll breaks down, allowing other pigments in the leaf to become more visible.
Carotenoids help produce yellow colours, while anthocyanins can contribute red and purple shades.
What colours can children look for in autumn?
Children can look for green, yellow, orange, red and brown, but autumn colours aren't limited to leaves.
Berries, seed heads, grasses, bark, moss and flowers can all add different colours to an autumn nature hunt.
Do all trees change colour at the same time?
No.
Different tree species change at different rates, and local conditions can also affect when leaves begin changing and falling.
This means you may see green trees, brightly coloured trees and almost bare trees growing close together.
What Irish trees have good autumn colour?
Silver birch can develop yellow autumn foliage, while rowan can turn red and yellow and carry bright red berries.
Oak, birch, rowan, hazel, willow and hawthorn are among Ireland's native tree species.
Do we need to collect leaves for this activity?
No.
Children can point to, photograph or simply remember the colours they find.
The purpose of the adventure is noticing the changing season rather than bringing things home.
