As the bright days of summer give way to crisp autumn air, parks, gardens, and pavements begin to fill with a carpet of crunchy leaves. For children and under-fives, autumn is one of the most exciting times of the year. With the landscape so full of textures, sounds, and colours, it’s the perfect time to get outdoors, explore, and learn about the natural world. It’s also the ideal time for them to begin a simple but deeply rewarding project: composting. In today’s post, we outline how children can approach this wonderful activity and explain its significant benefits.
Composting for Kids
Composting is a wonderfully simple, hands-on activity that provides children of all ages with an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and connect with nature. It will introduce big ideas about recycling and responsibility in a child-friendly way, teach patience, and make good use of all those autumn leaves. Best of all, it’s fun, messy in all the right ways, and will lead to fascinating discoveries — from the changing smells of the compost heap to the tiny minibeasts that wriggle in to help the process along. Composting is also an activity that can be done with just a little guidance from grown-ups.
Why Composting is a Brilliant Activity for Little Learners
Spending time outdoors gathering materials will not only help children understand where natural resources come from, but it will also give them valuable time in the fresh air, where they can move, play, and make discoveries. At this age, such experiences are vital for confidence and development. And because composting is a gentle, ongoing project, children can revisit it over weeks and months, and watch as nature slowly transforms what they collected into something new and incredibly useful.
Composting may at first look like a simple pile of garden scraps, but for young children it’s a treasure chest of learning opportunities. Through the activity, they’ll begin to see the cycle of life in action — how fallen leaves, apple cores, and even cardboard tubes can change and return to the soil. This sparks curiosity about science and the environment in a way that feels playful and natural.
Beyond the fun of collecting leaves and layering waste materials into the compost heap, composting offers a wealth of developmental benefits:
It encourages children to care for the environment and understand recycling in its most natural form.- It helps them practise patience too, as they wait for their compost heap to transform. They learn to return regularly, check progress, and wait for the outcome — a valuable lesson for young minds.
- It provides endless sensory play — the changing colours, the rustle of leaves, the smell of damp earth, and perhaps the feel of wriggling worms!
- It gives them a sense of responsibility as they check on their compost and add new materials.
- Spending time outdoors, especially in contact with nature, offers a myriad of benefits to children, including reducing stress, regulating mood, giving little ones a sense of achievement, and a confidence boost. Close proximity to nature has also been shown to improve academic grades! Follow the bold green link to learn more.
- Composting shows children how cycles work in nature — how things grow, fall, break down, and then help new life grow again. This is an early introduction to science and sustainability in action.
- It builds vocabulary and boosts communication as children discuss what they’re adding, like “crunchy leaves,” and “soft apple peelings,” and describe smells, textures, and colours as the compost heap changes.
- Collecting leaves, scooping soil, and turning the compost all involve gross and fine motor skills. For under-fives, these small but regular actions strengthen coordination, mobility skills, and confidence.
- It’s also a surprisingly fun and satisfying activity for children — get your little one(s) to give it a try this autumn.
It encourages children to care for the environment and understand recycling in its most natural form.
Composting shows children how cycles work in nature — how things grow, fall, break down, and then help new life grow again. This is an early introduction to science and sustainability in action.How to Get Composting
The good news is you don’t need a large garden or fancy equipment to begin. Composting can be scaled to whatever space you have available. A simple corner of the garden, a small patio or balcony, or even a large tub or bin can be turned into a child-friendly compost space.
Step-by-step Composting with Little Ones
Composting could be introduced as a fun “nature experiment.” Here’s how you could explain and explore the process with a young child:
Step 1: Collecting Treasures
Head outdoors with a small bucket or bag and invite your child to gather leaves, twigs, and other natural “treasures.” Encourage them to notice the crunch, colour, and shapes of the leaves. Kitchen scraps can also be sourced from indoors, for example, apple cores, banana skins, and vegetable peelings from mealtimes.
Avoid cooked food, meat, dairy, and oily scraps. These don’t break down well and could potentially attract pests.
Step 2: Layering
Show them how to tip the scraps into your compost heap, bin, or tub. Explain that the pile needs a mix of “green” (like fruit and vegetable peelings and grass cuttings) and “brown” (like dry leaves and cardboard) to work properly. Young children will enjoy the action of sprinkling, layering, and patting it all down. It’s a great moment to remind them that all living things eventually return to the earth — and through composting, they can see that process step by step.
Step 3: Adding Water & Air
Sometimes compost can dry out. You might therefore encourage your child to sprinkle a little water with a small watering can. Every few weeks, show them how to “stir” the compost gently, for example, with a small trowel or child’s spade — this lets in air and helps it break down.
Step 4: Observing Over Time
Encourage your child to check the compost regularly. Ask what they can see, smell, and feel. Over time, the compost heap will shrink and darken in colour. Your child may begin to spot minibeasts like worms, beetles, woodlice, and centipedes — all busy at work breaking down the compost pile. This is a brilliant moment to draw your child’s attention to our free Minibeast Nature Hunt activity and poster, so they can learn more about the helpful creatures they’ve found.
The Finished Product
After a few months, the compost turns into a dark, crumbly, earthy material. This is the finished product, which is perfect for feeding plants. Involving your child in scooping and spreading it onto flowerbeds or into plant pots helps them see the complete cycle: from scraps to soil, and then back into growing things again. This is a lovely moment of achievement — through their endeavours, they have produced something valuable that will feed plants in the year ahead. It’s the perfect way to show children the cycle of seasons and how nature gives back when we take care of it.
The Long-term Value of Composting
By introducing composting at a young age, you’ll plant more than just seeds in the soil — you’ll plant ideas in your child’s mind. They’ll learn that waste can have value, that patience is rewarded, and that nature is full of tiny helpers working behind the scenes.
Such early experiences often form the foundation of a lifelong respect for the environment. More importantly, they’re fun, shared moments that children will remember — running through leaf piles, spotting their first worm, or proudly spreading their very own compost in the garden.
A Hugely Worthwhile Activity for Under-Fives
Autumn composting is a simple yet powerful activity for children under five. It combines outdoor play, sensory exploration, and gentle science, while teaching responsibility and care for the world around them. With a little guidance from parents and carers, children can enjoy months of discovery and end up with something genuinely useful for the garden.
So, as the leaves begin to fall this year, gather up a bucket, step outside, and let your little one’s hands (and imagination) get busy. Composting is nature’s recycling — and for young children, it’s nothing short of magical.
Your Childcare Nursery in Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley
Today’s activity suggestion comes courtesy of Little Acorns Nursery in Clayton-le-Woods, Chorley. The award-winning Lancashire setting provides a high-quality weekday childcare service for children under five. It supports childcare funding schemes for eligible families, operates virtually all year round from 7:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and has Good Provider status from Ofsted.
Get in touch today to explore the possibility of sending your baby, toddler, or preschooler to Little Acorns Nursery — we’d love to show you around, answer any questions, and enrol your child for a nursery place:
Little Acorns Nursery offers a convenient choice for families in and around Clayton-le-Woods, Clayton Brook, Clayton Green, Chorley, Thorpe Green, Pippin Street, Buckshaw Village, Whittle-le-Woods, Farington, Bamber Bridge, Lostock Hall, Euxton, Leyland, and Penwortham.
Safety Notes for Parents & Carers
While composting is safe and fun, there are a few simple guidelines to make sure it stays child-friendly:
• Always supervise under-fives and young children when foraging outdoors and adding or exploring the compost.
• Provide child-sized gloves if they’re handling the compost heap directly.
• Avoid letting children handle compost with sharp sticks or heavy tools. A small trowel or spoon is ideal.
• Teach children to wash their hands thoroughly afterwards.
• Make sure any container used has drainage holes to avoid soggy, smelly compost.
Children will love creating wildlife art. Whether it’s drawing animals and plants, making a collage, or constructing an animal out of cardboard or origami, wildlife art is a wonderful way to get children involved. What’s more, they will get a sense of satisfaction from the activity and it can help them appreciate wildlife more.
Another incredibly worthwhile activity that children can get involved in is fundraising for a wildlife-related charity. This can be done, for example, through a sponsored activity of some kind. That could be a sponsored walk, hop, swim, or whatever children and families choose (under supervision, of course, for the youngest). A sponsored fundraising activity will not only raise funds for a wildlife charity of choice but also spread the word. Furthermore, children will get an enormous sense of achievement at the end when their actions raise vital funds for animals or conservation. Volunteering for local wildlife charities is also hugely worthwhile, of course, but it is more suited to when children are older.
World Wildlife Day brings into focus the enormous challenges that affect nature’s flora and fauna. Sadly, many of those challenges are caused by humans, whether it’s due to habitat loss, global warming, or something else. By raising awareness through World Wildlife Day activities, children and families can also challenge themselves to live more sustainably. This is a whole topic in itself! However, some easy measures can be things like:
Children can also get closer to wild flora and fauna if they live near a wildlife sanctuary (or zoo) or somewhere like a national park. Nothing can really replace seeing animals and plants in real life and so it’s worth researching to find somewhere to visit close by. In Lancashire, just five miles from Little Acorns Nursery, for example, is 
Teaching children how to grow their own plants and, better still, food is a wonderfully educational and fulfilling activity. As well as learning to appreciate wild plants growing in parks and the countryside, learning how to grow their own, at home, is also great fun. Luckily, we have a whole blog post dedicated to 
A nature scavenger hunt is also great fun and is sure to get children interested in nature, wildlife, and the outdoors. The activity involves looking out for specific natural things, for example, a pine cone, a robin, a squirrel’s drey (i.e. nest), a winged seed, or animal tracks. It will also 
Encouraging (and supervising, where appropriate) an activity where children try to see different types of animals, birds, and insects is also a wonderful way to get them interested in nature. To make it easier, we have published some free, downloadable reference sheets, which also double as posters, for families to use during this activity. These include 
If children like the idea of attracting birds and other wildlife to their own garden, there are many easy ways to make this possible. As well as putting out suitable food to attract birds, children can help make a quiet, wild area with a compost heap to attract minibeasts. There are so many ways to attract wildlife so, to get you started, check out our 
By mid-November, autumn is in full swing and leaves are turning a myriad of different colours. Scenes of green, yellow, red and golden trees can be breathtakingly beautiful and the air is often crystal clear at this time of year — that’s great for photos! The autumn season also brings with it a treasure trove of fascinating natural things that children can discover if they take the time to look. Indeed, an autumn nature hunt is the perfect excuse for little ones to spend some time outdoors, where they will also 
Ensure children, particularly the very young, receive appropriate adult supervision at all times. Although fascinating and fun, the outdoors holds many hazards for the unwary. Therefore, children will need to be closely monitored by a responsible adult in order to safeguard their well-being.
Many will have heard of the Big Garden Birdwatch that takes place every year in January. However, fewer are aware of a similar activity called The Big Butterfly Count that takes place in July and early August. As well as being extremely worthwhile, it’s a wonderful activity for both children and adults to get involved in as citizen scientists. The activity helps with butterfly conservation, is educational for those taking part, and encourages families to get outdoors, closer to nature. And, as we know, 
Are you looking for a fun and educational activity for your children? Why not encourage them to do some bird spotting? Not only is it a great way to spend time outdoors, but it’s also a wonderful opportunity for them to learn about nature and develop observation skills. As we know, 
parents to return to the workplace sooner after the birth of their child if they so choose;
children aged 2 from eligible working families will be able to claim 570 hours of free childcare each year. This is typically taken as 15 hours of free childcare each week over 38 weeks, although exactly how it’s taken may be agreed otherwise between the family and the childcare provider.
Until now, 87% of those eligible to claim childcare support through Universal Credit were not doing so. One of the main reasons for this was that it’s geared towards low-income families yet required them to pay childcare fees in advance — and later claim them back. Paying in advance is not so easy when household income is low, as is typically the case for households that would otherwise be eligible. For this reason, another of the Chancellor’s initiatives announced in the Spring Budget 2023 is to roll out the following improvements:
The final childcare-related initiative in the Chancellor’s Spring Budget aims to fix another key problem for parents: how to juggle their own longer working hours with their child’s shorter school hours. When a child attends school, they often finish their school day several hours before their parent is finished at work, for example. There is therefore a childcare requirement to bridge the gap and this may be required both at the start and end of the child’s school day. In view of this, the Chancellor announced the piloting of a new Wraparound Pathfinder Scheme, which would fund childcare hours from 8 am until the start of the school morning and, later in the day, fund childcare for the mismatched afternoon hours up to 6 pm. The pilot will test the scheme to see how well it works. If successful, the Chancellor aims to roll it out to the whole of the UK from September 2024.
In today’s post, we take a look at the importance of outdoor play for children in their early years. Indeed, there are many benefits, as we’ll see …
Playing outside is also a healthy release from things like TV, electronic screens and, potentially, from an otherwise more sedentary lifestyle. Away from the confines of the indoors, outdoor play allows children the freedom to move about more freely. Outside, they’ll learn to navigate spaces, obstacles and play equipment, all the time improving spatial awareness, coordination, balance and gross motor skills. These include running, jumping, climbing and so on. Their fitness levels will naturally improve too, as they build stamina, muscle and strength. This is all incredibly good for them.
At Little Acorns, we understand the importance of outdoor play. Little ones, from the age of two have access to our outdoor gardens and play areas — all under close supervision, of course. We have invested heavily in a whole range of exciting, stimulating and educational outdoor facilities for the children to explore, play with and learn from. As they do, they will not only learn but they’ll also hone fine and gross motor skills, improve coordination and balance, improve physical fitness, enhance social skills and build friendships. They will also soon become better at recognising and balancing risk, they’ll become more independent as they move around freely. They’ll also learn from mistakes. Their self-confidence and self-esteem will also naturally grow. These are all incredibly important skills that will stand them in good stead as they gradually approach the age where they’ll leave us to move on to school.
Taking outdoor experiences for little ones even further, Little Acorns regularly takes children on outings, including to local parks. More importantly, though, it was one of the first nurseries/pre-schools to introduce Forest School to Central Lancashire. This is the ultimate outdoor experience for under-fives and teaches them so much about the natural world — and also about themselves. As well as learning a huge amount about nature, flora, fauna, the seasons and about playing and learning in the Great Outdoors, Forest School helps them learn additional skills like problem-solving, working in teams, leadership, resilience, empathy, caring for the environment, personal responsibility and so much more. Learn more in 
All these outdoor activities also support the early years curriculum. Outdoor playing and learning covers many of the areas outlined in the Early Years Foundation Stage (‘EYFS’) learning and development framework, which is prescribed for all childcare settings in England. Specifically, outdoor play helps children in at least four of the seven key areas of the EYFS including:
Making bird feeders 
Seeded pine cone bird feeders 
Water bottle bird feeders.
Then, they can be partly filled with bird seed, or perhaps grated Cheddar cheese. Alternatively you can see that some of the designs could be used for drinking water, for example the one shown immediately on the left or at the very top of this article. Another variation even has a plastic spoon pushed into it, forming a convenient perch for the birds to land on and to feed from (see right).
Carton bird feeders
Monkey Nut Bird Feeders
If using peanut butter in your home-made bird feeders, ensure it is fresh, has no salt or sugar added and is not ‘flavoured’. Smooth or crunchy peanut butter is great for bird-feeders, though, and you can even stick extra bird seed to it once it’s been spread on your feeder e.g. pine cone or apple. There are also some peanut butter brands made specifically for wild birds, by the way.
Why Nature is So Important for Children
