Five Things To Do With Your Family This Weekend

DO, RECIPE AND MAKE FOREST FORAGE
Mushrooms might have been a little slower to start showing their gill-bearded faces this year, but the damper weather means we may start seeing fungi this weekend. Woods, forests and fields should all take on the smell of autumn. There are good guides for beginners to fungus foraying here and here, our guide to foraging here, and read Jennie Woodcock’s story of her woodland storecupboard trips with her daughter here.
Combine your haul with foraged seaweed or any greens into a delicious broth, throw a handful into an asparagus frittata or showcase their earthy deliciousness in a savoury pancake filling.
If you have any left over, why not pickle , dry them in an oven or using the sun or even use them to try spore printing.
If your stash is more mushy than magic, why not make your own? Use clay or felt to make a mushroom garland, paper to make an origami mushroom here, or create this adorable mushroom hat!
No mushrooms? It’s also the super-short Wet walnuts season – if you can find a tree near you, you’re in for a treat. As Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall says, the time you spend eating them versus extracting the kernels is about 10:1, but it’s worth it. Sit, crack and munch them together – they’re ‘mild, milky and sweet’ in this form, and best as a stand-alone treat. Dried walnuts make for better cooking ingredients, try them in Hugh’s Walnut and Honey Soda Bread or Walnut and Parsley Pesto or Walnut and Honey Tart.

EVENTS BRIGHT IDEAS
One of our favourite London events, the Bloomsbury Festival celebrates all that this densely arty, literary, science-y area has to offer. Explore the area’s universities, museums, libraries and galleries, all of which will be alive with fun workshops, events and art. This year’s festival starts on Friday, with a street food and flower market on Store Street, join the Mental Wealth Festival at City Lit, a forum for mental health issues, make, touch and listen at The British Library’s joyful workshops for under 5s, take a Peter Pan Family Adventure walk, and find out what it’s like growing up with witchy powers at Holborn Library! Full line-up here. Free, until Sunday 22.

Meanwhile, over in Oxford, the IF Festival is in full swing. This independent celebration of science and ideas is a smorgasbord of fun – often free – events. Find out how to reclaim your life in a tech-obsessed world (we live in hope!), join origami workshops, try hands-on activities at Science Oxford’s bumper Science Sunday, or thrill to the sound of the Somerville College Choir at an undenominational service in their college chapel. The festival uses a pay what you decide system. Find the full line-up here.

As the nights start to get darker, so our celebrations become more cosy and magical. See the city of Leeds in a different light – literally – at Light Night Leeds, which runs this Thursday and Friday. The UK’s largest annual arts and light festival bathes the city in large-scale light projections and interactive installations, while music, dance and street performers line the streets. This year, there are nine zones to explore. See the Civic Hall bathed in a firework display-like white light-and-sound show, play a light harp in Merrion Gardens, witness Yorkshire Circus wheel and flash around the Events Space at Trinity Leeds or chill out with crafts at the Central Library. Find the whole line-up here

Experience cutting-edge sculpture for free in The Regent’s Park this month. Frieze Sculpture runs until October 29, and is curated by writer and art magpie Fatoş Üstek. This lush green space is transformed into a gallery with huge, bright sculptures from artists from around the world. Walk around a huge moss column, the eye-popping futuristic Totem, The Mothership Connection and Sanford Biggers’ Cheshire (Janus), which is an illuminated take on the disappearing smile of the cat from Alice in Wonderland. There’s enough food for thought for adults and older teens, but smaller kids will love the sensory experiences and the freedom of being outside. Find out more here

EVENT BLOODY GREAT
Environmenstrual Week is a chance to talk about plastic-free periods and to smash a few taboos. Run by the Women’s Environmental Network, the week is an umbrella for events across the country, as well as a spur to direct action. Head here to find out why we need a Menstrual Health, Dignity and Sustainability Act and craft and events ideas, here to find everything you need to know about reusable period products, fact sheets and everything you need to get involved in the Week.
Find our guide to reusable period products here, our interview with Milli Hill about body positivity and period education here, find out why teens are switching to period pants, washable pads and cups here, find how to save money using reusable products here and learn how to enjoy and honour your period here and your teen’s first period here.

EVENT GET READY TO RAMBLE
Ramble for red squirrels, amble for avocets or hike for a hedgehog! Vital change makers and force for good, the Wildlife Trusts are asking people to help raise funds as part in the Big Wild Walk for nature from Monday 16th October to Monday 30th October. As we all know, UK wildlife is in big trouble and people can help by raising vital funds to further the charity’s vision to restore at least 30% of land and sea for nature by 2030. The aim is to walk 30km over the week, or younger children can walk alongside Timmy Time’s Timmy, Stripey, Apricot and friends on the Hedgehog Challenge and walk 3km – the same distance a hedgehog can cover in a night. Sign up here to sign up and set your challenge.

DO AND LEARN FALL INTO SCIENCE
Autumn always inspires our crafty side, but it’s also a good time to try some seasonal STEM ideas. There’s a considered selection here; we like the apple bubble science, owl pellet dissection (there’s a good guide to finding your own here) and this great chromatography experiment that reveals the hidden colours of leaves.

WHAT WE’RE EATING Autumn Bakes National Baking Week and Bake Off are encouraging Britain to get their ovens on: bake with your kids, bake with your friends, bake with your colleagues – whoever it may be, just get your pinny on and start experimenting. Find three recipes here

WHAT WE’RE READING ‘Upending the genre’: the children’s author rewriting the rules of sex ed: “A new trio of books for kids focuses on consent, kindness and curiosity. Author Cory Silverberg explains why we need to rethink talking with young people about sex” Read more here