Pockets full of autumn
29 October 2026
The sun was warm, the air was mild, and the trees were generous. This week the Lower School spent most of the day with autumn’s small gifts. Each group moved through three activities, and each came back with its pockets full.
The first activity was gathering. The children collected what the season had let fall: leaves, seeds, pinecones, acorns and conkers. There is no great lesson in a handful of leaves, only the slow pleasure of turning each one over, feeling its weight, and noticing that no two are the same.
At the second activity, those same treasures became the start of something new. Small creatures and figures took shape from twigs, pinecones and acorn caps. The children were quietly inventive, and many were surprised by how much character a little twig can carry once it is looked at closely and brought indoors. Their work goes on display next week, so you will be able to see it for yourselves.
At the third activity, the children learned about two trees that give generously at this time of year: the oak and the horse chestnut. The adult oak in Graphisoft Park is having a generous year, and its acorns are large and fat, each one wearing its curly little hat. Across the road, the row of horse chestnuts produced much smaller conkers. The children learned that the horse chestnut is not native to this region. It came to Europe from the mountains of the Balkans. Its leaves are now turning brown early, because a tiny leaf-mining moth and the long, hot spring and summer have added to the strain.
The first session in the morning was dedicated to D2R. In the afternoon, some children sat with their nature journals and drew what they had seen. Others gathered acorns for next week’s autumn celebration, and the pockets filled with a season’s worth of shine.
- L.
P.S. You are welcome to revisit this week’s story with your children:
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