First Day of Autumn

What is the First Day of Autumn?

The season Autumn is when warm summer temperatures gradually decrease to the cold temperaturs of winter. Autumn, known as fall in other parts of the world, begins on the autumnal equinox where the hours of daylight are equal to the hours of darkness. Equinoxes are signals of seasons changing, where it is the only time in the year when the Earth isn't tilted away from or towards the sun creating an equal amount of daylight and darkness. After the March Equinox, the Southern Hemisphere has shorter days whereas the Western Hemisphere has longer days. Australia, being in the Southern Hemisphere, starts Autumn in March but for countries in the Western Hemisphere, March is the start of Spring. 

When is the First Day of Autumn?

Friday, 1 March 

Activities:

• Have an open discussion and brainstorm what the children know about Autumn
• Ask the children to draw a picture of what they think Autumn looks like
• Create an autumnal mural for the classroom to display during the season of Autumn
• Go on a nature walk and identify signs of Autumn e.g. what does it feel like, what does it look like, what does it smell like, can you notice a colour difference in the plants/flowers?
• Decorate an Autumn leave using natural materials