November brings a deepening chill.
As the natural world turns shades of red and yellow, are you looking for autumn activities everyone can enjoy together? In this article, we’ve gathered a variety of games and recreational activities, featuring plenty of autumn delights like sweet potatoes and acorns.
They all use familiar materials like newspaper and paper cups, so they’re easy to play with family and friends.
You’ll also find rhythm games set to children’s songs and active games to warm up your body—perfect for making autumn memories!
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Recommended activities and recreational games for November: A collection of ideas to enjoy autumn (1–10)
Acorn spinning-top game
This is a craft activity using acorns that’s popular with kids.
It’s very easy to make: simply use an awl to make a small hole in an acorn and insert a toothpick.
That’s all it takes to create a one-of-a-kind spinning top! Spin it on a desk or the floor, and even adults will find themselves captivated.
It’s fun to see how the spinning changes depending on the acorn’s shape and size, and it can spark children’s interest in nature.
You can also draw or paint on them to create your own original designs.
It’s a great way to spend quality time with kids, engaging their fingers while connecting with nature.
Starting by collecting acorns on a walk is also recommended! Be sure an adult is present when making the hole.
Acorn Rolling Maze
Using everyday items like toilet paper rolls, a tissue box, your favorite wrapping paper, stickers, and washi tape, you can create a colorful, unique acorn maze.
Cut open the box, then glue the decorated toilet paper rolls inside like a maze.
Attach a plastic bottle cap at the goal, and you can tilt the box to roll acorns around and play.
Try adding ramps or tunnels to make it more interesting! It’s a great indoor activity for rainy days that nurtures creativity and fine motor skills.
Mogi Mogi Fruit
This activity is perfect for 1-year-olds too.
First, wrap a colored ball—choose a color that reminds you of a fruit—in a drain net and secure it with a rubber band.
Try adding leaf decorations as well.
Once you’ve made lots in different colors, hang them with clothespins on a string taped across the room.
Kids can enjoy a fruit-picking vibe, and after “harvesting,” they can keep playing with them for pretend play! When playing with small children, be sure to handle clothespins, string, and rubber bands carefully, and always have an adult close by to make sure nothing goes into their mouths.
Potato Digging Game
Here is a recreation activity inspired by harvesting sweet potatoes, a classic taste of autumn.
Make sweet potatoes out of purple construction paper or origami and put them in a box.
Then fill the box with torn newspaper until you can’t see what’s inside.
Prepare two boxes, face the players toward each other, and compete to see who can dig out more sweet potatoes within the time limit.
It gets exciting when players search deep in the box as if digging through soil to find and pull out the sweet potatoes hidden in the back.
You can make the potato shapes and sizes vary to create a more realistic sweet potato digging game.
Balancing games with acorns and balancing toys (yajirobe)
First, let’s go collect some acorns! Try to pick ones that are well-shaped.
It’s easier to balance them if the left and right sides are about the same weight.
Boil the acorns you collected to deal with any insects inside.
Next, use an awl or similar tool to make a small hole—just enough to pierce the shell.
Finally, thread a bamboo skewer through and secure it to the acorn to complete it.
The process of adjusting the balance is a great way to learn about science and creative problem-solving.
If kids and adults make them together, conversation will naturally flow.
Enjoy this activity packed with the warmth of natural materials and the fun of handmade crafts.
Wobbly Paper Cup Game
The “Teetering Paper Cup Game” involves fanning a row of paper cups on a table with a uchiwa fan to knock them off.
Both children and seniors can easily play while seated! The player sits in front of the table, lines up many paper cups, and that’s it for setup.
Then set a time limit or similar rule, and during that time, use the uchiwa to send wind to the cups; you score points when you blow them off to the far side of the table.
When fanning, it’s forbidden to touch the paper cups with the fan or to press the fan against the table.
Placing a basket or container where the cups land makes it easier to see when points are scored!
Rhythm activity: “Under the Big Chestnut Tree”
This is a recreation activity where you move your body to the rhythm of the children’s song “Under the Big Chestnut Tree.” The choreography involves moving only the upper body while seated, so it’s easy for older adults to join in.
Along with the piano or vocals, participants pat their palms on their knees and keep the beat on the shoulder of the person next to them.
As the song progresses, the number of claps changes, making it a form of brain training as you move and memorize the choreography.
It’s a rhythm-based activity that, when done in a large group, can help deepen communication.
Autumn Delicacy Collecting Game
This is a game where you skillfully control a rod with a hook on the tip to try to collect cards laid out on the table, each depicting a taste of autumn.
Encourage players to concentrate on how they move the rod and which card they want to take, paying attention to how much force they use and the way they maneuver it.
The result is determined by the total points written on the backs of the cards, so aim to collect as many as possible and build up a sense of speed in your movements.
It’s also recommended to use the autumn foods illustrated on the cards as prompts to recall related memories and spark conversation.
Grilled Pacific Saury Game
This is a recreation where you can enjoy the experience of grilling Pacific saury, which is in season in autumn.
Prepare “saury” made by rolling newspaper into a long shape and bending one end to form the tail.
Stick on stickers and add eyes made from construction paper.
Once you place a grilling rack on top of a paper cup, you’re ready.
Use chopsticks to pick up the saury placed on the stand and set them on the rack without letting it fall.
You clear the activity when you’ve placed all the saury from the stand onto the rack.
It’s also fun to set a time limit and compete to see who can place the most.
Greengrocer’s shop
It’s a clapping game played to a rhythm, but there are rules.
After a vegetable name, it’s OK to clap, but when it’s not a vegetable, you must not clap.
It’s a recommended activity for teaching words to children.
Try gradually increasing the tempo to make it more challenging.
