Bonfire Night
5 November every year
Bonfire Night is a chance to enjoy the outdoors as the evenings grow darker, whether through a community bonfire event, a family campfire or a quieter celebration with friends.
Bonfire Night is also a time of seasonal traditions, bringing people together around fire and light as the days grow shorter. Lantern walks, storytelling, sharing food outdoors and gathering around a campfire can all help create a sense of warmth and connection during the darker months.
Bonfire Night can be about much more than fireworks. It offers a wonderful opportunity for seasonal outdoor creativity and time together in nature. Children might enjoy creating firework-inspired pictures from colourful autumn leaves, petals and natural materials, threading drilled conkers onto fiery-coloured wool ribbons, making lanterns for a dusk walk, or heading outside to enjoy the sights, sounds and smells of autumn.
Campfire cooking and seasonal treats
If you're looking for quieter or more nature-friendly ways to celebrate, why not gather around a campfire and enjoy some seasonal treats together? Toasted apples, foil-baked apples cooked in the embers, toffee apples, hot spiced apple juice and other simple campfire snacks can all help create memorable outdoor experiences for children. Storytelling, singing, stargazing and sharing warm food outdoors are wonderful ways to mark the season.
Muddy Faces resources
- Campfire cooking ideas
- Fire safety guidance
- Outdoor storytelling activities
- Seasonal nature connection activities
As well as thinking about fire safety, it's worth remembering that bonfires and fireworks can affect wildlife. Before lighting a bonfire, check carefully for hedgehogs and other animals that may have taken shelter in piles of leaves, logs or garden debris. And make sure to extinguish any fire safely when you're done.