Autumn facts for kids

Gardens of Schönbrunn in autumn

Fallen autumn leaves

Autumn is the season that comes after summer and before winter. In the United States, people also call this season fall.

In the Northern Hemisphere, autumn starts around September 22nd or 23rd. This is when the autumnal equinox happens. An equinox is when day and night are about the same length. Autumn ends around December 21st or 22nd, which is the winter solstice. A solstice is when the day is either the longest or shortest of the year.

In the Southern Hemisphere, autumn runs from the autumnal equinox in March to the winter solstice in June.

In many parts of the world with a temperate zone (places that have all four seasons), autumn is when most crops are ready to be harvested. Deciduous trees are trees that lose their leaves every year. In autumn, their leaves often turn yellow, red, or brown before falling off.

For many students, autumn is when a new school year begins. In the UK, the school term from September to December is called the 'Autumn Term'.

When it is autumn in the Northern Hemisphere, it is spring in the Southern Hemisphere. And when it is autumn in the Southern Hemisphere, it is spring in the Northern Hemisphere. Near the Equator, autumn and spring are very similar, with not much change in temperature or weather.

Autumn is a time when many animals search for food. They store it up to prepare for winter, especially if they will go into hibernation (a deep sleep). The weather gets colder and often windier. In autumn, the hours of daylight and nighttime are almost equal. The weather can change a lot, becoming cooler, windy, and rainy.

What Happens in Autumn?

Harvest Time

Harvest straw bales in a field in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany

Autumn is strongly linked to the change from warm to cold weather. It's also known as the main season for harvesting crops. Because of this, many cultures have special harvest festivals. These are often very important celebrations.

For example, Thanksgiving in the United States and Canada is a harvest holiday. The Jewish Sukkot holiday also started as a harvest festival. Many Native American festivals are also about gathering ripe foods. In China, there's the Moon Festival.

These autumn celebrations often show happiness for the food from the earth. But they also have a bit of sadness because colder weather is coming soon. The English poet John Keats wrote a poem called To Autumn. He described autumn as a time of lots of fruit and "mellow fruitfulness."

While many foods are harvested in autumn, some are especially famous for this season. These include pumpkins, which are important for Thanksgiving and Halloween. Apples are also popular and are used to make apple cider.

Halloween Fun

Halloween pumpkins

Autumn is closely connected with Halloween. This holiday was influenced by Samhain, an old Celtic autumn festival. Halloween happens in autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

Around this time, you'll see lots of Halloween-themed items in stores. TV shows, movies, books, costumes, and candy are all promoted from early September until October 31st. After Halloween, stores quickly switch to advertising for Christmas.

Other Autumn Traditions

Pumpkin pie is often eaten around Thanksgiving in North America

All Saints' Day at a cemetery in Sanok, Poland. People place flowers and lit candles to remember loved ones.

Misty November evening in Germany

Autumn rain in London

Back to school sale at a Walmart

Autumn also means the end of summer holidays and the start of a new school year. This is especially true for kids in elementary and middle school. You'll see "Back to School" ads and sales in the weeks before autumn begins.

In the Southern Hemisphere, Easter happens in autumn.

Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in Canada, the United States, some Caribbean islands, and Liberia. In Canada, it's on the second Monday of October. In the United States, it's on the fourth Thursday of November. Other countries like Germany and Japan have similar harvest festivals.

Many TV shows, especially in North America, start their new seasons in autumn. New shows and new episodes usually come out in late September or early October.

Many sports are popular in autumn. American football is played mainly in these months. High school games run through September and October. College football plays from September to November. The professional National Football League plays from September to December.

Summer sports like stock car racing and Major League Baseball finish their seasons in early autumn. The baseball championship, the World Series, is even called the "Fall Classic." Winter sports like professional ice hockey and basketball are just starting their seasons in autumn.

The Christian holidays of All Saints' Day and All Souls' Day are celebrated in autumn in the Northern Hemisphere.

Since 1997, "Autumn" has been a popular name for girls in the United States.

In Indian stories, autumn is a favorite season for the goddess of learning, Saraswati. She is sometimes called the "goddess of autumn."

In some Asian beliefs, autumn is linked to the element of metal. This also connects to the color white, the White Tiger of the West, and ideas of death and sadness.

In the United States, Labor Day is a public holiday celebrated on the first Monday in September.

Autumn Tourism

Autumn in Tennessee

Leaves change color in autumn wherever deciduous trees grow. But some places are especially famous for their beautiful autumn foliage. These include most of North America, Eastern Asia (like China, Korea, and Japan), Europe, the forests of Patagonia, eastern Australia, and New Zealand's South Island.

Eastern Canada and New England are very well-known for their amazing autumn leaves. This brings in a lot of tourists and billions of dollars for these areas.

Images for kids

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  Autumnal scene with yellow, orange and red leaves on trees and fallen on the ground

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  "Jesień" (Autumn) by Józef Chełmoński, an oil painting from 1875 showing a typical autumn view in the Polish 19th century countryside

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  Autumn colors at Kalevanpuisto park in Pori, Finland.

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  Maple leaves changing color by a creek.

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  Autumn in Sedniv, Ukraine

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  Autumn, by Giuseppe Collignon

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  Autumn, by Pierre Le Gros the Elder

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  This 1905 print by Maxfield Frederick Parrish illustrated John Keats' poem Autumn

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  Otoño, Frederic Edwin Church, 1875. At the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza

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  John Everett Millais, "Autumn Leaves"

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  Early Autumn, Qian Xuan, 13th century. It shows decaying lotus leaves and dragonflies over water.

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  Autumn, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, 1573

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  Herbst (Autumn), by Meinolf Wewel

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  Autumn (1896) by Art Nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha

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  The personification of Autumn from an 1871 Currier and Ives print

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  Autumn landscape in Rybiniszki, Latvia. A watercolor by Stanisław Masłowski, 1902. (At the National Museum in Warsaw, Poland)

See also

In Spanish: Otoño para niños