What to do as a family in September

September is the real new year of a family with children: the holidays are over, the timetable is back, and the month goes by unnoticed unless you decide in advance what it will be filled with.

It is still warm enough for the woods and for clearing a park, and everything that can be cooked and put up has just ripened. It is the one month where both fit.

Three plans for September

Each one opens in full: the weeks, a project for everybody in the family, the goal of the month. Any of them can be rewritten for you and printed on two A4 sheets.

• Forest MonthWhat in the woods turned out not to be what we thought?Week 1 A herbarium: a leaf from every treeWeek 2 Mushrooms, a basket and a field guideWeek 3 Campfire, baked potatoes and sausagesWeek 4 Back to where we started — what changedGet to the woods every week and come back to where we started.

  A herbarium, mushrooms, a campfire — and back to where we started.

• Harvest MonthWhich of these will become our autumn habit?Week 1 Off to grandma's — bringing in the cropWeek 2 Pickling cucumbers and tomatoes, jars sealedWeek 3 Making jam and labelling the jarsWeek 4 Laying the table and inviting guestsMake something with our own hands that lasts into winter.

  Grandma's garden, pickling, jam — and a table we invite guests to.

• Eco MonthWhat we gave away — who needed it more than we did?Week 1 Clearing cupboards: give away, not throw outWeek 2 Litter-picking in the park next doorWeek 3 A book swap shelf in our hallwayWeek 4 Finding the city's eco volunteers, joining inGive it away rather than bin it — and find who else is doing this.

  Giving things away, clearing a park, a swap shelf — and finding our people.

How it looks on paper

Each plan prints on two A4 sheets. Open an example, change it for your family and print it — moods, progress and notes are filled in with a pen.

Build your own September

If none of them fits, build your own: the theme of the month, four weeks and a project each. It prints the same way — two pages, and onto the fridge.

Other families put their seasons up too — there are more on the showcase.