Do you love the fall? Can’t get enough of changing leaves, warm sweaters and the smell of soups and baked goods coming from the kitchen? Me neither! I adore autumn. So, if you’re like me, you’ll want to seize the season before it goes by as fast as summer seemed to. The fall is a wonderful time to get in some good old fashion family bonding time!
8 Fun Fall Activities for the Family
Not sure what to do? Ahhhhhh, well then my dear you’re in luck you have come to the right place! Here is a list of some fun fall activities that I’m sure the whole family will enjoy.
1. Visit a pumpkin patch.
Sure you can get pumpkins at your local grocery store and that’s all fine and dandy but there is something really special and fun about visiting a farm and picking your own pumpkins. After all, it is one of the popular things to do in Downingtown PA and a plethora of other areas during the fall. There are usually hay rides, corn mazes, hot apple cider, animals to pet and/or ride, bags of fresh apples and a ton of opportunities for great photos. My family and I look forward to our visit to the pumpkin patch all year long! It’s one of our favorite fall activities.
2. Make some spooky Halloween or festive harvest treats.
The fall is a great time to get cooking with the kiddos. I actually have Rice Krispie Surprise Pumpkin Treats™ on the agenda for the boys and I next week. Should be fun and easy. Should be.
There are tons of yummy things you can make and kids are almost always eager to help. No matter how small or how great their role is, you can be sure they will be so proud of their creations. Check out FamilyFun.com for some easy fall recipes!
3. Go on a nature walk.
I mentioned this in a previous post and we like to do these a lot. Recently, the boys’ preschool teacher sent them home with a bag they decorated at school. Their homework was to go for a nature walk and put items they found along the way in to their bag. When they took their bag of fall treasures to school the next day, they made a place mat which will be used during their Thanksgiving Feast at school. It was a pretty simple craft and if you’ve been reading this blog for awhile, you know that I do love simple crafts!
After the nature walk it’s just 3 easy steps:
- The kids chose the color paper they wanted for the base.
- Then they emptied out their bag and selected flat items to go on the paper. They arranged them just the way they thought looked best. There were leaves, flowers, grass, pine needles, small twigs, etc.
- To finish off the place mat a clear piece of contact paper was laid on top and the kids pushed it down as flat as it would go and…
Voilá! A beautifully unique place mat all their own. Easy peasy!
4. Rake up a pile of leaves and jump in them.
Okay, I’m not into jumping into leaves but my boys are. You can be sure that as soon as our big tree drops her leaves, the boys will be begging me to make a pile for them to jump into and I will do so happily. My grandparents had several big trees in their yard when I was growing up and my brother and I had hours of fun making piles upon piles to jump into. I want my boys to have fun memories like that too!
5. Feed the birds (and squirrels).
It’s time to make sure your bird feeders are full because soon it will be harder for the birdies to find food. Also, you may have noticed that the squirrels are busy collecting food for the winter. They are all over our yard and driving my dog crazy!
My boys and I do another simple (but slightly messy) craft using pine cones, peanut butter and bird seed. You just coat the pine cone in peanut butter and roll it in bird seed. I usually tie a piece of yarn or string to the top and then we hang them in the trees where we can see them. I’m not sure if any birds ate from them but I do know our squirrels LOVED them. It’s a fall activity that even the animals can share in!
6. Splash in some puddles!
Just put on some old clothes and rubber boots and go for it! It’s fun…
7. Play some games.
I didn’t know that their were really any “fall games” other than football but I decided to search anyway. I didn’t have to look far because once again one of my favorite websites FamilyFun.com had just what I was looking for. Some of the outdoor games that I thought looked interesting were:
8. Make some s’mores.
If you have a wood burning fireplace or a fire pit in the backyard, you can still enjoy some yummy s’mores! You can even make them in your microwave but they aren’t quite the same and don’t put them in very long or the marshmallows will explode. Believe me when I say, don’t try it just take my word for it. I’m not trying to be bossy or anything but I just want to save you from having to clean up a super gooey mess.
There are really so many really fun things to do in the fall! What are some of your family’s favorites? Today our family fun activity is yard work. Not my idea of fun but once this is done we can get to the good stuff!!!
What fall family activities do you enjoy?
