Apple Picking

A fall classic! Find a local orchard where you can pick your own apples. It’s a fun way to get fresh, inexpensive fruit, plus spend some family time outdoors in the crisp fall air. Bonus points if you find an orchard that also makes cider or pies! You can spend the whole afternoon getting sugared up and walking it all off for quintessential fall fun!

Pumpkin Patch Visit

Many pumpkin patches offer free or low-cost admission, and a lot of them have other things to offer. Maybe you can catch a hay ride or craft project, then just take your time walking around and taking cute fall photos. At the end of your visit, let your kids pick out their own pumpkins for carving or decorating. Then…

Pumpkin Carving or Decorating

This is a fall-time favorite! Grab yourself some pumpkin carving tools (pro tip – get something hearty, not the cheap grocery store ones that always break), and let your creativity shine! Use stencils or do it freehand. And save the guts for some fall snack-making later on!

Does cutting into the pumpkin sound like too much work, or too advanced for your littles? Stick with decorating your gourds! Use those same stencils and some acrylic paint, or let the kids go sticker crazy! All that matters is that everyone has fun.

Visit a Corn Maze

Many farms have corn mazes during the fall season, which can be an affordable and fun family adventure. Just like the pumpkin patch, this may include some bonus activities like hay rides or bonfires. You can spend an active family day running around the maze, then finish it off with a warm beverage and farm-fresh treat!

Decorate Your Home

Get creative by making your own fall decorations. Use some of your pumpkins from the pumpkin patch along with other gourds and baskets to create centerpieces. Collect fall leaves to make a wreath or garland. It’s amazing how festive some canning jars and burlap can look, and they can be useful, too. The possibilities for your DIY decor really are endless!

Fall Gardening

Plant fall bulbs or seasonal flowers in your garden, yard, or pots around your house. It’s a great way to teach kids about gardening, and you can make it work regardless of the type of space you’re in. Mums are a typical fall flower, or you can focus on cool-weather vegetables such as broccoli or spinach. If you really want to focus on delayed gratification, you can put in some spring bulbs like tulips, which require the winter cold to bloom.

Outdoor Movie Night

Set up an outdoor movie using a projector and a white sheet, or spring for the actual screen. Bundle up with blankets and enjoy a family movie night under the stars. Watch fall-themed movies like “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” Top it off with fall movie treats like caramel corn, or make your own snacks to enjoy!

Costume Swap or Making

With Halloween around the corner, organize a costume swap with friends or family members. You can recycle some of those old costumes your kiddos have outgrown, and hopefully snag some new-to-you options for this year!

Alternatively, spend time together creating DIY costumes. Some of the best memories and costumes from my childhood were of my mom’s invention. Regardless of which path you choose, make sure there are a lot of try-ons and playing with the costumes. After all, it isn’t really fair that Halloween is only one day – let’s extend the fun!

Baking and Cooking

Experiment with fall recipes by baking pies, making homemade applesauce, or trying your hand at pumpkin-flavored treats. Save the seeds from your pumpkin carving above and roast them for some healthy snacking. You can really push yourself to make everything from scratch or just buy a box mix – the memories will be created all the same. Heck, if all you have in you is to get a simple cookie decorating kit, that is more than enough. Everyone will have fun in the process, and the treats will be tasty regardless!