Experience the Best of Autumn: Five Fun Fall Activities for Families

From pumpkin spice to pumpkin patch visits, from zig zagging through a corn maze to going apple picking at the apple orchards, from decorating pine cones to collecting beautiful fall leaves, this season is full of opportunities for family fun! Here are some of the best fall activities to do as a family, whether you want to enjoy the outdoors or spend a cozy night in.

1. Attending Local Fall Festivals and Events

Most cities offer amazing activities for kids during the fall season. A festival is a wonderful way to enjoy the great outdoors. Harvest festivals or fall festivals can be a fun way to experience the local community and create happy memories as a family.

Attend a Local Fall Festival With The Kids

Explore local fall festivals with family-friendly activities! These fun festivals include pumpkin patches, corn mazes, and hayrides. Enjoy live music, delicious food, and local craft beer and drinks.

Many fall festivals have activities for kids, like face painting, petting zoos, bounce houses, a haunted house, photo booths, and more.

Local farms might also offer fall festivals for families, where they can pick apples, enjoy petting zoos with farm animals like sheep and goats, and celebrate the beauty of the fall season. Visit one of your local farms this fall to spend quality family time and enjoying farm activities your kids will love.

2. Outdoor Fall Activities

The autumn season is the ideal time to enjoy the great outdoors and experience the gorgeous fall colors all season long. From apple picking, to hay rides, to backyard camping, to raking leaves, to a nature scavenger hunt, fall is full of outdoor activities that kids love.

Go Apple Picking

Visiting a local apple orchard is a fun fall activity. Kids of all ages enjoy apple picking and eating their tasty finds!

Families can enjoy the crisp autumn air and scenic views while picking fresh apples at a local farm or orchard. Farms and apple orchards are full of fun activities for families. Take a hayride or nature walk through the orchard for a relaxing experience. Learn about the different types of apples and their uses.

You can even make it a family fun day with a picnic lunch and apple-themed treats. Picking apples can be much more fun than just eating store bought fruit!

Take a Nature Walk or A Hike

Families can explore the beautiful fall foliage on a nature walk or hike. This is one of our favorite fall activities that kids of all ages can enjoy!

On a family hike, you can:

• Take in the vibrant colors of the crunchy leaves and enjoy the fresh air of the fall season.

• Look for local wildlife, such as deer, squirrels, and birds, on your nature walk.

• Collect leaves, pine cones, flowers, and other natural materials to take home for a fun fall craft project.

• Make it a family activity, take lots of pictures, and enjoy quality time together. You can even create a memory book full of all your family photos!

Nature walks and hikes are a great form of fall fun that incorporates exercise and time outdoors, enjoying fall scents and fall foliage.

Go on a Hayride at the Pumpkin Patch

Whether you go to a fall festival, pumpkin patch, or farm, one great form of fall fun is a hayride.

Take a scenic hayride through a local farm or orchard. Enjoy the cooler fall weather and beautiful foliage.

A hay ride can be a time to learn about the farm or orchard and its unique history.

This can also be a time to take part in other fun fall activities, such as pumpkin picking and apple cider tasting. Make it a family fun day with a picnic lunch and hayride. This is an excellent opportunity for some beautiful family photos as well!

3. Fall Crafts and Activities

Doing crafts as a family can be another great form of fall fun. You can look up fall crafts and activities for kids, or try one of these ideas.

Get Creative with Fall Crafts and Activities for Kids

• Make a leaf pile and jump in it for a fun fall activity. Raking leaves into a pile is a great way to get kids outside, and jumping into the giant leaf piles is a fun way to celebrate fall.

• Create a fall-themed craft project for kids, such as a leaf collage or pinecone bird feeder. Many favorite fall activities include collecting items from nature. Celebrate the season by taking the kids out to collect vibrant colored leaves, and then help them glue them into a wonderful collage. A pinecone can serve as a bird feeder by dipping it in peanut butter (or another nut butter) and rolling it in bird seed!

• Use natural materials, such as leaves, twigs, and acorns, to make a fall craft. The fall season is a fun time for kids to enhance their creativity. Collect natural materials and use them to create an autumn themed project, like using fall leaves to make clothing for a drawing of a person, or using twigs and acorns to create a tiny house.

• Make a fall wreath or garland to decorate your home. Celebrate the season by crafting a beautiful wreath for the house. You can take the kids to a local craft store and gather all the materials you'll need to design a wonderful decoration to spruce up your home this autumn.

• Get creative with baking fall treats, like a pumpkin pie or apple crisp. From pumpkin bread, to oatmeal cookies, to apple crisps, to apple cider, to apple pie, the fall season is a great time for families to bake together. Whether you make a big batch of cookies, pick apples for an apple pie, create a dessert with sweet potatoes, or cook the perfect pumpkin pie, fall is a great time to try out a new recipe or two with the kids.

Bake Fall Treats

Celebrate the new season by cooking up some delicious treats with your children!

Here are some ideas for fall cooking:

• Bake a delicious fall treat, such as pumpkin spice chocolate chip cookies or apple cider flavored donuts.

• Choose seasonal ingredients, such as apple, pumpkin, cinnamon, maple, pecans, and nutmeg in your recipes.

• Make a fall themed dessert with your kids, such as a leaf-shaped cheesecake or a pumpkin pie.

• Make up a baking competition where each family member comes up with a fall recipe, and then someone picks a winner.

• Bake treats to share with friends and family.

• Enjoy the warm, cozy atmosphere of baking on a cold fall day.

4. Seasonal Traditions

Have Fun Celebrating Halloween

Celebrate Halloween as a family with a spooky-themed Halloween party or trick-or-treating. Make your own Halloween costumes and decorations, such as jack-o’-lanterns and spider webs.

Take part in Halloween activities, such as haunted houses and hayrides. Make cute Halloween treats, such as candy apples and popcorn balls.

Enjoy the spooky and fun atmosphere of Halloween this fall!

Teach Your Kids to Give Thanks and Show Gratitude to One Another

Celebrate this Thanksgiving with a family dinner and reflect on what you're grateful for.

How to teach kids to be thankful this fall:

• Make a gratitude jar and have them write down things they're thankful for.

• Take part in a community volunteer activity, such as serving food at a soup kitchen or spending time organizing donations at a local food bank.

• Make a fall-themed craft project, such as a gratitude leaf or thankful tree that you can display in your home each fall.

• Enjoy the warm and cozy holiday of Thanksgiving with family and friends or volunteer to cook a Thanksgiving meal for a family in need.

5. Enjoy Those Cozy Fall Nights

As the weather cools down this fall, it's the perfect time to snuggle up with a good show or movie as a family.

Have a Family Movie Night

Have a family movie night with a fall themed movie, such as “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" or "Nightmare Before Christmas." Pop some popcorn and enjoy a cozy night in with the family.

Have a Family Game Night

Take part in a family game night with fall-themed games, such as bobbing for apples or Pin the Leaf on the Tree. Throw in some classic games like Monopoly, Yahtzee, Uno, and Life for an evening filled with family-friendly competition.

Enjoy a Fall Night In

Make some hot chocolate, bake some fall treats, and enjoy the warm and cozy atmosphere of a quiet fall night. You can even buy some soft new throw blankets to create an even cozier autumn setting.

Do a Photoshoot at Home

Take part in a family photo shoot and capture the memories of your children as they grow up! You don't need to book an expensive photographer to get great fall photos. You can buy a simple backdrop online, arrange good lighting, throw in some holiday decorations like pumpkins, and snap cute photos right at home.

There are so many ways to enjoy the autumn season as a family.

From pumpkin patch visits, to apple picking, to holiday baking, to cozy movie nights, fall is a wonderful season to create happy memories with your children.