The season of Fall is upon us! School has started, our pools have closed, our bathing suits don’t need drying and our tans have started to fade! Don’t be sad!! With Fall comes lots of fun new things to do! It is the season of colorful leaves, cozy sweaters, tall boots, cuddling up with family and enjoying all the pumpkin and apple pie we want. Fall brings us some crisp cool weather, footballs games, nachos, spirits and family fun. There are many things to do during the Fall with your children that can even warm back up your summer hearts. Show your children all the beauty that is Autumn and be sure to add these five things into your family weekends!

Pumpkin picking/ carving

       Now is the perfect opportunity to take your family to pick out their favorite pumpkins made for every size to take home and carve. Put them out on the porch for decoration, draw scary or silly faces on them, roast the pumpkin seeds or bake your favorite pumpkin pie. Pair with some hot apple cider and you have a day filled with fun, comfort food and warmth.

Apple picking/ bake a pie

       I love to pick pumpkins with my kids, however only enjoy the seeds. Apples are more my jam and what better time to teach your children about all the many different color and flavors of apples than on a perfect Fall day. Head to your local apple picking farm in those cute jean overalls and wagon and grab your favorite apples. Come home and let your kids help you bake a pie or my favorite, some apple crisp! I know my little girl loves to help me in the kitchen, it’s an easy way to spend some quality time with them while also adding elements of science, like tasting, measuring, mixing and creating, not to mention a yummy way to spend the afternoon.

Fall pictures

 If you’re anything like me, you love taking pictures of your children. You want to capture every cute moment and make everlasting memories. Fall provides some of the most beautiful backgrounds for pictures. Not as beautiful as your children but sure to create the perfect background scene and some fun in a pile of leaves, in a patch of pumpkins, up on your shoulders picking apples, or wearing their favorite team jersey!

Nature hunt for Fall items

     A nature hunt is one of the most fun things to do with your little one. First brainstorm items you might find in the fall, help your child write down the items and/or draw a picture, decorate a bag for your items, grab a clipboard for your list so the child can check off the items as they find them and head outside for the hunt. This is the perfect opportunity to talk about what happens in Fall, the colors you see, maybe the animals around. You can pose some questions like …

Who gathers acorns?

What happens to the trees?

What can you do with pine cones?

What colors do you see?

Fall Crafts

     After the Scavenger hunt, apple picking, pumpkin picking or playing in leaves, you can create art! Some fun art crafts to do in Autumn are leaf rubbings, make pine cone ornaments, pine cone bird feeders or even pine cone apples by painting them red and adding green leaves. You can take the leaves and a paper plate and create a Fall wreath, or even just have them draw what they saw while on their scavenger hunt. You can stamp with apples, make tree collages using the leaves you found, or create handprint trees using Fall colors. You can stuff a brown lunch bag, tie the top closed, then paint it orange on the bottom and green at the stem and you’ve made yourself a cute pumpkin craft.

     If you’re not into crafting you can always head to the book store to find some books on Fall and snuggle up and read. Two of our favorites are Every Autumn Comes the Bear by Jim Arinosky and Let it Fall by Maryann Cocca-Leffler. Head to your local book store and maybe find some favorites of your own.

Autumn has come and there’s so many things to do! Happy Fall Ya’ll and enjoy the change of seasons!