Autumn brings a spectacular burst of color, cooler weather, and tons of fun for people of all ages.
Though adults may enjoy horrifying haunted houses and late-night vampire cocktail parties, there’s plenty of fall activities for families to enjoy as well.
The Best Fall Activities for Families
We already created an epic list of autumn activities that everyone can enjoy, but today we’re highlighting the wonderful things to do in fall with your family (and by family – I mean parents with younger kids – I know families come in all sorts of shapes and sizes!)
So grab your little ones and get ready to have the best fall ever!
Head To The Pumpkin Patch
The pumpkin patch is the quintessential fall activity for families. These festive farms offer family fun, like face painting, pony rides, haystacks, fair food, and plenty of pumpkins.
Okay, so I know most pumpkin patches aren’t technically farms (unless you go someplace like the epic Bengtson’s Farm just south of Chicago, which has a massive pumpkin field allowing visitors to pick pumpkins right off the vine!)
But they all offer fun fall activities that the kids will enjoy. Crawl around in hay, have a fall snack, check out the spooky Halloween setups, and of course – pick out the perfect pumpkin.
Take a Hayride
Kids love tractors. What better way to let them enjoy a fun farm tractor than via a fall hayride?
Hayrides embody the very best of the autumn spirit. It’s a celebration of the harvest and the farmers whose hard work ensures we will survive the coming winter.
Kids think they’re playing around on one of their favorite massive machines, but they’re really supporting the system that keeps their bellies full all year round.
Trick-or-Treat
Halloween is a magical holiday. It’s the one day of the year when everyone opens their doors and gives something to anyone who asks. I’d say it embraces the spirit of giving even more than Christmas!
Sadly, Trick-or-treating seems to be disappearing in some circles, but it’s one of the best American traditions, and one definitely worth saving.
Let your kids get dressed up and roam the neighborhood for candy. Escort them from house to house to ensure their safety, but let them revel in the magic of a Halloween night.
And if you’re staying home to hand out candy, give it to anyone who asks. Even (ESPECIALLY) teenagers. Let kids enjoy Halloween magic for as long as possible. I’d rather they be trick-or-treating than causing mischief anyway – wouldn’t you?
The Monster Mash
They did the Mash – They did the Monster Mash
And you can too!
Make a Halloween playlist filled with songs about monsters, creatures, and demons. Rock out to monster ballads. Get in the Halloween spirit with fun songs.
But don’t forget the witches! Add these great songs about witches to your playlist too!
Lose Each Other in a Corn Maze
Corn is the king crop of the harvest season. The delicious treat is perfect for end-of-summer barbeques, but the giant stalks serve an even better purpose: Corn Mazes.
Many fall farms and festivals have epic corn mazes, forcing families to work together to find their way out (or racing each other to see who can beat it first!).
Craft a Thanksgiving Centerpiece
Highlight your delicious turkey dinner with a hand-crafted centerpiece this Thanksgiving. Let the kids craft a homemade cornucopia or diorama celebrating the season’s spirit.
It’s the perfect fall activity for families on those chilly evenings when the weather turns cold. You get to stay in while doing something engaging together – what could be better than that?
Make Homemade Apple Cider
Embrace the taste of fall with warm apple cider. Boil freshly picked apples with spices such as clove and cinnamon to create a delicious treat that pairs well with your after-dinner snacks.
The kids will love making a homemade drink, and they’ll probably mess it up, so you’ll have something fun to do with all those extra apples.
Learn the Story of Thanksgiving
Holidays are ideal for learning about our history and culture. Take the opportunity to teach your kids about the Pilgrims, Native Americans, and the true story of Thanksgiving.
Don’t neglect the negatives as they do in school. Showing the whole story, warts and all, will help your kids understand the mistakes of the past and help them build a better future.
Pet Farm Animals
Have wholesome family fun while creating memories that last a lifetime by visiting the nearest petting zoo.
Watch your kids fawn over adorable baby goats and feed the fluffy little lambs.
Use the petting zoo as a teaching experience to help your kids understand how vital animal husbandry is to our society – but don’t forget to capture adorable photos of your kids swarmed with baby goats looking for a snack.
Make a Scarecrow
Grab an old pair of pants and an old sweater and stuff them with leaves, hay, and all the other by-products of fall.
Tie the parts with belts or string, and use a winter facemask to create the head. Get creative and use the things you have on hand.
Making a scarecrow is one of the best fall activities for families because it sparks the kids’ creativity while not costing a lot of money. In addition, it’s an outdoor activity, and your kids get to make a new friend (literally!).
Bob for Apples
Bobbing for apples is an age-old fall tradition that’s fun for the whole family.
Fill an old bin with water and watch the apples float to the surface. Then, see who’s fastest at grabbing one with just their mouth.
Okay, to be honest, I never enjoyed bobbing for apples, but I bet the kids will love it.
Collect Leaves
Autumn’s beauty is fleeting. The trees burst with color for a few spectacular weeks, but then the leaves fall, and nature settles in for its long winter’s nap.
Make the beauty last by collecting the best fall leaves and putting them in an album. Preserve the leaves by pressing them or coating them with preservatives.
Collect your favorite leaves every year and create a spectacular album filled with each season’s beauty.
Create Fall-Themed Art
Indulge your kid’s imagination by helping them create fall-themed artwork. Let them trace their hands for the traditional turkeys, make pipe cleaner spiders for Halloween, or create a leaf collage with foliage they find in the yard.
Enjoying a craft night is one of those fall activities you can engage in whenever lousy weather sets in.
Make Boo Bags for Family and Friends
Grab some candy and decorative bags to create boo bags for a fun family activity promoting the spirit of giving that is Halloween.
Fill the bags with candy, stickers, crayons, or small toys you might give to trick-or-treaters and gift them to friends and family.
The best part is that you can teach your kids that the true magic of Halloween is in giving to others, not how much candy you get yourself.
Trunk or Treating
Trunk-or-treating is quickly replacing the traditional door-to-door Halloween activity, but when they’re scheduled on different days, why not do both?
If you’re part of a club or organization that hosts trunk-or-treating, take the kids and score extra Halloween candy while engaging with the community. It’s a great way to build bonds.
But if the trunk-or-treat event is on Halloween – hard pass. Take the kids trick-or-treating instead.
Halloween Movie Night
Host a movie night with your little one to show them all the children’s Halloween classics.
Start with It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and throw in some newer favorites with Frankenweenie and The Haunted Mansion.
If the kids are a little older, introduce them to cult classics like The Nightmare Before Christmas and Hocus Pocus.
Make Halloween movie night a tradition they can pass down to their own kids.
Play in the Leaves
Nothing beats a romp in fallen leaves. Is it even fall if you don’t rake your leaves into a giant pile, then leap into them?
Playing in the leaves makes the tedious fall chore of raking fun and creates lasting memories of autumn’s magic.
All the Christmas Activities
Though Christmas falls in the winter, most of December is technically in the autumn, so you should plan most of your Christmas activities for the fall.
Select and decorate your Christmas tree, visit Santa in the mall, and have a holiday sleigh ride in the waning days of autumn to prepare for the coming winter.
Enjoy a Spectacular Fall!
These fall activities for families are about more than enjoying the season (though that’s obviously a main reason!). They’re also about creating lasting memories for your kids.
I’ll always remember traversing the pumpkin patch at Bengston’s searching for the perfect pumpkin, the smell of the fall leaves as I leap into a massive pile, and the epic Halloweens I spent trick-or-treating around the neighborhood.
Make these memories with your kids while you can. The childhood magic disappears sooner than you think.