Yes, it is fall! Although winter is approaching, there is time to have fun activities with our families. Even if the days can be bright and sunny, the nights start warning us of the winter to come. During fall and winter, our family likes to snuggle up with a blanket and a good book. Of course, we also like to go out and enjoy the fall activities before the snow flies. Which always is too soon, in my humble opinion. Here are some ideas for things to do.
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Fabulously Fun Fall Activities for Families
Can you tell that I like alliteration? Here are some of our favorite fun activities for families. For your convenience, our large family made sure to test them all before recommending. It’s a tough job., but someone got to do it.
1. Go Apple Picking
For many years, while our children were growing up, apple picking was a must-do fall activity for our family! Usually we would visit a local orchard and pick many apples.
Great times with awesome picture opportunities to send to the grandparents. Sometimes we even were lucky enough to have oma (Dutch grandmother) pick apples with us. Fun times!
- Apple Picking with Oma
- Some ideas what to do with all these apples
- King Arthur Flour has great apple recipes. This is my go-to baking site
2. Visit a Pumpkin Patch
Another favorite and fun activity, although it is not as hands-on as the apple picking is. I mean, you can pick many more apples than you can pumpkins. Still, it is fun for the kids to walk around, see all the pumpkins and pick their favorite one. It is great to tire them out by making them carry their pumpkin around. Of course our children were smart enough to bring a wagon to carry the pumpkins, which simplified things.
When you get home with your pumpkin harvest, carve them to get ready for Halloween decorations. Don’t forget to roast the pumpkin seeds for frugal seasonal snacks. We like to roast them with some salt and garlic, or hot pepper. Of course, you can adjust them the way you like them.
3. Get Lost in a Corn Maze
We love the challenge of a corn maze, even if we aren’t always good at solving it. Luckily our kids were inventive when they got tired of going around in circles. They had the brilliant idea to put down arrows, to help them know where they had been already. Naturally, they were not the only ones doing this. Consequently, they made sure to decorate their arrows in a unique way, so they would know which arrows were theirs. For example, one added the text ‘I am DOOMED!’ to their arrows… Somehow it all worked out and they solved the maze!
4. Go Geocaching! Or Just Hiking
Fall is the time of the year that you know winter is coming, hiking will be harder. I always feel strongly at trying to get in these last longer hikes. After we discovered geocaching, that was my favorite way of motivating the kids to go hiking. I mean what sounds better? “Let’s go for a hike!” or “Let’s go find treasure in the woods!”?
If you don’t know what geocaching is, basically you use a GPS to find a container. The container has little trinkets in them. The idea is that you take something and leave something else in its place, for the next geocacher / finder. And of course sign the logbook, so people will know you have been there. We love discovering new places hiking and geocaching.
- Geocaching 101. Good guide on the official Geocaching website.
- Geocaching Tips
5. Enjoy the Fall Foliage!
Check out where to find the best fall foliage in New England! It’s a great fall activity to do with your family. You even can go visit state houses and add some culture and history to the trip. This time of the year there are beautiful views everywhere. We are lucky to live in New England where the colors are especially stunning.
Here are some more great Fall Foliage Pictures.
6. Take a Treetop Walk (even in a wheelchair!)
Do you know there are places where you can take a canopy walk, being up there with the birds and the squirrels? The Vermont Institute of Natural Science just opened one. Their treetop walk is wheelchair accessible! Go check it out!
7. Visit a State or National Park
Although you can visit a park at any time, why not do it now before the snow starts flying? Here are some of our local NPS locations, and don’t forget to check out some National Park ideas.
Conclusion
Seize the day! Take chances, make mistakes, get messy! Go outside with your family and enjoy fall! What are your favorite family fall activities? Share them in the comments.
The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why it is called the present.
Alice Morse Earle
Or You Can Go Birding 😀
- Never Smile at a Crocodile! Beginner’s guide to Birding in the Everglades;
- Birds, Dolphins and Fish Poop: Discover Sian Ka’an, a UNESCO World Heritage Site;
- Eagles galore!
- Invasive Alien Birds in Hawai’i: don’t get fooled by their beauty;
- Life time bucket list: follow Thousands of Snow Geese;
- Watch a heron take out a crocodile!
- The best birding in Costa Rica;
- Explore Isla Contoy in Calcun;
- When hiking is too hard: birds on the Manoa Falls Trail;
- Kennebunkport Maine has good birding hotspots;
- Famous bird painting for booklovers: Where is The Goldfinch Painting now? and how it doesn’t even LOOK like a goldfinch;
- Lots of incidental birding on an Alaska Cruise;
- Last but not least: why birding is the best way to socially distance;
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