20 Fall Activities for Family Fun

Summer is over, the weather is cooler, and the kids are getting settled into school.  Your weeks have likely been filled with sports, meetings, homework, and the same old daily routine.  That’s what fall is all about, right?  Everyone is preparing for the long winter ahead, and already longing for the lazy days of summer.  Wait!  Fall is the perfect season for some family fun, and there are countless places to go and things to do!  Well, maybe not countless.  Here are 20 fall activities for family fun!

Fall Activities for Family Fun

• Quick, what is the first thing you think of when you think of the fall season?  Pumpkins?  Yep, me too.  A visit to your local pumpkin patch means that fall has arrived, and you better get used to it!  Visits to pumpkin patches have become popular in recent years because they offer so much besides picking out a pumpkin.  Our local patches have corn mazes, giant slides, tractor and wagon rides, seasonal food, corn pits, and the token bouncy houses.  A visit to a pumpkin patch is a fun afternoon activity for that first crisp fall day.

Don’t like your little sister? Just lose her in the corn maze! (kidding!)

• Is your town lacking in pumpkin patches?  A visit to an apple orchard is the next best thing.  Your family can pick their own apples and bake some yummy goodies that afternoon.  Every apple orchard that we have been to sells delicious apple treats, and we’ve been known to come home with bags of apple pastries and no actual apples.  Have your kids ever had a fresh apple cider donut or a glass of homemade apple cider?  That is what fall tastes like!
• Want to taste more of fall?  Attend a weekend food festival!  The Midwest has a full schedule of food festivals from apples, cranberries, wine, barbecue, ethnic foods, and pumpkins.  There is always a food festival close by that offers up some food firsts!
• Fall is a popular time for all sorts of festivals in the Midwest.  Besides the food festivals, I just mentioned, there are many pumpkin and fall festivals for kids.  Get some friends together and give your kids the chance roll some pumpkins or go on a hayride!  There are also some pretty popular Oktoberfests in Wisconsin too.  Oktoberfests are a chance to learn about your German heritage, try some German foods, and maybe sample some beer.
• Fall means a new batch of food firsts!  The grocery stores and farmer’s markets are full of new items, and it’s time for your family to eat something new.  Does your family embrace new foods on Thanksgiving?  If so, find some new recipes for all those side dishes that are served and get cooking!
• Are you annoyed by everything pumpkin spice?  Or does your family count down the days until the coffee shops start brewing their pumpkin spiced drinks?  Maybe challenge your family to eat something that’s pumpkin for every meal of the day.  Or go to the market and buy the most unusual pumpkin item that you can find!  I’ve been hearing that maple is the new pumpkin spice, and I couldn’t be happier!
• It’s time to pile the family into the car and hit the road.  Take everyone for a ride to enjoy the changing colors of the leaves, if you happen to live in the right part of the country.  The maple trees in Wisconsin put on quite a show!
• Our kids can handle a car ride for only so long before the bickering begins, so we also recommend taking a scenic train ride.  There are surprisingly quite a few train rides offered in our area, and we’ve taken two rides so far this fall.  Our first train ride of the fall had us enjoying the scenery of the St. Louis River in Duluth, MN.  Our second train ride was on the Rail Runner train between Albuquerque and Santa Fe, NM.  Talk about two vastly different experiences!
• When you get a nice sunny fall weekend, your family needs to get outside and enjoy the weather.  There is likely a state park near you that offers up some hiking trails and beautiful scenery!  State parks are also the perfect place to see the leaves changing colors and to spot some wildlife preparing for winter.

State parks are beautiful all year round, but especially in the fall.

• Since your family’s summer vacation is just a memory, and spring break seems like it will never arrive, it’s time for a fall getaway!  Plan a quick trip for that first break your kids get from school.  We usually get a couple of days off in early October and we get out of town!  This year we spent four days in New Mexico and had a fantastic trip!  Check out your favorite travel destinations for deals, and you will soon become a fan of traveling during the off season.
• The fall season means football season to a lot of us who live in Wisconsin.  It means sitting outdoors at the high school for a Friday evening game, or taking a little road trip for a college game on a Saturday afternoon.  Your family can also start their own neighborhood football game for a fun distraction from all of the yard work that is waiting to be done!  There are also a lot of other sporting events going on in the fall, and we try to make it to a volleyball, soccer, or hockey game or two.
• Visiting a zoo or botanical garden in the fall is a very different experience than visiting in summer.  A lot of zoos and gardens decorate for Halloween and some even host evening events.  We had a blast last October trick or treating at the Denver Botanic Gardens, and it was a first for us to trick or treat in warm weather!

This is quite a change from the trick or treat weather that we are used to!

• One thing that happens every fall in the Northern parts of the country is that all the leaves fall off the trees.  There are leaves everywhere!  Not everyone is able to pick up the leaves in their yard, so get together with your family and friends and rake the lawns of those in need.  They will really appreciate it, and the job will go quickly and actually be fun if you have a lot of people.
• Rake up a huge pile of leaves, and jump!

Biggest leaf pile ever!

• The colors of fall provide the perfect background for your family photos.  Have pictures taken now, and you’ll have them back for Christmas cards.  Mailing out Christmas cards that first week of December would definitely be a first!
• Let the kids do some decorating around the house.  Sure, the kids are the boss when it comes to carving pumpkins, but let them do more than that.  My youngest likes to decorate our home for each holiday, and she has outdone herself this Halloween.
• If you are a baker, you have already been preparing for all of those treats that you only bake in the fall.  Get your kids in the kitchen and teach them how to make those pumpkin cookies or tell them the secret ingredients in your applesauce.
• Is your family refusing to let go of summer?  Then finish up your summer of firsts, and join us in this super fun fall season!
• The kids may be inside a little bit more in the fall, so get your craft supplies ready.  There are so many cute crafts that are themed for fall and they will be so proud of their projects!  Check out my Halloween and Fall Firsts Pinterest board for ideas.
• Let your kids plan a day of family fun!  What have they always wanted to try, see, or do?  Have a Yes Day and let them create the memories!

Well, that is a pretty big list of fun!  Enjoy the outdoors as much as you can before we have to transition to those winter activities!  What are your family’s favorite fall activities for family fun?