15 Fun Fall Activities for Kids
It may still be hot outside, but fall is right around the corner. There’s no need to be sad about the change of season, though. With the fall season comes a whole bunch of fun fall activities you can do with your kids. Here we have compiled a list of 15 fun fall activities for kids.
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Apple picking
Apple picking is a quintessential fall activity. Find a local apple orchard and get ready for a fun fall day with your kids. See who can collect the most apples or find the biggest apple. There are usually lots of other delicious apple-themed treats at orchards, too, such as apple cider or even better - apple cider donuts!
No apple orchards where you live? No worries, you’ll just need to think outside the box. Head to the grocery store or farmer’s market and see what types of apples they have. Let your child pick a few to bring home and try.
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Bake something
What are you going to do with all those apples you collected? Bake something, of course! An apple pie or cake is delicious, and getting your kids to help out in the kitchen on a cool fall day is a great activity for the whole family.
Kids love helping to mix and stir ingredients, and it's easy to make a fun baking activity into an educational moment. Ingredients need to be carefully measured. The oven needs to be set to the proper temperature and your baked good has to stay in the oven for a certain amount of time. Math, sequencing, and patience are all sneakily being learned! And of course, you get a tasty treat at the end.
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Go on a hay ride
Hay rides are another great fall activity. Kids love getting to ride in a wagon and sit on the bales of hay. For older kids, many farms do spooky Halloween hay rides, too. The hay provides a fun sensory experience for little ones as well - just be mindful of children with allergies.
Getting out into the fresh, crisp fall air is something that can be enjoyed by everyone. Hay rides are a great opportunity to get the family together for a fun fall activity. Afterwards, warm up from your chilly ride with a warm fall drink.
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Carve or decorate a pumpkin
For a great fall activity for kids, head out to the pumpkin patch and pick out some pumpkins! Let your littlest kids choose small pumpkins they can carry themselves. Older kids (and parents!) can have a fun time carving them. Smaller children can help by scooping out the insides, which is also a great sensory experience.
If your kids are too small to use carving tools themselves but want to be part of the fun, you can also decorate your pumpkins with paint, stickers, or markers. Painted handprints or finger painted pumpkins are a great first craft for little ones.
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Make pumpkin flavored snacks
Fall is when all the pumpkin flavored goodies make their debut. There’s a reason pumpkin is so popular - it’s delicious! Bake some pumpkin pie or pumpkin bread if you are in the mood for a sweet treat, or mix your pumpkin into soups, sauces, or chili for a more savory take on everyone’s favorite fall food.
If you carved a pumpkin, you’ll have a bunch of leftover pumpkin seeds. Don’t get rid of them - make it a fun fall activity by roasting them! Add some cinnamon or other spices for a tasty and healthy treat.
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Visit a farm
The cooler fall weather and abundance of crops ready to harvest makes the fall season the best time to visit a farm. Take advantage of all the seasonal produce by letting your kids pick out new vegetables or fruits to try at home.
Lots of farms also host fall festivals geared toward families as well. Often they will have games and wooden play sets or jungle gyms for kids to play on. Usually there is an animal or two on the premises, and lots of farms also have petting zoos where kids can pet or feed the animals.
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Bob for apples
Have some leftover apples from your day at the orchard? Bobbing for apples is a great fall activity for kids. It’s a fun game to play with groups of children and you can give out prizes to the winners.
For kids who are too small to bob for apples, they can still partake. Tie colored ribbon to apple stems or put colored stickers on the apples and have kids search for and collect apples with certain colors on them.
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Play on indoor jungle gym
Kids still need to play even if the weather is bad, and the best activity for a bad weather day is an indoor jungle gym. In-house indoor playgrounds are becoming more and more popular. They give a chance for kids to exercise in any weather. In this case, children distract from gadgets and practice physical exercises having fun at the same time. As a result, they grow healthy and strong.
The EZPlay jungle gyms are considered #1 choice on the market right now because they are foldable and sturdy. They include up to 8 play features and are great even for small apartments.
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Collect leaves
Fall is such a pretty season, with all the leaves changing colors. Head out on a nature walk and see how many different colored leaves you can find. Do different types of trees turn different colors? Does the same tree have leaves that turn different colors? Keep an eye out for different shaped leaves, too. This is the time of year when nature really shows off. Get out there and enjoy it!
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Create fall-themed art
The fall season is great inspiration for art-related activities. You can collect leaves and glue them to a colored paper cut-out of a tree, or trace kid’s hands and help them turn them into Thanksgiving turkeys. Apples can be cut in half and made into stamps.
This is also a great time to get started on Halloween costumes. Start asking your kids what they would be for Halloween and work together to find ways you can make the costume, or at least some parts of it, yourselves. Get creative!
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Rake leaves
This fall activity may seem like a chore, but raking leaves can actually be fun! Get the kids involved by seeing who can rake up the biggest leaf pile, or take bets to see who can guess how many lawn bags you will fill when you're all done. The winner gets to jump in the biggest leaf pile at the end!
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Go on a scavenger hunt for colors
Kids of all ages love a scavenger hunt. The fall season is the perfect time to tackle a color-themed one, since nature gets so colorful this time of year.
On a piece of paper, either write out the names of the colors (for older kids) or shade in different colored squares (better for younger kids who haven’t yet learned to read). Then head outside! See who can complete their hunt the fastest.
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Make pumpkin spice play dough
When those temperatures start to drop and the leaves start to turn, it means it is officially pumpkin spice season. Get your little ones in on all the hype by making some homemade play dough - with a little pumpkin spice flair!
Homemade play dough is more simple to make than you would think. The Internet has tons of easy recipes and you only need a few ingredients (most of which you likely already have around the house). Mix up a batch of the dough and add some red and yellow food coloring to make the dough orange, then sprinkle in some pumpkin pie baking spice. Your play dough will smell delicious!
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Create a fall sensory bin
Sensory bins are great for getting little kids used to different textures. Fill a bin with fall themed goodies and let them play. You can use leaves, acorns, dried corn kernels, or oats. No worries if you don’t live somewhere where the leaves turn colors - craft stores will be full of faux autumn colored leaves this time of year! You’d probably be able to find faux acorns there as well, along with fall colored beads or buttons that would also make great additions to a sensory bin.
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Decorate
Decorating for the fall season is so much fun. As soon as the weather turns crisp and cool, it is time to pull out the pumpkin scented candles and fall colored wreaths. Get the kids involved and have them help pull decorations out of storage or help you pick out new ones. Or better yet - have them craft new decorations for you.
You can use the fall-themed art they made or utilize some of the leaves or other fall goodies they found on their scavenger hunt and hang it up around the house or make it into a pretty wreath. It will put all those collected items to good use, and the kids will be so proud of their creations.