Hello fall! Ways you can have outdoor fun with your family.
Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash
Fall is finally here which means lots of different outdoor activities you can have with your family. Although the temperature is lower and rains are more frequent, there is still an abundance of things you can do outside and have a great time. Merely the earthy colors of fall will draw your attention to nature and spending more time outdoors. So, pack your kids and dogs to try some of these ways you can have outdoor fun with your family during the fall.
Go camping
Fall is an ideal time to go camping especially if you have younger kids who like to explore nature. Fresh air and starry nights are perfect for outdoor quality time with your family like making s’ mores and telling stories at the campfire. Show your kids fall nature and animal life to teach them how the world around them prepares for the winter. Just bring enough clothes to stay dry in case of the rain and don’t forget hot chocolate to keep you all warm in your tent.
Visit a fall festival
When the fall comes, festival life starts to simply bloom. This is the time for pumpkin patch festivals like Coconut Grove Pumpkin Patch Festival that will get you enough of this tasty fruit to make lots of jam. However, apple is the most popular fruit of the fall season and people organize festivals most commonly during the picking season, like Murphysboro Apple Festival.
Check the schedule for Oktoberfest celebrations since they have child-friendly offers so the whole family can have a great time. Concerts, parades, and carnival rides are especially great for kids since youngsters can’t resist cotton candy and abundance of fun. Even farmer’s markets are fun in the fall when the family is looking for fresh produce to make supplies for winter.
Cook with apples and pumpkins in the outdoor kitchen
During the fall, families like to make jams, juices and other products they will use in the winter. This means you will have to peel and clean all sorts of veggies and fruits. So, gather your family in the outdoor kitchen and start having fun making tasty foods with your kids. Especially, don’t forget to dry the pumpkin seeds and serve them as a treat during these preparations.
Also, make a batch of hearty pumpkin soup for your tireless helpers and give them a slice of freshly baked apple pie with cinnamon. After all, it would be a shame to have all the fresh produce in front of you and not make signature fall dishes, like beef and butternut squash stew.
Start with Halloween preparations
The most popular moment of fall is Halloween on October 31. This is the time when yards turn into haunting scenes and everyone puts on a costume to go trick or treating. So, go on a pumpkin picking adventure with your children and start traditionally carving jack-o’-lantern for the porch and front yard.
Go to the store and buy costumes for everyone, even the dog so you can parade the neighborhood in full ensemble. To add extra fun, gather around a fire pit in your backyard and tell scary stories over pumpkin pie and warm apple cider.
A fun day with a dog at the park
If you frequently visit sites like Totally Goldens, then you know how much dogs like the fall especially when there is a pile of leaves they can jump in. And as a family member, your dog deserves to enjoy the fall to the fullest at the park chasing Frisbees and squirrels. Have a picnic on a sunny day and let your kids have fun with a pooch while playing fetch or even rolling on the ground. You may have to clean them all from leaves and grass stains when you get home, but their happiness is well-worth the extra scrub.
Prepare a garden for the spring
Kids love gardening and for many families, this is a favorite hobby to spend time together. But just because it’s fall, it doesn’t mean that you are done with your garden. Fall is an ideal period to plant winter veggies like spinach, lettuce, and kale that will give you tons of minerals and vitamins in the cold months.
Also, you have to remove old and withered plants to prepare the soil for the spring and tidy up space. Plant bulbs now before the first freeze like daffodils and buttercup to have a growing and colorful garden when the snow thaws.
All in all
Embrace the moodiness of fall as a reason to be adventurous and have outdoor fun with your family. From tasty foods to colorful festivals, fall is an ideal season to search your area for some interesting activities that your children and dog will love. And with Halloween just around the corner, it’s a perfect time to look for pumpkins and themes for your yard decoration.