Fall is waking up here in Texas. With only one eye open, she’s thinking about that cup of coffee that awaits her. She’s stretching and it won’t be long before she’s up and around. Heroically taking on 2020, she’ll bring us a little closer to the end of this chaotic year.
I eagerly anticipate the change from summer to fall because it ushers in not only cooler weather, but new activities and old traditions. But this year, I’ve felt it even stronger. Maybe you have too. The need for change. The need for fun, simple, light-hearted enjoyment of life. Together, cozied up with my favorite people, reading stories and filling our belly’s with new fall goodies.
Our family’s favorite fall traditions are making apple cider, eating pumpkin muffins for breakfast, creating a fall thankfulness tree, carving jack-o-lanterns, collecting and identifying leaves from our neighborhood, hiking, going to football games, gathering pecans from the city park, and our most favorite – fire nights! Huddled around the fire pit, we listen to music and roast marshmallows with Grammy while admiring the moon and stars that only a loving Creator could design. It’s a memory we’ll always cherish.
Today I wanted to share a list of fall activity ideas I’ve been collecting. What new things will your try this year?
Cooking & Baking
- Apple cider donuts – recipe from Country Living Magazine
- Look for recipes with seasonal fruits and veggies such as apples, cranberries, figs, pears, pumpkins
- Apple Cider – Check out My 3 Favorite Fall Recipes for my cider recipe!
- Make caramel apples
- Pumpkin muffins
- Create your own pumpkin spice latte – offers a coffee and non coffee version
Arts & Crafts
- Create a fall tree – Start with a few large sticks in a large vase. Using construction paper, cut out green leaves, punch a hole in the top and hang them on the tree with yarn. Each day, take a couple green leaves off and replace them with bright fall colored construction-paper leaves. Variation: Write notes of thankfulness on each new fall leaf.
- Leaf painting projects – Gather a variety of fall leaves from your neighborhood. Paint the vein side of the leaf with washable tempera paint. While wet, press the leaves onto paper to create a beautiful picture. Or press them onto a glass window or door to create a decorative leaf design when you look outside.
- Carve jack-o-lanterns
- Paint pumpkins – metallic paint is different and fun!
- Knit or crochet a scarf
- Make fall candles
- Pine cone craft
- Leaf man craft
Field Trips
- Local Farmer’s Market
- Apple orchard
- Pumpkin Patch
- Hiking – collect leaves, nuts, sticks and create a fall display basket for your coffee table
- Hayride
- Road trip through a state park or other heavily treed area to see changing leaves
- Camping – the backyard works!
- Attend a local high school football game
Books
- Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn by Kenard Pak
- Leaf Man by Lois Ehlert
- Strega Nona’s Harvest by Tomie dePaola
- Pumpkin Circle: The Story of a Garden by George Levenson
- The Camp-Out Mystery (Boxcar Children Mysteries #27) by Gertrude Chandler Warner
- Moominvalley in November by Tove Jansson
- Little House in the Big Woods by Laura Ingalls Wilder
School Lessons
- Life cycle of a pumpkin lesson – adapt for homeschool setting
- Write/read poems about fall
- Research facts and history of the apple
- Science of fall video
- Learn how animals prepare for hibernation
- Learn about the Mexican tradition of Dia De Los Muertos and have a Coco movie night
Activities
- Fire night, roast marshmallows
- Fall-themed scavenger hunt
- Collect pecans in your neighborhood or at a public park
- Plant bulbs for the spring
- Fly kites
Aren’t some of your best childhood memories from fall? It’s a time of creating and savoring life with the people you love. What are your family’s favorite fall traditions and what’s something new you’ll try this year?
Hugs,
Laura
House On A Hill 
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