I love fall. It’s my favorite season. The weather cools down from the triple digit temperatures of summer, the leaves turn beautiful shades of orange and red, and the aroma of fireplaces warming homes fills the air.
I also like fall, because it brings with it a variety of frugal activities to enjoy as a family.
Play in the Leaves
Playing in piles of raked leaves is always a favorite with the kids. And to tell you the truth, I love it too! Take a running jump and land in the soft pile. Throw them in the air and make it “rain leaves”. Bury yourself up to your neck in leaves. One year we put a big pile of leaves at the bottom of the slide and let the kids slide down into them!
Yes, you usually have to re-rake the leaves when you’re done playing, but it’s a small price to pay for an afternoon of free family fun. Besides, it’s good exercise.
Visit the Pumpkin Patch
You can find farm stands that offer activities for kids in lots of farming communities. The cost for different activities will run a wide range, so call the individual farm stands in advance to compare prices.
Activities at pumpkin patches include wagon rides, corn mazes, and tours of the farm. More elaborate farm stands might offer activities such as pumpkin launches, a hay hill, face painting, and more. We go every year, and our kids always have a great time!
Go to a Ball Game
School has started and with that comes fall sports. Soccer, volleyball, and football are all in full swing right now, and that brings opportunities to cheer on the local team!
High school football games are inexpensive and a great opportunity to hang out with others in your community. But even if you don’t want to pay the price of admittance to a football game, you can watch community games for free.
When is the last time you watched preschoolers play soccer? It’s a blast! And if you head to your local park or YMCA on a Saturday morning this time of year, you’re sure to find a multitude of soccer games! And if football is your thing, how about checking out the middle school team? The kids are glad to have the support, and you’ll be able to see the high school star player…before he’s discovered!
Now that you know some of my favorite things to do in the fall, let me know what you like to do!
Photo by *Mickey.
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Playing in the leaves is definitely a big winner for kids!
we also love walking in the forest and gathering little rocks and piece of woods :-D
Your thoughts on playing in the leaves brings back wonderful memories of my childhood. We had a swingset in our backyard and one year my parents and I decided to pile up the leaves from the yard right in front of it. My friends and I had a BLAST swinging really high on the swingset, jumping off, flying through the air, and landing on that huge pile of leaves.
Hehe, I’m sure this would be against the law nowadays. :)
I am camping – just outside the city limits, on a fishing river, and 10 minutes from home. This means that I can get up at 6, run home and dress for work and feed the cat, and be at work by 7. Then at 4 it’s home for a few chores and off to the river and the campsite! What fun to be able to commute to work from such a gorgeous spot! Last night we put sleeping bags out on the grass and just stargazed for an hour – instead of ‘slug bug’ game it was ‘satellite bugs!
We used to do more fall activities when the kids were little. Playing in the leaves, a nice brisk walk around the neighborhood, visiting the pumpkin patch, walking down by the water and seeing the changes brought by fall, soccer games, making pumpkin seeds, storytime at the library, go to the fair, etc.
Now they’re bigger and their activities are starting up which keep us and them busy. However, it’s still fun to make pumpkin seeds, it’s still fun to have a fire in the fireplace and play a boardgame in front of it, it’s still fun (and comforting) to make homemade potato soup and just sit around and talk and laugh.
When things start to get busy, sometimes you may have to do a little planning ahead for some down time but it’s worth it!