15 Fall Family Traditions


Well it’s finally fall! I’ve realized the older my son gets the more important it becomes for us to establish traditions. I don’t mean drinking pumpkin spice lattes and breaking out the Uggs. I mean activities your toddler should participate in all season long. Although, to be fair, I do love a good PSL and some fuzzy boots. Making traditions are so important for kids because it teaches them that there are things to look forward to throughout year. Even when they are really little you can take them to events and have them dress up. Fall is such a fun time of year. There is a vast list of activities and events you can participate in that your children will enjoy. 
  1. Decorating pumpkins. From carving an extravagant art piece, to painting, or putting stickers on it. There are so many ways to include even your youngest child in this activity. Making your pumpkin one of a kind and displaying it around the house is a festive way to celebrate the season. For tools to help make carving your pumpkin easy check out this Carving Kit!

  2. Go to a corn maze. I LOVE going to the corn maze! We went before my son was even a year old. We loaded him up in the stroller and made our way through the maze. We got a little lost but I mean that's the point, right? They even have kiddie mazes for the little ones who can walk around on their own. It’s fun for all ages! 
  3. Go on a hay ride. It is a fun experience for the young and the old. Who doesn’t love riding around a farm, taking in the scenery? The first time we took my son he spent most of the time absorbing what was going on around him. The second time he was so excited because he got to see a real tractor! (Tractors are a big deal in our home... the wheels go round and round). The older they get, the more they get to experience. Its fun for everyone. 

  4. Trick-or-Treating. This should go without saying but here it is... dress your kids up, take them out, ask for candy, have fun! This is every kids favorite part of Halloween. Even if you think they're too little, its still fun for everyone to see the babies dressed up too. Don’t you remember running up to every door and anxiously waiting for someone to answer so you can get a bite size piece of your favorite candy? It’s my most memorable part of fall.
  5. Go apple picking. This was a tradition that we started kind of late for me and my sister. We were in middle and high school but I still remember going to this little town in Georgia during The Apple Festival. We stopped and had lunch and saw how Apple-Butter was made. We bought a jar of the apple-butter and a huge bag of apples. It was such a fun day we went back a couple years in a row until we were off in college. But I look forward to bringing my son to the same town during the Apple Festival! 
  6. Make candied apples. This is something I remember asking my mom to buy each year when I saw them in the store. I liked the caramel wraps. They were yummy and SUPER easy! Just open the circular caramel wrap and simply wrap the whole apple in it and Viola! Caramel Apples! You can also get the candied ones that you dip and let dry (Also super yummy). I’ve seen others that are overloaded with toppings. I bet those are so delicious. You can get really creative with this one. I made these with golden delicious apples and  Concord Foods Candy Apple Kit
  7. Pumpkin patch. I always loved going to the pumpkin patch, as a kid, a couple days before Halloween and picking out the perfect pumpkin. I wanted it to be big enough to carve a face in and have a round shape but not oddly shaped and not rotting. Now every year we take my son and we have a blast picking all the pumpkins, even if we put a few back. 

  8. Pick out a costume. Growing up my aunt always made my costumes for me and all my cousins (Pictured Below). She did an awesome job! We told her in advance what we wanted to be and she made it. Better than any store bought costume money can buy. For my sons first Halloween I had to stick with traditions and had my aunt make his. Since we moved out of the state and I haven’t improved my sewing techniques yet, I will likely be taking him to pick out his costume. I am so excited to see what he wants to dress up as. I am also a huge fan of costumes that you throw together with different pieces, making it your own. Everyone’s crafty side comes out when it comes to making Halloween costumes. 


  9. Decorate your home. What a better way to get into the spirit than decorating with spirits... and goblins, and pumpkins, and witches. Helping my parents put spooky decorations around our house and in our yard was so exciting. My mom always wanted cute pumpkins and fall décor while my dad and I wanted scary stuff like Skeletons that pop out at you. I can’t wait to have my son help decorate our house this year. 
  10. Make festive snacks. There are so many recipes online for cute treats. We always made those sugar cookies you slice and they have a pumpkin in the middle. One year I went all out and made jack-o-lantern tangerines, hot dogs that look like fingers, skull cupcakes. I had a blast putting it all together! It made the day so fun and so memorable. 
  11. Town fair. For a week or two in October our town hosts a fair and it’s so exciting. There are tons of rides, shows, the petting zoo, the greasy food. Even after moving to multiple states in the last few years, every town seems to host a fair during October. There’s nothing like a good ol’ country fair. 
  12. Get crafty. From making decorations to making accessories for your costume. Getting crafty is a great way to spend time with your kiddos. There are some cute ideas with hand prints that look like spiders and foot prints painted like Frankenstein. They will make an awesome reminder year after year. Check out this Easy And Fun Halloween Spider Craft For Toddlers by Fab Working Mom Life
  13. Go to a football game. Even if you’re not that into football itself, you have to admit, going to a football game is loads of fun. If you can splurge and go to your favorite teams game and make fun family memories then do it! Or go support your local high school football team on a Friday night! While my son is still too little to go to a college or pro game, we took him to see my cousins high school game and he had so much fun playing with a cow bell! It was a chilly, cheerful night! 

  14. Boo at the zoo. If you have a zoo nearby, look up the event calendar on their website and see if they are having a Halloween event? We were planning on taking our son last year but our work schedules got in the way. I hope we can make it this year! It sounds like a hoot! (Get it? ..because it’s a zoo!)
  15. Movies. There are numerous Halloween and fall related movies out there for kids of all ages. Casper was a favorite in my family growing up. I also remember Hocus Pocus and Halloweentown, of course. To this day I still watch these movies and feel nostalgic. They bring back memories of trick or treating and getting spooked. I can’t wait to show my son these festive movies. 

There is an abundance of activities that you can participate in to begin making your family traditions. The traditions we carried out each year are what make up the best memories of my childhood and I can’t wait for my son to experience them. Time and memories are so valuable. Why not make the most of them? You only get so many years to take your children trick-or-treating. They are going to be off at Halloween parties and ordering their own pumpkin spice latte before you know it. I choose to make the most of each year. I hope these activities offer some great ideas to make every year special. 


Let me know about your fall family traditions in the comments!! 

Danielle Crawley is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to www.adventuresofacrawmama.blogspot.com

Comments

  1. These are great tips for family fun! I have one kid who just LOVES the hay ride (and I'll take any excuse to sit down for a while). They also *claim* to like the corn maze, but two seconds in, someone usually cries for me to carry them, so we're saving that for when they get a little bigger.

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  2. Such great ideas!! I love creating traditions and new memories with our little family! I will have to give some of these ideas a try this fall!!

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  3. I am in love with these. I love doing fun festive things for each holiday with my daughter and I can't wait to make them into traditions as well!

    Thanks for sharing!

    Josephine | Better as Us
    betterasus.com

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  4. I love all of these fall activities! We also like to collect fallen leaves and stick them onto contact paper to hang up on our windows. It's such a fun time of year to do activities as a family.

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    1. That is such a cute idea for some crafting days when it’s rainy!! Love it! Thanks

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  5. You listed so many great ideas! I can't believe that we've never done a hay ride, but when I saw it on your list it hit me - we need to go! Thanks for the idea.

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  6. Our daughter is 6 months, and hopefully we have started the tradition of going to a pumpkin patch and hayride. I like the idea of painting the pumpkins, and apple picking will be a must next year! Thanks for all the ideas!!

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