4 Fun, Affordable Things To Do With the Kids This Fall
Every season brings the opportunity for different types of family-friendly activities. In the summer, it’s all about summer camp, beach days, and backyard BBQs. Winter is the best time for cozying up with some hot cocoa, and maybe even sledding and snowball fights, depending on where you live. Spring is the perfect season for picnics, gardening with your kiddos, and epic Easter egg hunts.
And, of course, there are a ton of fun, kid-friendly ways to embrace fall’s magic. As the leaves change and sweater weather gets into full swing, fall tends to feel like an extra special time of year, and it’s important to celebrate the season with fun activities.
The best news about autumnal activities you can do with your kids is that so many of them are also very affordable. Read on for some of our favorite kid-friendly things you can do with the kids this fall, which will allow you to create amazing memories without breaking the bank.
Carve Pumpkins for Halloween
Halloween isn’t just a kids’ holiday. But for many kiddos, getting amped for their costumes and trick-or-treating can be downright magical. That’s why carving pumpkins is the very first activity on our list.
To get ready for this activity, head to the local market or pumpkin patch with your kids and help them pick the perfect pumpkin. Next, ensure you have a kid-friendly pumpkin carving kit (for younger kiddos, you might want to be the one to do the actual carving, even with a kit!), and to really get into the spirit, set up a station with a Halloween-themed vinyl tablecloth and some themed treats.
Host a Mini Fire Pit Party
If you have a fire pit in your backyard, you’ve already got everything you need for this activity. A fire pit party can be a super fun way to enjoy a nice fall evening with your kids – just be sure to thoroughly clean and dry your fire pit in advance, and practice fire safety by keeping a fire extinguisher nearby and discussing fire safety with your kids before the party kicks off.
Next, pull up your Adirondack chairs or any other outdoor seating you have, and stock up on s’mores or other fall goodies you’ll want to share with your kids around the fire pit. Warm cider or hot cocoa in their thermoses can be extra fun for this activity. Since fall nights can get chilly, make it extra cozy by wrapping up in fleece blankets and layering up their kids' outerwear to keep the party going right up until bedtime.
Bake Some Seasonal Cookies
Another affordable activity you can do with the kiddos this fall is baking cookies. While winter is when we really start to cozy up, let’s not forget that fall is the official start of the comfy-cozy season (hello, sweater weather!), and it doesn’t get much cozier than baking fresh cookies.
Decide which type of cookies you want to bake – some of our fall favorites are brown butter and maple, pumpkin snickerdoodle, and Candy Corn sugar cookies – and head to the market with your kids. Once you're home with everything on your list, you and your kids can follow along with a recipe and enjoy the reward!
Aside from the downright delicious element of this activity, it’s also hard to beat the smell of freshly baked cookies that’ll permeate the house as these bake. You can even step this up by cozying up in your favorite comfy PJs and their kids' pajamas and watching a kid-friendly fall movie while you enjoy your cookies!
Have a Backyard Campout
Camping is a great activity with the kids, but campsites fill up quickly in the fall. That’s where backyard camping comes in. Having a backyard campout can be just as magical as the real thing – without the fuss of a long car ride or dealing with finding a campsite. Plus, it’s free, so it’s a win-win!
To have the best backyard campout, you’ll want to start by pitching a tent in the yard and getting it all set up with some comfy throw blankets and their kids' sleeping bags.
To make it feel more like the real thing, have your kiddos pack their kids' backpacks with flashlights, some trail mix, or other outdoorsy snacks, and maybe a book that you can all read together by a lantern in the tent. To make this feel even more special, plan to have dinner on a picnic blanket under the stars and roast some s’mores if you have a fire pit before climbing into the tent for storytime.
These are all activities that the entire family will love and great ways to embrace the magic of the fall season without spending a ton of money. With a few of these activities on the docket for the season, fall might just become your kids’ new favorite season!