Happy Fall!

The best season of the year is here! Anyone agree? When the weather gets cooler I immediately get excited for every and all outside activities. I’m not much of a “hot summer” person so the cool fall air that comes in Michigan is a huge love of mine. With kids especially.

What do I love about fall?

Crisp air
Cool weather
Cozy clothes
Color-changing leaves
Comfort foods like soups and chili

We sat down and talked with our toddlers about what activities they wanted to do this fall and together we compiled a list. I thought this blog post would be a great opportunity to share my TOP 10 activities. If you are wanting a beautiful checklist, be sure to download my free printable as a fridge checklist for you and your family.

top 10 fall activities for families / realistic plant based mama

10 FUN fall activities for your family!

1. Go to an apple orchard and Pick apples

Fall didn’t happen until you went to the orchard and climbed in a tree to pick apples. At least that’s how it is in Michigan. There are dozens of orchards near our home complete with fresh donuts, cider, hayrides, and more. It is definitely the first thing most people do to kick-off the Fall season.

pick pumpkins in the fall / fall bucket list ideas for families / realistic plant based mama

2. Pick pumpkins to carve into our favorite animals, characters, or traditional faces!

You could buy them from the grocery store or a local orchard. No matter how we get our pumpkins, it is on our list to do some pumpkin carving this year! (We didn’t do it last year for some reason…)

3. Go on a color changing tour around town to see all the trees

The trees this time of year are AMAZING. It is one of the most incredible sights. If you are not from a place where the leaves change, I encourage you to plan a trip somewhere, like Michigan, in the fall season. You will be wowed by the beauty God created.

4. Make apple stamps to create an art piece/decoration

This fall activity is perfect for preschoolers and is probably one “home activity” that I’m really looking forward to doing. I remember doing this as a kid in school and it left great memories. If you’re not sure what apple stamps are, this is what it is and what they look like when done!

5. Nature Scavenger Hunt to see all the beautiful things nature offers

Here we clipped leaves we found with clothespins which was a ton of fun for both my 2 and 3.5 year old.

I have two nature loving boys so we do nature scavenger hunts all the time but there is excitement around adding COLORS to the list. And not just looking for things that are green or brown but adding in yellow, purple, maroon, and more.

The above photo is from our summer nature hunt. We can’t wait to see our Fall one once the weather changes the leaves more.

6. Watch a Halloween movie and have popcorn

Full disclaimer: I am not a scary movie person. It makes me super excited to be able to watch Halloween movies with my kids and keeping them not scary at all!

If you have suggestions for kid-friendly halloween movies, please share them in the comments!

7. Make a fall wreath for outside using things from our nature scavenger hunt

This leads into the next activity but I think is pretty self explanatory. Any of wreath lovers in the room?!

8. Decorate the house with pumpkins, leaves, and halloween decor

I’m not huge on Halloween decoration but I definitely do have some that I like putting out, for the kids sake. This year I want to use more natural fall items to bring the fall inside and bring more warmth to our house.

9. make applesauce and/or apple cider with the apples from the orchard

I LOVE making homemade applesauce AND apple cider. Typically I just do my own thing (Have you caught on that that is kind of how I roll?) but here are a few recipes you might like:

Slow Cooker Applesauce

Apple Cider with Pumpkin Spice

10. take Fall family photos!

This is not something we’ve done before but plan to for this year since it seems these kiddos are growing so fast! Any advice for first time family photo-ers? We’ve done newborn photos but nothing more really.

What is Fall like where you live? I would love to hear about your family traditions and see what you have on your fall family bucket list for this year.

Is there something you think we should add to ours? Share with me below!