Fall break is upon us here and many parents are scrambling to find fun things to do with their kids, so I thought I would put together some ideas and share some things we are doing.

Here are a few of my favorites from Real Simple: Get lost in a corn maze, Take a hot-air balloon ride, Collect colorful fall leaves, Plant bulbs in your garden for next spring, Take a fall drive, Make a pinecone bird feeder, Make rice krispie treats, Make a giant pile of leaves and jump in them, Bake a apple or pumpkin pie, Make candy apples, Enjoy a cup of hot spiced cider, Carve pumpkins, Make or create your own Halloween costumes, go to a haunted house, Build a bonfire, visit a antique shop, Collect pinecones as a family & have a special bowl to display them,

Some of the fun things we do during the FALL FEST!!

Chili contest: Every Halloween we have had family over and had a chili cook off!! October is a great month to have a chili contest with friends or family any time!! Have everyone bring a sampling to share with every one and make it an event!!

Bird nest of Leaves: For years we have had big trees that have many leaves, so we began the tradition of making a giant bird nest and taking a picture of our family inside. It is fun to pile them up & jump in!! Makes a great memory.

Bird Feeder out of pinecone: We have done this a few times at our house. Get pinecone, smother peanut butter and roll in bird seed. Everyone is happy!

Spooktacular movies: We are not particularly in love with horror—leaves my daughter with nightmares, so we have a few family favorites—Bewitched, The Adams Family, Casper, The Good Witch, Sabrina the teenage witch.

Acorn everything: I love and adore the very sign of acorns. I grab my camera and snap, snap–the shape, the whimsy, the magic. I found a darling idea to make acorn fairies and darling acorn donuts. 

Foliage Friends: I came across the next couple of cute ideas at Spoonful.com Have your family find leaves and then glue them on a page, add bodies, faces…FUN! Creative!!

Fall Trail Hunt: Give your kids a egg carton with each slot colored a specific color of something they need to find in the forest. It is a fun, fall scavenger hunt!! Happy hunting.

I also love Luminaries: Nothing like a little light in any kind of darkness. Whether you make necklaces out of glow sticks or lanterns out of paper or canning jars—halloween needs some light!! Here are some fun ideas I came across.

Make up your own Halloween song: I have done this a couple of times with my little girl & her cousins. It is fun because each year we pull out our own Halloween song & everyone sings along.

Enjoy a “Windy Walk”: When there is a good wind blowing, bundle up and walk through the whirling, fall leaves.

I am going to call these “Warm words” rolled into a yummy roll—good for any time of the year!! I just found this idea & thought it would be great for a fall fest with family or thanksgiving—both!! Here is the link. http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/11/thankful-rolls.html

Some additional ideas: Fall family bike ride,  Bundle up and attend a local football game, buy your pumpkins at a patch, Make your own garland out of pinecones, Read spooky stories, Have a Halloween Spooktacular Scone night, Roast pumpkin seeds, Make carmel corn, Make smores over an open fire, make pumpkin pancakes, make homemade soup, make anything pumpkin!!

It’s FALL…have FUN!!