Fun Fall Activities
It’s that time of year. The days are shorter, the nights are cooler, children are back in school, (in whatever form that takes), apples are ready for picking and our gardens are being harvested.
There are so many ways to celebrate the fall season; activities with family and friends, attending local festivals, quiet reflection, and grateful thoughts.
Read on for some activities to add to your fall plans.
Fun Fall Activities 2
Here are some ideas to celebrate the fall season. Whether your family/friend group is small or large, younger or older, there are ideas sure to please everyone.
- Gather the family to make a calendar of events/activities to do through the fall season.
- Have a tailgate themed get together-you don’t have to love football to have one! Have friends and family gather, open the tailgates and celebrate together. This is a great social activity to enjoy while being “socially distant.”
- Take a drive to see the changing fall colours. Make a list of all the different leaves you saw changing to red, orange, and yellow.
- Get the garden ready for next year, add compost to the soil, plant some bulbs.
- Attend a fall festival.
- Have a pumpkin carving contest and dress up to the theme of your pumpkin. Star Wars perhaps? How about “Day of the Dead?”
- Get the kids to write and share a story with an autumn theme. Act it out for even more fun.
- For the little ones; take them outside to gather different color leaves and then press them between two sheets of wax paper or put them underneath paper and let them rub crayon over the leaf to make an etching.
- Take advantage of the clear nights to throw a blanket on the ground and do some stargazing. You can go old school and use a book or high-tech and use an app to find all the constellations.
- Know someone who needs help with their yard? Take a day and work together as a family to spruce things up for them.
- Create a “grateful jar.” Make leaf shapes from paper and have everybody write down things they are thankful for. Put them in a bowl, then open them up and read them at Thanksgiving dinner.
- Go for a walk in the neighbourhood, or take a hike in the country and gather all kinds of things that are signs of fall like acorns, leaves, sticks, pinecones, seedpods, and nuts. Then make a fall wreath with the treasures you found.
- Have a contest to see who can make the best scarecrow.
- Take family game night to the next level with a friendly competition. Keep track of who wins the games throughout the month(s). Maybe the overall winner gets their favorite meal made and served by everybody else!
- Visit an apple orchard. Take the apples you bought and bob for apples with your feet for some laughs. Make some of your favourite recipes like, apple pie, apple crisp, apple cake, candy apples…there are so many options!
*Don’t forget to take pictures. You could always create a photo album/scrapbook of all the fun activities you shared together.
These are just a few ideas to help enjoy the fall season. Want to share your favourite fall activities? Share them on our social media sites or put them in the “have a suggestion” on this site and we may add them to the list.
Fun Fall Activities 3
Whether you attend a local festival or create your own, this is sure to be tons of fun.
Oktoberfest is an important part of the Bavarian culture, having been held since 1810! Today the festival is celebrated in Munich, Germany. As the largest folk festival in the world the event runs for about 16-18 days in late September to October. Other cities around the world model these celebrations.
The event begins with the cry of “O’zapft is” (It’s tapped)! What follows is a great deal of good times and good cheer. During the festival people often wear “Tracht”-traditional garments such as dirndl dresses, lederhosen and traditional Bavarian hats.
Not only is lots of beer consumed, (over 7 million litres!) but there are fun events for everyone such as amusement rides, side stalls, games, folk dancing, parades, horse racing and music. Much traditional food is also consumed during the event.
Canada’s largest Oktoberfest festival is held annually in Kitchener, Ontario. This year the festival runs between Sept 27 and Oct 19, 2024.
For more information visit their website Kitchener-Waterloo Oktoberfest
Want to create your own Oktoberfest themed event? Here are some ideas sure to add to the fun.
- Try some traditional folk dancing.
- Have a yodeling contest.
- Make Bavarian hats.
- Have each person creates a favourite drink recipe. Share the drink in a “beer” mug. Vote for the best mug of cheer.
- Have the kids dress up in homemade costumes and have a parade in the neighbourhood.
- Gather the family to make a meal of traditional Bavarian styled foods.
For more fun ideas check out this website where you can download Oktoberfest themed activities.
www.oktoberfest.ca/oktoberfest-family-series-event
Sources:
En.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oktoberfest
www.oktoberfest.ca
Firstthings.org
Fun Fall Activities 1
Autumn Bingo
Adapted from “The Pioneer Woman” Magazine Fall 2023
Use the template to have some fun this fall. Can you complete a line? Who’s up for a full card! Swap out squares with the suggestions below or any ideas you have. The possibilities are endless.
Happy Fall All. 😊
Click the image to save and print your own card!
Other ideas for the squares:
- Gather colourful fallen leaves from 5 different types of trees.
- Gather fallen pinecones and acorns for table décor.
- Share a favourite fall recipe.
- Donate to a food bank.
- Attend a fall fair.
Have a suggestion? Click the link below and we will add your shared ideas to this list!
Fun Fall Activities 4
Fall is Cranberry Season
Some foods just naturally go with autumn.
We are comforted by the smell of pumpkin spice, there’s nothing like a freshly picked crisp juicy apple, and cranberries go with everything from muffins, to juice, to a sauce for turkey.
How it Got it’s Name:
Cranberries are native to North America. Indigenous peoples called the cranberry plant “atoca.”
Early settlers thought the cranberry blossom resembled the head of a crane and called them “crane berries.”
Cranberry Trivia
Did you know that Canada is one of the top 3 producers of cranberries in the world? (USA and Chile are the other two.)
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- Most of our Canadian cranberries are produced in Quebec, B.C. and New Brunswick.
- Bala, Ontario is the cranberry capital of Ontario.
Fun fact: Despite popular belief, cranberries do not grow in water. They are a perennial, creeping ground covering shrub with evergreen leaves. Because the vines are so dense the crops are flooded to make harvesting easier. Ripe cranberrries bounce and float!
The Ontario Cranberry Harvest starts Sept 21, 2024 and the very popular Bala Cranberry Festival takes place from Friday October 18th – Sunday, October 20th.
If you’re looking for something different to do this fall consider making the trek to the Muskokas to take a cranberry plunge, drive the cranberry trail, and sample some cranberry delights.