40+ Fall Family Traditions Everyone Will Love

Here are some fun, easy, and simple fall family traditions that help everyone enjoy spending time together, outside and in.

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Fall is a season where family traditions can be made and time can be spent together in full

Coming from the laid back summer vibe, Fall is often ridiculously busy and stressful, particularly with the lead up to the holidays.

Furthermore, as a mother of multiple young children … your days are busy! But, are they full?

Busy VS. Full

Busy (adj.): having a great deal to do

Full (adj.): abundant, well-supplied, filled or rounded out. 

Fall = Constant school runs, sports practices, games, events, shopping, holidays, and the list goes on and on…

Have a full fall season, not a busy one.

Think of it this way, having a full life is about purposefully filling your days with things that will have a lasting effect, like family togetherness.

For example, one family weekend might make your life more full than three months of after-school soccer or karate.

Outdoor Fall activities for the whole family

There’s something special about the smell of dry leaves and the ting of crispy air on your cheeks. It’s the kind of things that make a busy day full!

As a rule, take the family outside and start some Fall traditions the everyone will love!

• Take a hayride
• Visit a corn maze
• Go pumpkin picking
• Visit a local farm
• Create a Fall journal by collecting leaves.
• Shop a farmer’s market
• Go hiking
• Visit state parks or state forests
• Decorate your porch
• Collect leaves in different stages of color change
• Go fishing
• Have a campfire and roast marshmellows
• Go to a football game
• Have a scavenger hunt
• Play catch.
• Jump in piles of leaves.

Fall indoor activities for toddlers and preschoolers

Family traditions that everyone will love don’t have to be made out traveling or playing outside.

Family memories can be created right in your dining room. Break out the crafts, crayons, glue, and imagination for Fall.

• Build a blanket fort
• Paint a pumpkin
• Give a pumpkin a bath
• Host a cookie decorating party
• Make a pinecone bird feeder
• Make homemade play-dough
• Act out a play using stuffed animals
• Play hide and seek with glow sticks
• Learn a card game
• Use collected leaves to make a Fall tree collage
• Color a scarecrow
• Make a Fall wreath
• Leaf painting
• Finger-paint Fall tree
• Get creative with these Fall coloring printables

Fall baking recipes even kids can make

Family traditions are often brought together by tasty food. What better way to do this than to include some Fall themed recipes that even the kids can make?

Everyone is sure to love these Fall family traditions!

• Mini Pumpkin Cakes
• Caramel Apples
• Candy Corn Cookies
• Football Cake Pops
• Jack-O’-Lantern Pie
• Acorn Treats
• Mummy Pumpkin Hand Pies
• Pumpkin-Spiced Buns with Spiderweb Glaze
• Pretzel-Chocolate-Pecan Slab Pie

Fall scavenger and foraging games for kids

Whether you want to create your own fun scavenger hunt, or you prefer to shop around for a pre-made game, you’ll be sure to enjoy these Fall scavenger game ideas!

• Nature Scavenger Hunt
• Be the Artist Scavenger Hunt
• Color Scavenger Hunt
• Five Senses Scavenger Hunt
• Shape Scavenger Hunt
• Flashlight Scavenger Hunt
• Mandala Scavenger Hunt

I can already see the Fall family traditions being made!

Ways to teach kids gratitude and thankfulness

I love to teach thankfulness during the Fall season. Gratitude is one of the best family traditions that can be made!

• Start a Thankful Tree.
• Write on a Gratitude Pumpkin each day (I suggest using a sharpie). Set the pumpkin in the middle of the table or counter for everyone to see.
• Create a paper chain using construction paper and write something to be tankful for each day,
• Reward outward signs of thankfulness or gratitude with a sticker chart or a colored feather placed in jar on counter.
• Memorize thankful memory verses using coloring pages and printables.
• Create an “I’m Thankful for…” poster as a family and display.

You’ll find that you want to use these year after year…

Fall family photo ideas

Fall time is one of my favorite times to take family photos! It seems like the colors, the vibe, and the look is just what I want to remember.

Hope you find some good ideas for your next family photoshoot below…

• Playing in a pile of leaves
• Strolling together down a path
• Picking pumpkins
• Wearing matching flannel shirts
• Sitting in the back of an antique truck
• Standing on a bridge
• Beside a barn door or wall
• In a corn field
• Under a tree with Fall colored leaves
• On a picnic blanket
• Swinging in the park
• Sitting on an old crate or bail of hay
• Wearing matching boots
• Dressed in matching fall colors

Making Fall Family Traditions that Everyone will Love…

In my time as a mother, I have never regretted purposefully filling my days with things that bring family togetherness and have a lasting effect.

I am excited about creating some Fall family traditions this year that everyone will love!

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