6 Ways To Keep Kiddo's Busy This Fall

The swimwear, sand toys, flip flops and beach gear are being packed away at my house. Usually I’m ready to take on the Fall because it’s so beautiful here in New England. However, this Summer was so amazing so I’m a bit reluctant on welcoming Fall this year. We had fun-filled days and weekends of family time so it’s bittersweet seeing Fall upon us. I do have many Fall Dishes I love making so I am looking forward to getting in the kitchen. I know my kids are used to being outside for the majority of the day during the Summer months so when Fall comes it’s a bit of a game changer for us. My daughter is now in Kindergarten so our routine has changed a bit so I’m sharing 6 ways to keep kiddo’s busy this Fall because I am destined to keep the kids busy!

Treasure Hunts- Be Creative

My daughter loves treasures. She loves looking at maps and pretending she’s searching for buried treasure. I made a map of our block and I drew a few landmarks on it. For example, I drew our house and a large loop around it signifying the block. I created and started drawing landmarks that I knew the kids would know from our neighborhood. There is a neighbor around the block that has a huge garden that the kids love looking at when we walk by. A large rock Drew and I often stop at and rest when we go for a walk. A neighbors house that are so sweet to my kids and my family when we are at outside, our swing in the front yard, our bird bath, the corners of each house and our fireplace out back. I drew an X at each landmark, chose 10 toy cars or trucks, walked around the neighborhood and placed the toy trucks by each landmark. The kids were so excited waiting for me to give them the map and say “GO!” I plan on doing it during a day this Winter as well to make it more fun with the snow.

Crafts

You don’t have to be the Pinterest Momma that some are and still enjoy doing some easy crafts with your kids. It may consist of you having to go onto Pinterest to find them but there are so many easy ones out there. Last year I gathered 9 easy Fall crafts to do and I did end up trying most of them. I’m all about easy folks! Or try making these Boo “Nana” Pops with the kids! A sweet treat.

Movie Days

I’m not one to allow my kids to watch TV all day long so every now and again if we have bad weather or I just need a “mental” day I call for an official “Movie Day” they kids love it, we make popcorn, and take turns choosing our favorite movie. Throw together this easy Party Mix in the crock pot and munch on that while watching.

Pick Your Own

Have you ever been on the Pick Your Own website? I wrote an article about it for the Sunday Supper Movement last week, check out how you can plan the perfect trip to the farm this season to pick apples and pumpkins and of course that homemade cider. We went last week and I could have easily have dropped $100 in the farm store. Homemade jams, sauces, baked breads, muffins, vegetables, homemade gifts etc. My kids had a fun time walking the Pumpkin patches while this Momma shopped. Unfortunately on a budget though so I walked away with some fresh yellow beans, donuts for the kids and freshly baked oregano, parmesan and basil bread!

Fall Chores

This is when you’ll really need to be creative because if kids hear the word “Chores” they automatically out am I right? Well those leaves are not going to rake themselves so pick up a rake make a huge pile and go town on leave jumping. You can also use your leaves to make a scarecrow, we finally made one this year and also we bought fun Halloween spiders from the store that require you to fill bags with newspaper to stuff them, well we don’t receive a newspaper so I said lets use leaves! How about that Fall clean up that no one likes. All the Summer toys need to get put away before the first snow falls where we live. Make it fun and creative by forming a game out of it. The person who can bring say five trucks to this bucket gets a prize! The person who can gather sand toys in this bucked and sports equipment in this bucket gets a prize. Watch how fast they run when it’s something they really want, which in our house is usually staying up late, extra bucks to earn Ipad time or a special treat from the kitchen.

Cooking

Who doesn’t love Fall cooking. Yes, do you see me jumping up and down raising my hand? My daughter is a big lazy in the “wanting to help in the kitchen department” however she does love doing dishes! Don’t laugh she just likes playing with soap and water but hey, I put her to work while my son and I cook. It’s so easy to give your kids a task that is safe and will give them that sense of “I’m helping!” My three year old wants to do everything himself and I’ve started to embrace it by giving him odd jobs in the kitchen so he feels included. I have safe kitchen tools that he can use so I don’t have to worry about him getting hurt. Read my article over at The Sunday Supper Movement on some great tips on getting your kids in the kitchen. It’s a great time of year to bake with those apples, pumpkins and squashes you’ve picked at the farm. Try this Apple Topped Sweet Potato Mash my son loves mashing the sweet potatoes himself.