Favorite Fall Traditions for Families: How to Make the Most of Autumn as a Family

Yes, it’s Fall! The season for Halloween, pumpkins and cooler weather. It is also the season when we start preparing for the end-of-the-year and the holidays. Fall infuses us with fresh energy, renewed inspiration and a boost of fondness for traditions.

In that spirit, here are some favorite Fall traditions for you to make the most of this season as a family:

Decorating the House for Fall

 Yes, invite the season into your house. This tradition is lovely because all of you can be involved in collecting leaves, pinecones, apples, pumpkins or gourds and adding splashes of lovely Fall colors and fragrances to the home. Before starting to decorate, head out for a Nature walk and collect interesting ‘artefacts’ to add to the mantle, foyer and living areas.  Meanwhile, the kids can have a ball crunching leaves as they walk about or gathering them for craft time later.  Need some ideas for Fall craft? Here are over 100 of them! 

Fun and free, yes, this is the perfect Fall tradition for families.

Attend a Fall Festival

If you live in an area that hosts an annual Fall festival, mark your calendar for the date. Bundle up the kids and head to the festival to enjoy seasonal activities like, pumpkin carving or apple picking or simply, savor the smell and sights of Autumn.

Visit the Local Pumpkin Patch

Head out to the local pumpkin patch and let each member of the family pick a pumpkin. Come back home and you can have fun time carving the pumpkins and sipping on some spiced hot chocolate.

 Host a pre-Halloween Party

Who says, parties are only for Halloween? Have a pre-Halloween or celebrating Fall party with seasonal produce taking centre stage and fun Fall activities and games  for kids  to help them enjoy the season and learn about it as well.

  Bake Fall Treats 

Finally, a super-fun and easy way to celebrate Fall is by baking those apple pies, pumpkin pies, spiced cookies and more. Accompanied with a glass of milk, these are the perfect treat for hungry little ones after a day spent picking apples or pumpkins.

Does your family have a favorite Fall tradition? How do you celebrate this change of season? Share with the Wett Giggles community on Twitter and Facebook!

 

Photo Credit: Arvind Balaraman/Free Digital Photos

Top Four Fun, Frugal and Healthy Halloween Treats

October’s on and yes, if you’re a parent, chances are you’re already gearing up for Halloween. Costumes, masks, face paint and of course, treats!

Do you want to hand out the same ole’ candy this year as well? Seriously, with childhood obesity and tooth decay on the rise, do we, as parents, want to contribute to making kids unhealthy?

I think not.        

But we do want to keep the fun alive in trick-or-treating and we do want children to enjoy the occasion and look forward to their treats.

So, here are the 4 best fun and frugal treats for Halloween, and no they don’t involve candy:

 1. Ghost-Shaped Soaps for a Spooky Clean Halloween 

Right on top of the list are our super-cute ghost-shaped soaps that will help to wash off all the face paint and stay with kids long after Halloween is over. At just $7.50 for half a dozen soaps, these are fruity smelling, made with natural ingredients and perfect on the budget!

See how cute they are in the photo above!

2.     Homemade and Healthy Halloween Treats

There’s nothing better than giving out sweet treats that are actually healthy and good for kids. Better still, have the kids make them as well. Nice!

Here are some ideas to get you inspired:

 Healthy Halloween Treats from iVillage 

Halloween Party Snacks and Treats for Children from Parenting 

3.     Ghostly Reads for Kids of All Ages

Want to encourage reading in the neighborhood kids? Pair some homemade sweet treats with a spooky book. Yes, it is a great way to get kids reading without cutting out the ‘treat’ part of Halloween!

Here is a great list of books for Halloweenand best part is that most of them cost under $5.

 4.     A Basket of Treasures

Finally, you can put together small baskets filled with non-treat treasures for all the trick-or-treaters and let them go home with things they’d actually use. Some ideas include ‘ghost’-themed adhesive bandages, seed packets for their own ‘spooky’ plant, lead-free fake jewels and more. Need more ideas to fill up those baskets? Check out this amazing list by Green Halloween.   

This year, don’t let Halloween be yet another candy fest with sugar-laden, artificial color-filled candies being doled out. Make it fun, interesting and yet, healthy for the kids by making some simple but wise choices.

What are YOUR favorite healthy, fun and frugal treats for Halloween? Join the Wett Giggles community on Facebook and Twitter and share!