Frugal Friday: More than 100 Frugal Fall Family Activities

Fall is a busy time of year! School starting, sports, harvest time, etc. It's easy to lose track of important family time or get too distracted to make it happen. Here's some ideas to help your family spend meaningful time together without spending a lot of money. Hopefully these will get your brain wheels turning so that you can make some fun memories this fall with your family.

Go apple picking - find someone who has apple trees that they don't pick and go pick them together
Rake leaves into a pile and jump in
Try Leaf Rubbings - Go collect leaves and layer them between two pieces of paper. Rub crayons on the top and see the leaf pattern emerge!
Drive to see autumn colors or go for hike
Have a harvest party - eat foods that you've harvested from your own garden
Make homemade fresh Salsa and have a fiesta
Carve pumpkins
Play Pop Goes the pumpkin!
Make veggie characters - carve them or decorate veggies from your garden.
Play with Giant Bubbles
Make Mr. or Mrs. Potato head characters
Doorbell ditch some zucchini or other vegetable on a friend's doorstep.
Make Corn husk dolls
Make tamales!
Go bobbing for apples
Make Caramel apples
Do some artwork together - here's a cute idea: Potato Pumpkin Printing
Go forage for fruit
Paint Pumpkins
Go on a hayride
Make a scarecrow - use Daddy's old pants, an old shirt and stuff them with straw. Add a pumpkin for a head and there you go!
Play Pin the face on the Jack-O-lantern
Make your very own spider web out of string
Make Monster Pumpkins
Get someone to take your family pictures in the fall colors
Churn your own butter!
Go on a spider hunt in your house and remove all the spider webs (after Halloween of course!)
Read a story about an ancestor in your family
Plant some bulbs for the spring
Go to a farmer's market
Go on a family leaf walk - put on your boots and go stomp on leaves - swish your feet, enjoy the feeling of just being together
Have a "Spooknik" (i.e. a Halloween party) - Eat homemade Donuts, Dress up in your costumes for a family picture, play Halloween games, listen to spooky music and just have fun. This was our Halloween tradition growing up and we always loved it
Roast Pumpkin Seeds!
Play with play dough
Go for a Moon Walk - Check your calendars for the date of a harvest moon!
Clean out your closets and give your unused clothes to a local charity
Make Thankful Rolls
Have a family sleepover in your family room!
Invite someone to spend Thanksgiving with your family this year
Have a mummy contest and wrap up someone in toilet paper
Play "Don't eat Jack"
Go on a fall scavenger hunt
Make an acorn collage
Write letters to a far-away family member or friend
Have a leaf dance - turn on the music and dance and twirl in the freshly fallen leaves
Cuddle up with some hot chocolate or hot cider and watch a family movie
Play "hide and go seek" at dusk
Instead of "Trick or Treat" try "Treat or Trick" this year. Make a treat to deliver to someone on Halloween
Make Applesauce
Have a silly dance contest
Eat dinner with crazy utensils! Instead of regular utensils, set the table with egg beaters, spatulas, giant spoons, etc. Enjoy the laughs as everyone tries to eat.
Learn about the pilgrims and Indians and have a pilgrim dinner
Host a Halloween carnival with games and prizes
Make nature creatures - I love these!
Surprise a neighbor and rake their leaves
Take a family bike ride and enjoy the fall colors
Have a candlelight dinner
Finish a house project together
Make some Christmas gifts
Have a family talent show
Have a family game night and play board games
Get some sidewalk chalk, draw a +, and play four square
Have each family member find something around the house that makes music (pots, shakers, toys, etc) and have a band
Play Catch
Have a backyard barbecue and invite friends and neighbors
Enjoy the last few days of nice weather with a family picnic
Have a Halloween Costume Party
Go bird watching
Have a bug catching contest - set the timer and see who can catch the most.
Have a leaf raking contest - see how many leaves each person can rake in 10 minutes. The winner gets a prize!
Make Hobo soup - everyone pick out a can of something from the pantry to add to the pot. Dress up like hobos. Eat on the ground. Eat out of the cans. Make a pretend fire. Tell campfire stories.
Wash the cars - and have one more water fight before it gets too cold
Go to a thrift store and see who can come up with the best Halloween costume
Make a big pot of witches brew out of water, pinecones, weeds, or anything else you can find in the backyard and pretend you're a witch family. Ride on brooms to get all your materials.
Have a cultural dinner - try foods from another land.
Make a nature garland with things you've collected to display in your home.
Have a Turkey Trot - race around a field or track.
Volunteer as a family - help those in need.
Spend a night remembering the "Good old days" - look through old photo albums, tell stories, listen to music, laugh and enjoy.
Read some poetry or sing some silly songs together
Have a pajama party and start a pillow fight
Create a silly video or skit together
Have a wrestling match
Have a neighborhood Trunk or Treat - Decorate cars in a parking lot, all the kids go around dressed in costumes to "Trunk or Treat". Here's a cute way to decorate your car.
Go on a Thanksgiving Day Scavenger Hunt to walk off all that turkey!
Read a chapter book together
Make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
Play Broom Hockey with old brooms (bristles wrapped in duck tape) for sticks and a soft ball for a puck. Mark some goals in your yard and you're ready to go!
Go on a compass exploration (the old fashioned way). Before leaving, pick a destination on a map. Have the family use a compass and the map to direct the driver to the location by pointing to the correct direction and telling the driver to head north, east, south, or west. Besides being fun, this activity will help the whole family learn how to use a map and a compass and become familiar with directions.
Go for a drive in the countryside and see how many types of farm animals you can find.
Have a finger food meal - no silverware, only fingers allowed!
Make some fun fall decorations for your home
Thread candy corn on a string to make a necklace
Organize a chili cook-off with your neighbors!
Play Frisbee
Harvest your garden
Skip rocks at a nearby pond
Bake some bread
Put together a puzzle
Create a piece of artwork together - Have one person draw a few lines or curves on a piece of paper and pass it to the next. Continue to each family member until the picture evolves into its final masterpiece!