Crisp, cool air and vibrant foliage make fall excursions the perfect prescription for a heated political atmosphere and a seemingly never-ending plunge into an economic black hole. Get out of your house, away from the TV, phone, video games and computer. Save gas and money by following one of these park-the-car-all-day adventures.
Go Fly a Kite
Spend the morning gathering supplies and then gather up your family for a day of kite flying. Throw together some sandwiches, carrot sticks, fruit and cookies for a healthy picnic. After enjoying your lunch, build the kite in the park. Directions for a pyramid kite can be found here or look here for the classic diamond shape kite.
Farm Tour Locate a local pumpkin farm and plan on spending the entire day visiting farm animals, choosing a pumpkin and perusing produce. Bring along your children’s costumes or a cute fall outfit and stage a photo session in front of the pumpkins or on a hayride. You can also probably find a farm with a corn maze; read: your kids will be running around trying to find their way out for hours. When you get home, spend the evening carving the pumpkins you picked up. Click here to learn about how to make your pumpkin last longer.
Friendly Competition
Invite neighborhood families and have a daylong kickball tournament cookout. Choose the largest yard for the games and share the cost by asking everyone to bring a dish to share. Feel better about indulging by working up a competitive sweat. The kids will surely be worn out by the end of the day. A $5 ball provides a car-free, active day full of laughter.
Weekend Adventure
Camping is the ultimate no-energy-required family bonding experience. Unplug from the grid and spend the weekend outdoors: hiking, fishing, and bird, or other critter, watching. Connect with your family in a whole new way by telling classic ghost stories and embarrassing family tales in front of the fire. Don’t forget the s’mores, the best meal to eat outdoors.
Love these great ideas!! We like leaf pressing, and playings games with the leaves, like piling them, or drawing out 'rooms' for a 'house' on the ground. I'm also a big craft buff, so we make holiday crafts too.
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