I spend much of January through late August thinking of all the ways this is going to be my best fall season ever, and my best holiday season ever, and we’re going to do all the things and go all the places and decorate all the decorations and and and…and then September rolls around and the reality of how much time and money I actually have available for fulfilling these dreams hits me like a refreshing sip of cold apple cider.
We’ve been a single income family for many years and things have only gotten more expensive and the kids’ tastes more refined and spendy. Their memories are also alarmingly sharp (“Mommy, remember last year when we went to the Sunflower Festival and got kettle corn and you ate an apple cider donut and we got a pound of fudge and rode the wagon?”) so the stakes feel somehow higher each year to make this special time count for something, even if I have less to go around.
To that end, here’s a roundup of some free or almost-free activities I’ve done the last couple years that have become traditions that feel memorable and special for my kids:
Lantern walks
This is actually just going for a walk around the neighborhood when it starts to get dark and bringing an LED candle or flashlight. But doing something so ordinary at a different time of day than usual allows them to see their community through different eyes and that makes it feel magical.
Fall crafts using natural materials (or not)
I’d bet you a pumpkin that while out walking your kids have collected an assortment of acorns, sticks, leaves, and who knows what else. Get out the construction paper and glue sticks and now you have a “fall craft”. The blogosphere is full of ideas if you need some but my kids seem to enjoy it the most when I just dump out some supplies and let them have at it.
Another high impact favorite has been making snow globes with glitter and clear glue in empty jars. I went nuts in the bottle brush tree section of Target one year and my daughter had a big time creating little villages out of all these found objects amid the trees and snow globes.
Pumpkins
I’ve seen some truly outrageous prices lately but Costco and Walmart have been affordable enough for me this year. I got a pumpkin from each store for $6 and $5 respectively, and they’re on our front stoop currently giving my kids shrieks of glee when they see them. That’s our only outdoor decoration at this time and it’s giving enough seasonal enjoyment that I don’t think I’ll get any more this year. When it’s trick-or-treat time I’ll give them each a marker and let them draw their own designs which I’ll help carve, and this activity has made them deliriously happy in past years. I used to really go wild with the fancy carving kits before kids and I wish I still could, but their interest flags if I do it all while they watch. The results aren’t the most aesthetically pleasing (to me) but they feel so excited about “their” pumpkin that it creates the sense of anticipation and specialness I’m going for.
“Simple Fall Baking”
This is probably my highest impact trick, and all it takes is having Halloween Funfetti and Krusteaz muffin mixes on hand at all times. My kids are getting old enough to be trusted with pouring in the water and oil and their involvement produces enraptured comments like “We really love making things together, don’t we Mommy?!”
You can get fancy with actual recipes if you want, Lord knows the internet is full of great ideas, but stores are full of thematic kits and mixes and refrigerated cookie dough that takes regular ol’ baking from a mix and elevates it to magical holiday memory material.
Go to a fall festival or market
I put this one last and with some hesitation because admission is usually free or low cost but boy can you go broke buying stuff while there between pumpkins and mums and cider donuts and wagon rides and whatever else they’ve got going on. Hershey and Elizabethtown and Lititz are full of awesome activities and you should definitely go but this may not be as budget friendly as the “free” price tag makes it appear. That said, we have many happy memories of going to numerous festivals and markets and the season wouldn’t be the same without going to at least one. Check out the Events tab to see what’s going on and make sure you’re subscribed to the newsletter and you can be sure you at least know what’s happening each week. If you don’t know you can’t go, right?
None of these are exactly groundbreaking ideas, but I hope you at least got some inspiration to do something fun with your kids. Or validation that you don’t have to go all out or spend a ton to make your kids’ childhood special in their memories. Really it’s just the time with you they want, and so much the better if you’re happy while spending that time with them. Wishing you low stress, cozy vibes, and happy memories during this magical time of year!
