Fall Tradition Ideas

It’s nearly impossible for me to believe that fall is officially here.

With it hitting 80 in NC this week, the weather keeps me from switching into fall decorating mode, but I know I must….that post will come shortly.

It’s not to early to get those creative juices turning for those of you contemplating some fun, fall tradition ideas that are a bit out of the ordinary.
Our family enjoys so many of the fall/harvest type of traditions (apple picking, hay rides etc.) and on Halloween we participate in our church’s Fall Festival which is always a highlight.

Here are just a few tradition ideas to get your October fall festivities off to head start.

I’ll be doing one more post with fall tradition ideas, so if you have any unusual ones that you’d like to share, leave them in the comments and I’ll incorporate it into my post. 🙂

Host a Pumpkin-Carving Contest – With neighbors, friends or family, host an annual pumpkin-carving contest. Invite judges to select the winners and prepare some fun fall ribbons to hand out. Try black construction paper ribbons with an orange pumpkin on top where you can write the category. The scariest, the silliest, the most original or just the best all around, are all examples of great awards. Everyone in the family will want to help choose and carve the “family pumpkin.” After the awards ceremony, bring out your refreshments and enjoy! Don’t forget to take photos to add to your Fall/Halloween Album.!

Musical Costumes– This tradition puts a new spin on a favorite childhood game—musical chairs. It’s perfect for an adult Fall/Halloween party. Invite each person to bring a costume in a brown bag. Everyone takes a seat and places their own bag under a chair. Turn on some music and play a game of musical chairs (with a chair for each person). When the music stops, each guest must take the brown bag from underneath their chair and wear the costume that’s inside for the rest of the evening. Your guests will bring outrageous costumes because they know they won’t have to wear them. Be prepared for an evening full of laughter. Year after year, this tradition becomes more hilarious as your guests bring wilder costumes.!
Costume Memory Game – Go through your old Fall Festival/Halloween photos and set aside any that show family members or friends dressed up in sweet, hilarious or spooky costumes. Make copies of every photo you want to use, cut them into identical rectangles (maybe 2” x 2”) and create a memory game your children will never get tired of.
Older children can make this game for the smaller ones, or Mom can make it for all to enjoy. Roast some pumpkin seeds and work on the game together.
You can add new photos each year. If you don’t remember how to play the game, it’s pretty simple. Place all cards on the table, face down in even rows, and take turns turning two over at a time as you try to find pairs. Whoever has the most pairs when the cards have all been picked up is the winner. This will soon become a family favorite and your children will ask to play it over and over again.

Walk Away Your Worries – The fall is a wonderful time to take a walk amongst the brilliant colors of the fallen leaves and breathe in the crisp air which has settled in behind the hot summer months. Plan an annual family walk where you leave your worries behind by picking up a pile of leaves, sharing what your worry is about, praying about it, giving that worry over to the Lord and then throwing the leaves in the air as you walk away.
As you continue forward, talk about all the things that you are so grateful for in your life and only stop when you need to pick up a new pile of leaves, describe a worry, throw them in the air and walk away.