10 autumn family traditions your kids will love

Last Updated on April 25, 2024

Autumn is my favourite season. The weather’s cooler, the clothes are warmer, and the colours are gorgeous, all of which make it the perfect time of year to start some autumn family traditions.

If you’re interested in starting some autumn family traditions but aren’t sure what to do, then here are 10 ideas that I hope may provide some inspiration.

Go apple picking

Autumn is the perfect time for picking apples, and making delicious treats with the apples you’ve picked, such as apple pies or apple juice.

Many farms offer apple picking, and have a much broader variety of apples to pick than you’d find in your local supermarket.

Visit a pumpkin patch

This is an autumn family tradition that my family did for the first time last year, and it was so much fun that I’ve booked a visit to the same pumpkin patch this year.

As well as picking pumpkins, many pumpkin patches have other activities including tractor rides, hale bale mazes, pumpkin carving, arts and craft stations, and pumpkin inspired café food.

Something you may like to do if you decide to visit a pumpkin patch each year is to take photos of your children sitting next to a large pumpkin, so you can see how much they change over time.

Carve some pumpkins

A fun activity that you can do at home with any pumpkins you find during your pumpkin patch visit, or with pumpkins you’ve bought at your local grocery store, is pumpkin carving.

You can buy an inexpensive pumpkin carving kit to help with this, or you can use a sharp knife, and there are many pumpkin carving tips that can help you as well.

There are even some pumpkin carving ideas you can look at to get your creative juices flowing.

Decorate your home

Autumn is a really nice time to decorate your home.

The autumn colours of orange, red, yellow, and even green add a really nice touch to a home, making it feel cosy and ultra seasonal.

You can decorate your home as much, or as little as you like.

You may decide to add just one pumpkin to a bookshelf, or multiple autumn inspired mugs to your mug collection. You could even add a wreath or a collection of different sized and coloured pumpkins to your front entrance.

You may even decide to put thicker blankets on the beds, or have warm throws on your couch.

Baking

Baking is an autumn family tradition that I’m definitely adding to my autumn to do list this year.

Autumn is perfect for warm treats, and starting baking recipes you wouldn’t normally have time for.

Some autumn inspired baking ideas are:

Movie nights

Cooler autumn nights are perfect for family movie nights in, but why not add an autumn theme to the movies you choose?

Some movies with an autumn theme to them include:

It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (1966)
Hocus Pocus (1993)
Halloweentown (1998)
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (2001)
Fantastic Mr Fox (2009)

To make these nights extra special, you could get out some warm blankets, cushions, popcorn, or hot chocolate.

Read some autumn inspired books

There are many autumn inspired books that you may like to read as a family during the colder nights.

Some of these include:

Goodbye Summer, Hello Autumn, by Kenard Pak
Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf, by Lois Ehlert
Apples and Pumpkins, by Anne Rockwell
Too Many Pumpkins, by Linda White
Why do Leaves Change Colour? by Betsy Maeastro

Take a family walk

A really active autumn family tradition is to go on regular family walks, where everyone can enjoy jumping in the leaves and throwing them around, or simply listening to the noise the leaves make underfoot.

Younger children will love collecting different coloured leaves, and maybe even turning them into artwork when they get home.

You may even like to take a picnic with you, including packing any baked goods that you may have baked as part of your new baking autumn tradition.

Throw a Halloween party

Something that your kids are sure to love is a Halloween party, where they can invite some of their friends over for treats, games, and lots of fun.

You could decorate the table, make some fun treats, and maybe even have a pumpkin carving station.

Bonfire night at home

Having an outdoor bonfire night at home is a nice way to come together as a family and toast marshmallows, or just sit by the fire with a hot drink and talk about the day, or the things you want to do as a family over autumn.

I hope there are some autumn family traditions here that you’d like to start. Or, there may even be some that you may like to start when your kids are older.

What autumn family traditions do you have, or would like to have?