By Emmie Leigh
Fall is a beautiful season. Full of fun activities, it brings a wave of nostalgic memories for most adults. Personally, I can remember many hours of participating in local fall flings, pumpkin picking, costume parties and trick or treating.
My family loves to visit the U-Pick Red Barn to pick pumpkins for carving and riding the mini train. And of course, we have to dress up for Boo at the Zoo. These small activities build a perfect Halloween for our little family.
Our kids will remember the memories we create together. It’s important we create a positive experience that meets their needs and that we can take the season at their own pace. This might mean limiting candy intake on a school night or scaling back on activities so as not to exhaust your family.
Whatever path you choose, there are lots of fun activities to do for all ages, from local businesses to spooky bedtime stories.
Local Pumpkin Patches and Corn Mazes
Our area is full of idyllic mazes and patches to visit during the fall. These locations hold fun activities yearly during the spooky season for all ages:
U-Pick Red Barn
New Sweden Farms: Corn Maze & Pumpkin Patch
Wild Adventure Corn Maze
Spooky Book Recommendations:
Having a hard time thinking of spooky tales to tell your children? Here are a few books to celebrate Halloween without scaring the littles too much.
-Ghost Afraid of the Dark By Sara Conway and Alex Willmore
-How to Catch a Monster By Adam Wallace and Andy Elkerton
-Spooky Pooky By Sandra Boynton
-The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything By Linda D. Williams and Megan Lloyd
Seasonal Snacks:
What’s the best part of Halloween? It isn’t just the candy, it’s the delicious seasonal snacks. Below are a few healthy snack ideas to balance out the sugar high:
-
Enchanted Pumpkins - peel small oranges and use small pieces of celery to create stems on top
-
Witch Fingers - prepare mozzarella sticks and use small pieces of pumpkin seeds as fingernails
-
Pumpkin Deviled Eggs - put a twist on an old favorite by using a hint of orange food coloring