Autumn Adventures: 99 Things to Do This Fall
Cool & crisp months are here, opening up plenty of opportunities for cool outings, new adventures, and exciting discoveries. Looking for unique fall bucket list ideas? Here are festive fall activities to do in September, October, and November. Do your best and try to check every item off this fall activity checklist!
Fall Activities to Do in September
September may signal back to school—but that doesn’t mean you should press pause on the fun! Here are 33 fall activities to do in September:
- Stage a fashion show with back-to-school outfits.
- Grill fruit at a Labor Day cookout.
- Paint signs for your local high school sports team.
- Craft a wreath out of seasonal foliage.
- Shop for fall-scented candles and rank them from best to worst.
- Thrift flannel shirts and have a photo shoot.
- Visit a nursery and find the brightest mums and fall plants.
- Sit around a bonfire and roast marshmallows.
- Head to a farmer’s market, buy fresh produce, and use it to cook a meal.
Read More: 6 Fantastic Farmer’s Market Shopping Tips
- Take a nature walk and play “I spy.”
- Organize a board night where guests bring their favorite board games and a charcuterie board.
- Invite friends over for a Sunday Night Football potluck.
- Find a drive-in theater for a vintage take on family movie night.
- Plant tulip bulbs to enjoy next spring.
- Get lost in a corn maze and race to get out first.
- Set up an indoor blanket fort for a night in.
- Watch birds migrate south for the winter.
- Learn a cozy skill, like crocheting or knitting.
- Have an apple party. Taste-test different apples, make caramel apples, bob for apples, and serve apple pie and fritters.
- Plan a sunrise or sunset picnic.
- Go camping and look for constellations.
- Venture to a farm for apple cider and donuts.
- Collect pinecones, cover them in peanut butter, and dip them in bird seeds for a DIY birdfeeder.
- Host a fall cocktail competition and compare autumnal classics, like cranberry Moscow mules or hot toddies.
- Find an Oktoberfest and “Prost” to a good fall.
- Spend a day at the zoo.
- Start a wave cheer at a football game.
- Explore a sunflower field.
- Rent a canoe or rowboat, and fish.
- Fly a kite on a windy day.
- Decorate your bikes for a family ride.
- Participate in a fantasy football league.
- Go horseback riding and observe the changing leaves.
Fall Activities to Do in October
Spooky season is upon us—and it’s time to make the most of it. Here are fun fall activities to do in October:
- Build a scarecrow stuffed with newspaper or straw.
- Participate in homecoming events at a local high school.
- Visit a fall festival.
- Enjoy a hayride.
- Drive to a pumpkin patch and seek out the biggest pumpkin.
- Collect brightly colored leaves and press them for preservation.
- Cook a yummy bowl of chili.
- Rake leaves into a pile and have a leaf-jumping contest.
- Design DIY Halloween costumes.
- Decorate your own trick-or-treat bags.
- Take a leaf-peeping drive to experience the best fall colors during the peak season.
Read More: Fall Foliage: Top Places to Visit for the Best Pictures
- “Boo” your neighbors with treats on their porch and a note to pass on the spooky fun.
- Set up a projector for an outdoor Halloween movie night with classics like Practical Magic, Beetlejuice, or Hocus Pocus.
- Make Halloween goodies like orange-and-black popcorn balls, “mummy” pigs in a blanket, and ghostly white chocolate-covered strawberries.
- Drink a pumpkin spice latte.
- Organize a fall-themed book club and read a seasonal book like The Ex Hexor Dracula.
- Learn the “Thriller” dance.
- Put up fake cobwebs.
- Play flashlight tag on a warmer evening.
- Tell ghost stories around a fire.
- Craft fall luminarias by placing battery-operated candles in white or brown paper bags weighed down with sand.
- Try a new pumpkin beer each week.
Read More: Beer Decoded: Understanding the Basics
- Eat candy corn.
- Attend Halloween celebrations at an amusement park.
- Plan a neighborhood trunk-or-treat event and costume parade.
- Go to a haunted house or trail and see who screams the loudest.
- Roast the pumpkin seeds from your jack-o’-lantern.
- Buy a comfy sweater.
- Dress your pet up in a costume.
- Host a murder mystery party.
- Make leaf rubbings by placing tracing paper over a leaf and shading it with colored pencils or crayons.
- Do a walking ghost tour of a cemetery.
Fall Activities to Do in November
Squeeze out every drop of autumn excitement in the last month of fall with these fall activities to do in November:
- Celebrate Día de los Muertos.
- Paint your nails with a new fall-colored polish.
- Hold a chili or soup cook-off and crown a cooking champion.
Read More: Soup Recipes to Get You Excited for Fall
- Give back to those in need by participating in a canned food drive.
- Rent a mountain cabin for a weekend getaway with family or friends.
- Start a gratitude journal and record three things you’re grateful for every morning.
- Do a good deed for a stranger on World Kindness Day (November 13!).
- Thank a Veteran on Veteran’s Day.
- Volunteer at a soup kitchen.
- Pay it forward at a coffee shop.
- Take your holiday card photos.
- Tour a winery or brewery and share flights with friends.
- Go antiquing on a chilly day and find a new, thrifty gem.
- Complete a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle.
- Learn to say “thank you” in five languages.
- Have a Thanksgiving movie marathon with films like The Blind Side,The Addams Family, or Home for the Holidays.
- Host a Friendsgiving potluck.
- Make turkey handprints for an easy craft.
- Boil a simmer pot using fall ingredients like apples, citrus, cinnamon, and cloves.
- Decorate personalized Thanksgiving placemats.
- Binge Thanksgiving-themed TV show episodes.
- Play a game of flag football—the losing team does the dishes!
- Break the wishbone from your turkey.
- Study the history behind the first Thanksgiving.
- Bake pecan, pumpkin, and apple pies, and see which is more popular.
- Cook family heirloom recipes.
- Share what you’re thankful for aloud.
- Watch the Thanksgiving Day Parade and pick out your favorite float.
- Run a turkey trot 5K race.
- Go Black Friday shopping and compete to get the best deal.
- Support local businesses on Small Business Saturday.
- Get ahead and create a holiday playlist.
- Put together a photo album or scrapbook to document all the fun activities you've done this fall!
Beyond Fun Fall Activities: Another Fall Checklist
While fall is our favorite season, and there are plenty of fun fall activities to do, the transitional weather can turn our happy lawns and gardens into a weepy mess. Prep your lawn for cooler months with our fall landscaping checklist.