Welcome to fall, people. Some people just can’t get enough of fall.
Them:“I love a crisp fall morning.”
Me: “Who doesn’t love walking outside into 45 degrees when it was 75 two weeks ago?”
Them: “I just can’t wait to see the leaves turn.”
Me: “We’ll see if you’re similarly excited by other markers of death, i.e. your hair turning gray
Them: “Sweater weather is back.”
Me: “And t-shirt and short weather is gone and so is my youth and no I’m not crying it’s allergies / did you see that squirrel with a limp, it’s sad.”
To those people I say, “Bless your heart.” To you, dear reader, I say fall is just one long Sunday. Fall means the inevitability of a sunless winter is at the door, unceasingly ringing the bell and when you approach the door to confront him, he punches you in the junk through the mail slot.
Winter is coming for those of us in the north and with it, 6 f’ing months of temperatures that pretty much preclude me from doing anything that I like to do. Take up the biathlon you say? I tried and I shot several of my competitors and got beat by a Norwegian by 19 hours.
But enough of my complaints, it’s not winter yet and there are plenty of fun things to do with your kids this fall. Congratulations to Kids are a Trip for being the #1 google result for “Things to do in the fall with kids in Chicago.” Lots of great stuff there, but I’ve got a few other, off-beat ideas for you below.
- Have a leaf raking / bagging contest and then get all-up in a leaf pile – The best way to get my daughter’s attention is to turn most things into a competition. For this competition, I got her a kid-sized rake (I got one for her brother too to avoid rake-to-the-eye situations), put a minute on the clock and see how many leaves she can rake. I’ll do the same and we get mom to judge the winner. Then we see who can put their leaves in the bag fastest. Whoever said child labor can’t be fun and rewarding is probably just a negative person.
- Plant something that will bloom in the spring – My daughter and I have reseeded some patches in the front and she was pretty jacked about agitating the soil, so I’m really excited to try this out with some flowers. My friends at Better Homes and Gardens have given me some great ideas. Both my daughter and son can get into this one. I think I’m going with a few bulbs and pansies and violas, but let me know if the comments if you’ve tried something else.
- Grow some stuff indoors – I’d also like to try this too, with the help of some cheap grow lights. These seem to be all the rage these days – my 74 year old dad has them – and when the elderly get involved you know you’re on the cutting edge. I’m thinking I’ll start with some herbs. My daughter seems like she’ll be interested and I think my son will be fascinated by the green things coming out of the dirt.
- Fall Leaf Scavenger Hunt – I use the PictureThis app as I walk around my neighborhood to learn about kind of trees, flowers or shrubbery that I walk by each day. I’m thinking my daughter would love a fall lead scavenger hunt, where identify 5 trees on my block and give her a picture of their leaves. We can then walk around and she’ll see if she can find each tree.
- Bake a cider mill donut – I said I’m not a fan of fall but if not for fall, I wouldn’t have one of my favorite doughnuts. Check out this easy recipe, get the kids involved and eat your weight in cinnamon.
- Do the upfront football work – There are parenting days where you’re not going to be at your best, but college football Saturdays should not be one of them. This is your opportunity to teach your children the game of football and why they should fervently dislike (we don’t hate) everything about the Ohio State Buckeyes. You need to lock this in early so they become as addicted as you are, so in the future, they’re the ones asking your wife to watch the game and put off the apple picking until after 2:30.
Any other bright fall ideas? Let us know!
Chris Jordan