6 of The Best Family Activities for October. October is right around the corner and with it comes cool temperatures, colorful leaves, apple cider and lots of outdoor fun. For our family, October is as busy as December with lots of birthdays and fun fall activities. We’re big into Halloween too so we’re definitely ready to celebrate October.
I want to preface by saying that we will not be doing everything on this list this year because of the pandemic but are excited about being able to do them again in the future. Here are the best family activities for October.
1. Visit a Pumpkin Patch
I don’t remember a year where I didn’t visit a pumpkin patch. Even without kids, we’d visit the pumpkin patch a couple times each year. With the kids, I love finding the pumpkin patches that have one fee to enter and you’re able to stay and play on on the games as long as you’d like. A favorite around Indy is Piney Acres Farm where they have TONS of games, a corn maze, hayrides, and lots of beautiful pumpkins to bring home.
2. Watch Halloween Movies
Both my daughter and I watch Halloween and Christmas movies year-round. However, starting October 1st, we start the Halloween Movie Marathon where we watch at least one Halloween movie per week. I rounded up our favorites for kids 6 and under in this post. Lots of ‘kid-friendly’ lists seem to have scary movies or movies that may not be appropriate for younger kids, which is why I made this list.
3. Make Fall or Halloween Crafts
We have a couple tubs of Halloween decorations for when October rolls around but fall brings out the craftiness in me. I’m happy to light a fall candle, open the windows, throw on a sweatshirt, and get in some good crafting on the weekends. Some of my favorites have been this Halloween Street Sign, Fall Pumpkin Flower Arrangement, Fall Felt Leaf Garland, and this year’s Fall Mickey Pumpkin.
4. Bake some Fall or Halloween Treats
Nothing is better than sweats when the air gets cool. Which means treats are totally fine. All the pumpkin spice is super nice but I especially love baking with my kids. There’s just something about sharing our love of sweet themed treats that really brings us together. My all-time favorite Halloween treat is Candy Cookie Pizza. I used to ask for it as my birthday cake growing up because I love it so much. I also love this round up if you’re going to be Booing neighbors or going to a Halloween party.
5. Visit Local Fall Attractions
Where I live, you could easily fill each weekend with fall activities all over the city. Each year we try a new place but we love all the other traditions so much that we end up just adding more each year. Most of the places around Indy have their events free for members which is an awesome way to be able to have lots of fun without spending any extra before holiday shopping.
Some of our must-dos are Conner Prairie’s Headless Horseman, ZooBoo at the Indianapolis Zoo, The Indiana State Museum and Historic Sites (tons of different locations and events), and the Haunted House at The Children’s Museum. Not to mention all of the haunted houses, corn mazes, and amusement parks that celebrate Halloween.
6. Go Camping and Hiking
Fall has always been my favorite time to camp. The foliage is beautiful and the temperatures are perfect for all-day hiking and warming up with s’mores by the campfire at night. Growing up, we went to Spring Mill around Halloween and it was my favorite camping trip ever. Everyone decorated their sites with Halloween decorations and there was a hayride and a spooky ghost walk through the old mill. We’re so excited to incorporate these traditions into our own family and we’re starting this year with an October camping trip in our newly renovated popup camper The Popup Jungle. Brown County State Park is another awesome place to camp this time of year.
And if all else fails, visit Disney World. October is our favorite month to visit the Happiest Place on Earth and I am so bummed that we had to cancel our first family trip this year due to the pandemic. Thankfully, we still have lots of things to do (some from this list are still very safe). Let me know what your best family activities for October are for this year!
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