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10 Easy Fall Traditions to Start With Your Kids This Year
There are certain things from childhood that you remember forever.
Not necessarily the biggest trips or the most elaborate activities. Sometimes it's the smallest traditions—the same movie you watched every October, the cookies your mom always made, the pumpkin patch you visited every year, or the box of decorations that came down from the attic and somehow made the entire house feel different.
Now that I have my own children, I've realized that those little traditions don't just happen.
We create them.
And while social media can make every season feel like it needs to be packed with elaborate crafts, perfectly styled outings and a new activity every day, I've found myself wanting almost the opposite.
I want our kids to have traditions they recognize.
Things they anticipate.
Things that happen year after year until someday they say, "We always did this when I was little."
Fall is one of my favorite seasons for creating those moments because so many of the best traditions are incredibly simple.
Here are 10 easy fall traditions you can start with your kids this year—and continue for years to come.
1. Have a First Day of Fall Breakfast
The first official day of fall doesn't need to be a major holiday to feel special.
Make it one.
Create a simple breakfast your kids can look forward to every year.
Maybe it's pumpkin pancakes with whipped cream.
Cinnamon rolls.
Apple cider donuts.
French toast with cinnamon apples.
Or simply their normal breakfast served with warm apple cider and a little pumpkin on the table.
You could even use the same fall plates or mugs each year.
The beauty of a tradition is repetition—not extravagance.
As your kids get older, they'll start remembering what's coming.
"Is it almost our fall breakfast?"
That's when you know something has officially become a family tradition.
2. Visit the Same Pumpkin Patch Every Year
There are endless pumpkin patches and fall festivals to choose from, but there is something special about returning to the same one.
The kids know where they're going.
You know what to expect.
And year after year, you start creating this incredible visual record of your family growing.
Take a picture in the same spot if you can.
One year you're carrying a baby.
The next year they're wobbling through the pumpkins.
Then suddenly they're choosing their own pumpkin and racing ahead of you.
It doesn't have to be the biggest or fanciest pumpkin patch.
Choose one your family genuinely enjoys and make it yours.
3. Create a Fall Book Basket
I love rotating books with the seasons.
You don't need an enormous collection.
Start with a few fall books, pumpkin books, Halloween stories and books about changing leaves or apples.
Put them in a basket somewhere your kids can reach.
Then pack them away when the season ends.
That's the secret.
When the same books come back out the following September, they feel new again.
Your kids may eventually remember specific stories and ask for them before you've even unpacked the basket.
You can also add one new book each year.
Write the year inside the cover.
Over time, you'll create a little family collection filled with memories.
4. Have a Weekly Fall Movie Night
Movie night is one of the easiest traditions because it requires almost no planning.
Pick one night each week—or even just a few Fridays throughout the season—and make it fall movie night.
Put pajamas on early.
Make popcorn.
Pile blankets onto the couch.
Turn off the lights.
Let the kids choose the movie.
As Halloween gets closer, you can transition into family-friendly Halloween movies.
And don't feel like you need themed snacks, elaborate decorations or a Pinterest-worthy setup every time.
Sometimes the entire tradition can be:
Pajamas + popcorn + movie + everyone on the couch.
That's enough.
5. Go Apple Picking and Bake Something With Your Apples
Apple picking is one of those quintessential fall activities that can easily become a tradition.
But I love extending it beyond the orchard.
When you get home, use some of the apples together.
Make apple crisp.
Bake an apple pie.
Make applesauce.
Dip apple slices in caramel.
Or make simple cinnamon baked apples.
Little kids can pour ingredients, sprinkle cinnamon or help wash the apples.
Older kids can take on more of the recipe every year.
Eventually, the recipe itself becomes part of the tradition.
You can even choose one family apple recipe and make the exact same thing every year after your orchard trip.
6. Take a Fall Nature Walk
Some traditions cost absolutely nothing.
Choose a trail, park or neighborhood route and take a fall nature walk.
Look for leaves changing colors.
Collect pinecones.
Find acorns.
Notice mushrooms.
Listen for birds.
Let the kids bring little baskets and collect a few treasures.
If you want to make it more structured, create a simple scavenger hunt.
Find:
A red leaf.
A yellow leaf.
A pinecone.
Something smooth.
Something tiny.
Something shaped like a heart.
Something that makes you think of fall.
But you can also simply walk.
Kids don't always need us to turn nature into an organized activity.
Sometimes they just need time to explore it.
7. Make One Signature Fall Recipe
Choose one recipe that belongs to your family's fall.
Maybe it's chili.
Pumpkin bread.
Chicken pot pie.
Apple crisp.
Pumpkin muffins.
Cinnamon rolls.
A particular soup.
Whatever it is, make it every fall.
It doesn't even have to be a recipe you invented.
The repetition is what gives it meaning.
Eventually, the smell alone can bring your kids right back to childhood.
If you love cooking together, print the recipe and keep it somewhere special.
Add notes over the years.
Let the kids eventually take over parts of making it.
One day, you might hand them that recipe when they're creating traditions in homes of their own.
8. Create a Family Pumpkin-Carving Night
Instead of squeezing pumpkin carving into the afternoon before Halloween, give it its own night.
Order pizza.
Turn on a Halloween playlist.
Cover the table.
Let everyone choose a pumpkin.
Little kids can paint pumpkins or use stickers while older kids help design faces.
Take pictures of everyone's finished pumpkins.
Then put them outside together.
You can even take the same picture every year: kids sitting beside their finished pumpkins on the front porch.
Over time, those photos become priceless.
9. Make a Thankful Tree
This is a tradition that can carry your family from October into Thanksgiving.
Create a simple tree using branches in a vase.
Cut paper leaves.
Every few days—or every night in November—have everyone write something they're thankful for.
For very little kids, ask them and write the answer yourself.
And keep their answers exactly as they say them.
Even when the answer is something like:
"Blueberries."
"Our dog."
"Trucks."
"Mickey."
"Mommy's coffee."
Those are the things you'll want to remember.
At Thanksgiving, read the leaves together.
You could even save a few each year.
10. End Fall With a Family Memory Night
At the end of November, before everything shifts completely into Christmas, have one evening where you look back at your fall.
Look through the pictures on your phone.
Talk about your favorite things you did.
Ask each child what they loved most.
What was their favorite day?
Their favorite food?
Their favorite costume?
Their favorite place you visited?
Then choose a few pictures to actually print.
This is something I want to be more intentional about.
We take thousands of photographs of our children, but so many of them stay hidden inside our phones.
Print some.
Put them in an album.
Let your kids flip through them.
Let them see the childhood you're creating together.
You Don't Need 100 Fall Traditions
There are so many wonderful things to do with kids in the fall.
Corn mazes.
Football games.
Halloween parties.
Festivals.
Crafts.
Hayrides.
Zoo events.
Costumes.
Baking.
Pumpkin patches.
Apple orchards.
And sometimes seeing all of those ideas makes us feel like we need to do every single one.
We don't.
Your children don't need 100 fall traditions.
They need a few that belong to your family.
Choose three from this list.
Or five.
Or just one.
Do it this year.
Then do it again next year.
And the year after that.
Eventually, you won't have to announce that it's a tradition.
Your kids will do that for you.
They'll ask when you're going to the pumpkin patch.
They'll remember which movie you always watch.
They'll pull their favorite book out of the fall basket.
They'll know what you're baking after apple picking.
And somewhere along the way, the ordinary little things you're doing right now will become part of the story they tell about growing up.
That's the kind of fall magic I'm interested in creating.
Not a perfectly curated season.
A remembered one.
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