Looking for fun and inexpensive activities to welcome the season? Pumpkin-spice up your fall with these autumn traditions tailor-made for creating special memories (and awesome photos) with your baby. Read on for your next weekend activities!
photo: jermaineyoung via Pixabay
Visit a local Pumpkin Patch: Any tradition that takes place during daytime hours is great for the under-two set. Grab your red wagon and head on out to a pumpkin patch to find the perfect gourd. Bonus: Snap that classic photo of your kiddo sitting next to a pumpkin three times their size.
Explore a Harvest Festival: All those sights, sounds and smells—harvest festivals are made for babies. Watch the sunflowers wave in the breeze, enjoy the scent of warm apple cider, pet a pony. Strolling around with your little one strapped in a carrier brings dozens of new delights. Plus, hayrides take the perennial baby fav bouncing-on-a-knee to a whole other level.
photo: The Conmunity via Flickr Creative Commons
Choose Baby’s Halloween Costume: Babyhood is the one time in your child’s life that you get to choose their Halloween costume. Sweet little ladybug? The painter to your easel? World’s tiniest Darth Vader? Now’s your chance to put your baby in the costume of your dreams before they insist on being one of the ten Queen Elsas in the preschool class. Make the most of it.
Eat Pumpkin Spice Anything: While babies won’t be sampling a pumpkin spice latte anytime soon, the all-natural good stuff in the squash family is made for baby food, thanks to its mild, mushy flavor. You can feed baby some pumpkin puree straight out of the can, or make seasonally appropriate pumpkin-apple baby food. Cook up some butternut squash soup, or try roasted acorn squash with a little butter and cinnamon. It’s delicious for parents and tiny gobblers alike.
photo: Thomas Kohler via Flickr Creative Commons
Adventures with Leaves: Rake up a pile and leap inside it with baby in your arms. Throw armfuls of leaves in the air and watch your child’s delight as the leaves drift down. There’s nothing better for a new walker than discovering the noise and joy of stomping through a crunchy leaf-covered path.
Experience Fall Colors: Take a walk and enjoy the beauty of trees in the autumn, pointing out all the rich colors to your baby. Then, bring the fun inside your house by collecting a handful of red and gold leaves. Use contact paper to create a fall placemat your kiddo can use for finger foods this year and cozy fall breakfasts next year. Find the project thanks to the geniuses at Kiwi Crate.
Whip Up Homemade Applesauce: Harvest a few apples at a local orchard or farmers’ market, or just pick up a bag at the grocery store. Follow this simple sugar-free recipe to make cinnamon applesauce that little ones can eat, and grown-ups can pair with entrees like pork chops. It’s a delicious fall tradition you can revisit year after year.
—Oz Spies
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