Fun Family Activities For Fall

The cooler weather may be bringing your kiddos indoors, but that doesn’t mean your sanity has to go out the window! From easy crafts to fun games, we have a few indoor activity ideas that will keep your kids occupied while cooped up during the chilly fall break. And if you’re lucky, they’ll be so busy having fun you’ll even find time to sneak in a quick workout in your living room.

Craft: Hand turkey
This is a fun and festive fall craft that also makes for great “art” to either place on display or send to grandparents!

What you’ll need: Scissors, glue, colored construction paper, colored markers (optional: faux feathers)

Instructions: Have your kids place their hand flat on a piece of construction paper and trace the outline of their palm and fingers with a pen or pencil. With markers, color in turkey eyes and a gullet on the thumb finger. Then with markers and/or construction paper or faux feathers, fill in each finger to portray turkey feathers.

Game 1: Bobbing for apples
If it’s too cold to enjoy traditional outdoor fall activities, then bring traditional fall fun indoors!

What you’ll need: Apples and a bathtub

Fill the bathtub halfway with water and have your kids bob for apples. Fortunately, any “mess” will only be water and will also be contained to the bathroom! Get ready for some big laughs and great pictures!

Game 2: Gourd bowling
For a rainy day activity, our pick is Gourd bowling.

What you’ll need: 3 empty 2-liter bottles and 1 gourd

At the end of a long hallway, set up the empty 2-liter bottles as “pins”. Then use a large gourd as the “bowling ball.” The fun in this game is that the odd shape of the gourd will cause it to roll in all different directions, making the pins more of a challenge to knock over.

Kid-Friendly (And Healthy!) Fall Recipe: Oatmeal pumpkin pancakes Have your little “chef’s helpers” pitch in with this fun fall recipe that’s as delicious as it is kid-friendly.

What you’ll need:

• ½ cup pumpkin puree
• ½ cup wheat flour
• ½ cup rolled oats (blend until until fine)
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. cinnamon
• ½ tsp. nutmeg
• 1 tbsp. stevia sweetener
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1 tbsp. coconut oil

Instructions:

• Mix all ingredients with a whisk until batter is smooth.
• Heat griddle to medium low heat and lightly grease with a little coconut oil.
• Drop large spoonfuls of batter and cook until small bubbles form and the outer edges look dry (about 2-3 minutes each)

Best of luck to all the moms out there! And remember, no matter how chaotic your Thanksgiving happens to get this year, your sanity is only one Jazzercise workout away!