The temperatures are dropping, the leaves are changing, and kids are back in school (either in person or virtually). That’s right: After a long summer, it’s finally fall. We’re embracing the change in seasons by checking off all of our favorite fall activities. Which of these will be on your autumn bucket list for 2020?
Celebrate Dia de los Muertos
Dia de los Muertos, or the Day of the Dead, is celebrated throughout Mexico and other Latin American countries and typically runs from October 31 through November 2. Although it coincides with Halloween and has similar themes, Dia de los Muertos is not simply a Mexican version of the holiday. It’s a celebration of life and death, and a way to honor the loved ones and ancestors who have lived and died before us.
This year, get your family in on the festivities by throwing a DIY Dia de los Muertos celebration. Purchase a face-painting kit and have fun painting elaborate calaveras (skulls) on each others’ faces. Make your own tissue paper marigolds — the traditional flower found at altars set up to honor loved ones. Collect some rocks and use them to paint your own sugar skulls —one for each member of the family. Or bake up a loaf of traditional pan de muertos, or bread of the dead. You’ll get some quality family time in while also learning some new cultural traditions.
Get in the kitchen
There are few better family bonding activities than planning, preparing and enjoying a meal together. Why not tackle a big Mexican feast for your next big Sunday dinner? Come together to choose a recipe or recipes (we’ve got some great one on our website), and then assign a member (or members) of the family to different tasks, like shopping for ingredients, prepping and chopping, cooking and cleanup. Your meal will taste even better knowing that the whole family collaborated to make it happen!
Tailgate at home
While in-person tailgating may not be a reality for some time, there’s no reason you can’t hold a tailgate in your own driveway or yard on game day this fall. Pop open that tailgating tent, pull out the red plastic cups, fill some coolers with the beverages of your choice (hint: Jarritos is a hit with adults and kids!) and start grilling up your tailgating favorites, whether that’s hot dogs or carne asada (or both… we’re not judging). Team colors are required in the tailgating dress code, so make sure you come prepared with your jerseys and hats. Soon enough, you’ll forget you’re not just outside the stadium.
Take an autumn nature walk
The changing leaves are without a doubt one of the best parts of the fall season. Embrace the fall colors and the beauty of the world around you by taking the family on a nature walk. Point out the different types of trees and leaves you see on your walk, and collect the prettiest fallen leaves to put in a scrapbook or use in a fall DIY decoration. Keep an eye out for wildlife, such as birds, bugs, squirrels, deer and maybe even snakes (but be sure to keep your distance for your safety). You can even download a nature app that can help identify different species of plants and animals you see on your walk. Keep notes of your observations in a special nature notebook that you take with you on subsequent family nature walks to keep track of how nature changes along with the seasons.
Pumpkin painting
Yes, everyone loves a good jack-o-lantern, but can we agree that carving pumpkins is overrated as a fall activity? It’s messy, it’s difficult, and it never seems worth all the effort it takes to pull off. Pumpkin painting, on the other hand, offers infinite possibilities for expressing your creativity. From acrylic paint to melted crayons to glue-on accessories like glitter, sequins and appliques, there are hundreds of ways to customize your painted pumpkin.
A few of our favorite inspirations for our painted pumpkin projects this fall include:
- Spa Day Pumpkin: You’ll have the most zen jack-o-lantern on the black with this hilarious spa day pumpkin concept.
- Ombre Pumpkin: Hop on the ombre trend with this elegant pumpkin painting idea.
- Rhinestone Pumpkin: The glam-lovers in your family are sure to covet these bejeweled rhinestone pumpkins.
- Neon Pumpkins: There’s no way trick-or-treaters will miss your house with these bright neon pumpkins on your front steps.