Fall Bucket List: 30 Best Homeschool Activities to Celebrate the Season

We’ve compiled 30 of the best homeschooling activities to help you celebrate the season! Grab your coziest blanket and a heartwarming cup of tea, and let’s get started! 

1. CREATE A FAMILY SCARECROW:  Create a scarecrow as a family to display outside by using items from around the house. This creation could provide the perfect backdrop for a fall family photo.

2. GO ON A NATURE WALK:  The leaves on the trees are begging for our attention, and jumping into a freshly raked pile of leaves makes the perfect autumn activity. 

3. MAKE A PINECONE ANIMAL/INSECT: Fallen pinecones can be transformed into hedgehogs, cone bees, squirrels, and chipmunks, to name just a few. Grab a  shoebox and a scene could be designed for the pinecone creation. Don’t forget to have the child describe where it lives. Perhaps it’s a pinecone animal we’ve never seen before!

4. ENTER A FALL APPLE/PUMPKIN BAKING CONTEST: Begin fostering cooking skills by entering a local baking contest. Don’t have one in your area? How about a family bake-off and judge on taste, appearance, or creativity? Older children could be challenged to create a dish from what’s inside a basket filled with fall ingredients. Start a timer and start a bake-off!

5. GO CAMPING IN THE BACKYARD:  This is a memorable experience and a great way to introduce children to the joys of camping while still having the comforts of home nearby. Involve the entire family in setting up the area so everyone can feel ownership and excitement. Don’t have a tent? Create a cozy place on the living room floor with blankets and pillows. Open a window to get crisp air and the sounds of an autumn night.

6. CARVE/PAINT A PUMPKIN:  Need fresh ideas or inspiration? Check out these great ideas from Woman’s Day: https://www.womansday.com/home/crafts-projects/g950/funny-pumpkin-carving-ideas/.  

7. RAKE LEAVES: Rake a giant pile of leaves. . . jump in . . . repeat. It is guaranteed to be hours of fun!

8. MAKE APPLE CIDER:  Hot or cold, this delicious drink sets the theme for fall.   Double or triple the recipe for larger parties and heat on low in a crock pot.

•   64-ounce container of apple juice
• 3 sliced oranges (including peel)
• 1 sliced lemon (including peel)
• 1 cinnamon stick,
• 3 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 4 whole cloves
• 4 whole allspice berries

Simmer for 30 minutes in a saucepan (the longer you simmer, the spicier it will be). Pour into your favorite fall mug and garnish with a cinnamon stick. Take it over the top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and, like magic, hot apple pie ala mode in a mug. Delicious! The aroma from the warm spices will be delightful for any fall party you host!

9. GATHER AROUND A FIREPLACE OR PRETEND CAMPFIRE:  Red and yellow cellophane for fire, paper towel tubes for the firewood, three flashlights, and the sound of crackling fire from a phone, and you have an instant pretend campfire that is perfect to read by. When the flashlights hit the red and yellow cellophane (flames) with the paper towel tubes (logs), the crackling sound from a phone sets the perfect cozy stage for a not-so-scary fall book.

10. VISIT A FIRE STATION:  Visit a station and create an area set up for dramatic play. Hats, trucks, bells, boots, and jackets could be used in a particular area designed for firehouse reenactment. This is a great time to talk about fire safety.

11. HUNT OUTSIDE FOR SPIDERWEBS:  If children examine closely, they will note that there are many different types of spider webs:  Orb webs, cobwebs, triangle webs, funnel webs, and sheet webs. Go on a scavenger hunt. Can you find them all? Here is what the different webs look like:  https://outdoorosity.org/learning-the-pattern-a-scavenger-hunt-for-spider-webs/

12. NATURE’S JOURNAL OF PRESSED LEAVES OR RUBBINGS:  If you have a budding artist in the family, this is the perfect activity for fall. Collecting and pressing leaves or sketching nature in a journal will encourage children to appreciate nature. Journals are a great way to introduce artistic skills, short stories, and poetry.  

13. CREATE A BIRD FEEDER:  Birds love citrus fruits. Cut an orange in half and scoop out the inside. Poke four holes in the orange. Thread yarn through the holes, gather the yarn above the orange bowl and tie a secured knot to hang from a tree. Tip: Hang the feeder first, then fill it with seed.

14. MAKE FALL PLAYDOUGH:  Mix some playdough with a fall twist.    Combine 2 cups of flour, 1 cup of kosher salt, two tablespoons of vegetable oil, and one tablespoon of cream of tartar in a large bowl and gently stir. Add 2 cups of warm water with one drop of orange food coloring and combine. Divide dough into several containers with lids and scent them with 1/4 teaspoonful of aromatics such as cinnamon, allspice, pumpkin spice, or ginger.

15. PACK A PICNIC LUNCH: Spread out a blanket on a crisp fall day and eat lunch under a tree that’s losing all its leaves. 

16. SIMMER AUTUMN IN A POT: Gather scraps from the garden, such as orange and lemon peels, ready to compost. Add rosemary and cinnamon sticks, place them in a pot,  and cover them with about 1 inch of water. Simmer on low for an aromatic fall scent as you homeschool.

17. GET CREATIVE WITH PUMPKIN:  As a family, come up with lunch or dinner incorporating pumpkin as the main dish.

18. MAKE A FALL ALPHABET BOOK:  As you take nature walks, make a game of finding fall items beginning with each letter of the alphabet, creating a fall alphabet book. (A=ACORN, B=BARK, C=Corn Seed). Children will love connecting their fall nature walks with a book they can learn from through the fall season.

19. CREATE A POSTER COLLAGE:  Grab a camera (or phone), head outside, and capture what fall means as a family. Place the photos on a poster board to display. No camera? No problem. Use various magazines that can be cut and glued on poster board to create a collage.  

20. CAPTURE AUTUMN CHANGES: Older homeschoolers may want to learn more about nature through photography. Photograph the same tree, flower, or anything that rapidly changes through the season  2-3 times a week. Note the changes and display the photos in a science area. This is a great time to talk about photosynthesis.

21. PUMPKIN WATER PLAY: Fill a small tub or large plastic container with water and orange ping-pong balls. Using a small fish net, children carefully catch pumpkins in the water. Have the children count their pumpkins as they catch them in the water.

22. MAKE A FALL FEEL BOX: Gather fall items around the house and place them in a covered decorated box. Put a hole in the top of the box large enough to put a child’s hand through it. Take turns feeling one object at a time. Encourage children to describe what they are feeling and try to guess what the object is. Have them pull the item out of the box to see if they are correct. Items could include acorns, leaves, pinecones, small sticks, a small pumpkin, or sunflower/pumpkin seeds. As the seasons change, so could the items in the feel box.  

23. FOOD PANTRY: Volunteer at a local food pantry and prepare a warm meal for others. This is an excellent opportunity for young children to learn the importance of helping others. A neighborhood food drive is another great way to stock the shelves at local food pantries. Children can be encouraged to oversee various parts of a food drive, such as advertising, setting up the event, and calling community organizations needing food. All of these roles foster leadership, social skills, and responsibility.  

24. VOLUNTEER AT A PET SHELTER: Donate gently used towels, pet food, or other pet supplies that shelters may need. Animal shelters need our help all year, but as the weather turns cold, these furry friends need our support even more now. Children learn empathy, kindness, and compassion when caring for other living beings.  

25. GO APPLE PICKING:  While picking apples, children can learn about the life cycle of plants and pollination. Younger children can take sliced apples and dip them in paint to make apple prints for postcards, gift cards, or homemade gift wraps.

26. VISIT THE LIBRARY: Take a trip to the library and pick out a  fall book. Encourage children to bring a stuffed animal and blanket. Find a cozy spot and read. This is a perfect rainy fall day activity.

27. DOODLE A TABLECLOTH:  Purchase a white plastic tablecloth or use an old white sheet. Gather markers, colored pencils, or colored pens, and fill the tablecloth with doodles and scribble designs, nature vocabulary words, traced leaves, or whatever comes to mind. The next time you need a tablecloth for a picnic or the children need a covering for a secret hideout; this will surely bring back memories of a fun-filled autumn day!  

28. HIDE A PUMPKIN:  Take a small pumpkin and hide it outside. Create a treasure map with clues, and have fun watching the family go pumpkin hunting. Make learning fun by counting steps or heading north, south, east, or west that leads to the hidden pumpkin. Older children can be encouraged to create their treasure map for younger children. Other variations could be listening verbally to simple or multi-step directions leading to the hidden pumpkin.

29. BRING FALL INSIDE:  Find a sturdy but dead tree branch and a large coffee can. Paint the branch and coffee can with the colors of fall.  Fill the can with heavy rock or gravel and place the branch in the middle so it is sturdy and will not tip over. Use fall-colored yarn to hang items found outside on a nature walk or write warm, cozy sayings on paper cut-out leaves that remind you of the season. A tree blossomed with children’s creativity is the perfect indoor tree!

30. FALL MUD ART:  The mess won’t matter because you are outside!  Grab your old grubby clothes, rainboots, and of course . . . mud! Mix the mud with water, spread it, glob it, or pile it up on a piece of wood, cardboard, or sidewalk.  Add designs with your fingers, sticks, or any other garden or kitchen tool: press feathers, pebbles, weeds, and grass for a detailed design.  If designing on the sidewalk,  be sure to wash clean when through.  

Happy fall from all of us at Happily Ever Creative! 🌻