Fun Fridays: Fall Edition
When I decided/the school decided for us to homeschool this year I knew I needed some sort of reward system. My daughter is very much MY DAUGHTER and she loves a good incentive program. I came up the idea of a sticker chart but since I secretly throw away the million-microscopic-pieces plastic toys she was winning at school, I needed a better reward and thus…FUN FRIDAYS were born.
A Fun Friday can be earned by an appropriate number of stickers. My daughter is 6YO and she earns stickers for schoolwork, manners, chores, kindness, and hygiene (brush yo teeth kid!). If she earns enough stickers during the week we plan something fun for Friday. Because I’m also working from home, Fun Fridays need to take limited prep work and can’t always be trips or outings.
Here are some ideas for Fall Fun Fridays:
Pumpkin Patch - We live outside Nashville and there are some really great pumpkin patches around. I’m not talking the whole farm experience, though that’s on the list, this is just like the tent behind the grocery store situation. My 6YO and 2YO have a blast picking out their own pumpkins and then we always buy a few extra for decoration. Bonus tip: Tiny pumpkins are also awesome. I like to get 5 or six and then let the kids hide them around the living room and hunt them like Easter eggs. This is the game that keeps on giving and I highly recommend it.
Wax Leaves - This was a good “big kid” activity. My 6YO was a pro. My 2YO was terrifying. You’ll need newspaper to cover your table and beeswax. I used a pot we already had in the house and heated the wax on the stove. Some people find better luck with double-boiler situation or using wax liners. We roughed it with an old non-stick pot and then tossed it. (We don’t use non-stick pans with sketchy coating and that one was old and super sketchy.)
Pumpkin Painting - I know we’re totally communists and don’t carve pumpkins, but they’re so sticky and gnarly. I am a big fan of painting pumpkins. My kids love it. The integrity of the pumpkin stays intact (under the paint job), and they last so much longer. I think think I have carved pumpkin PTSD because we carved too early last year and they started getting really *moist* and when I went to pick on up my hand went through it and it was pretty barf-y.
Park or Nature Center - This is a day trip for us. We’re from Texas but have lived the last year in middle TN, where we’re just a quick drive away from a National Park with a Nature Center. All Nature Centers are different, but they are usually a field trip destination, so we found a ton of educational activities and what was basically a mini zoo. I’d never seen a Bald Eagle up close and guys—they’re HUGE. This was a memorable day and I’m counting as “school” too.
Fall Farms - If you can sneak away for a day trip, I highly reccomend visitant a local or semi-local farm. We have a super cute on in our area. They have hayrides, a pumpkin patch, a giant bouncy tarp filled with air that makes for an amazing leg workout (and by amazing I mean I couldn’t walk for a day) and more.
Fall Leaf Sun Catcher - This is a low-prep activity that my kids really liked! You need some clear contact paper and some pretty leaves. We gathered (threw, kicked, jumped in) leaves from the yard and then chose our favorites. For a full-ish tutorial click here.
Scavenger Hunts - Scavenger hunts can be way easier than you think. I saw one back when I was on IG and it was AH-mazing, but I don’t have that kind of time on a weekly basis so I put together these two little scavenger hunts that my kids really enjoy. The first is Fall Leaves and the second is a great one to bring along to your Pumpkin Patch. My kids like checklists and clipboards. They’re like mini camp counselors.
I hope this was helpful to all the parents out there navigating this new hybrid work/parent/teach schedule. I know you’re doing great!
