Last Updated on March 31, 2022 by Audrey
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A new season is upon us, which means it’s time to create my annual fall bucket list! I enjoy all the seasons for different reasons, but I love fall most of all. (Sorry… that popped into my head and I just couldn’t resist! Please forgive me 😂). But truly, Autumn is a magical time and I have so much fun coming up with our fall bucket list every year!
I’m a little bit overzealous and usually end up with a list that’s entirely too long and humanly impossible to accomplish within such a short window of time. (Because really, fall is pretty much just September and October. Then everyone jumps ship and goes straight into Christmas mentality 😜.)
Luckily, my offspring shares my zeal pertaining to all things Halloween and fall. After all, “it’s the best time of the year!” His words, not mine…although I agree. So here are 40 of our best ideas for an awesome fall bucket list!
1. Go apple picking
What kind of fall bucket list would this be if it didn’t include apple picking? This is a great activity to kick off the fall season in September! Head out to a u-pick near you and gather up some of these delicious beauties! Then head home and bake all the apple pies, apple fritters, caramel apples, applesauce…you get the picture.
2. Visit a sunflower field
This is another great early autumn activity for the fall bucket list! After many attempts and fails, we finally visited a glorious sunflower field this year! It even had a maze so we could wander to our heart’s content. Just make sure to try and get this one in at the beginning of September so you don’t miss out on sunflower season!
3. Go on a hayride
This is another fall bucket list essential, especially when one has kids. Unfortunately, when one also has a husband whose nose turns into a waterfall for a week straight after coming within a mile of a singular piece of hay, this one becomes wishful thinking. But I want you to do it so I can live vicariously through you!
4. Have an autumn picnic
I firmly believe that picnics are great in every season, which is why this ends up on our fall bucket list every year. Try it in your backyard or at a nearby park! No need for anything fancy. (Unless you want to get fancy…then, by all means, go for it!)
Just grab a blanket or table cloth, some apple cider, and all your favorite fall treats!
5. Forage for grapevine and make your own fall wreaths
If you’ve never kept an eye out for it, you might be amazed at how abundant grapevine actually is! Seriously, the stuff is everywhere! For your fall bucket list, why not get out in the fresh air and try foraging for some of your own while skipping the price tag at the craft stores?
Here’s an easy tutorial about how to make the wreaths!
6. Go on a fall scavenger hunt
Another fun thing to do in the fall is go outside and collect all the pretty nature things! Grab whatever catches your eye. This can include colorful leaves, flowers, chestnuts, acorns, berries, seed pods, etc.
7. Go canoeing
Canoeing is an activity worthy of a spot on your fall bucket list because it offers a whole new leaf viewing perspective! If you go on a really calm day, you’ll even get a double viewing with beautiful reflections of foliage on the water.
8. Go on a haunted tour of a historic old town/building
This one is probably better suited for kids who are a little older. But I’ve always thought this would be such a fun activity for our fall bucket list in the future! I love the combination of history and spooky, and fall would be the perfect time to do this activity!
9. Create an autumn nature collage
Remember that nature scavenger hunt you went on? Now take all those goodies and turn them into a work of art with a beautiful nature collage! Here’s one idea to try.
10. Make a scarecrow
I’ve always thought it would be so much fun to make our own scarecrow! We have yet to do this one yet, but my little dude is totally on board. Afterwards, pop it up in your yard or front porch!
11. Go on a trip to see the fall colors
The fall colors are good in our area, but we really love trying to get up north where it’s more forested for some optimal leaf viewing. Do you live near some beautiful areas for fall foliage? Add a weekend trip to your fall bucket list to really take in some of the colors of the season!
12. Decorate your porch and yard
One fall bucket list item that my son and I both get super excited to about is decorating our porch and yard. This has become a tradition we love doing together every year!
13. Go camping
If you really want to immerse yourself in the beauty of fall, why not try an autumn camping trip? Or, if you’re not feeling up to planning a whole camping excursion, try backyard camping for a night!
14. Play in the leaves
If you have trees in your yard, leaf raking is pretty much inevitable. Might as well make it a fun option for your fall bucket list! Here are some ways to make leaf raking a fun task rather than something to dread.
15. Go on a moonlit hike
Full moons are always spectacular, but especially so during spooky season! This year’s full moon occurs on October 20th, so don’t miss the chance to go on a full moon night hike! It’s sure to be an experience that you and the kids always remember. And even if it can’t be on that particular night, a hike under the moon during any phase is still good!
16. Have a campfire
Few things are better than a chill in the air, snuggling up in some blankets, a cozy fire, and hot cider or cocoa!
17. Host a Halloween party in your backyard
Everyone loves a good party, right? Sometimes it can be fun to take matters into your own hands! Why not add hosting your own Halloween backyard party to your fall bucket list? I don’t know about your kiddos, but my little guy LOVES throwing parties and helping me get everything set up. Have your kids help out with the planning and decor to add to the excitement!
18. Take a walk in an old cemetery
Maybe it’s just me, but I love a good walk through an old cemetery, especially in the fall! And yes, the old part is necessary!
Nothing quite gives off the same spooky vibes as neglected, crumbling gravestones scattered across a hillside under the shadow of towering, mature trees. We discovered to perfect graveyard in our city a few years ago, and this has been on my fall bucket list every year since!
19. Hang up a bat house
Not only are bats awesome little animals that eat up tons of mosquitoes every night, they also became associated with Halloween, vampires, and all things spooky at some point or another. In my mind, this makes them the perfect focus of a fall bucket list activity!
Make or purchase your own bat house and hang it up in your yard. Once some bat friends have moved in, hang out at dusk and watch them swoop and dive across the sky!
20. Visit a farm
During harvest time, a trip to the farm is the perfect fall bucket list activity! See cute animals, purchase some produce, and (of course) sample the cider and doughnuts!
21. Do a canopy walk
This is another cool way to view some fall foliage with a unique vantage point! If you’re not afraid of heights, check out your area to see what canopy tour options might be available.
22. Create magic nature wands
Grab some sticks and trim them until they’re the perfect wand size. (Twelve inch wooden dowels would also suffice.) Then head out with the kids to gather up some feathers, leaves, acorns, vines, etc. and let them get creative! Here’s one idea to get you started.
23. Visit a pumpkin patch
I love all types pumpkin patches and we usually end up visiting several over the course of the fall season. But my favorites are the wild, untidy u-pick patches. It’s so fun to wander around a large pumpkin-strewn field at our leisure until we find the perfect one!
24. Preserve colorful leaves in wax
This is another great way to preserve some autumn colors a little while longer. Afterwards, you and the kids will have plenty to use for fun nature crafts or for decorating the house! Here’s how.
25. Make a leaf garland
On that same note, homemade leaf garlands make a great craft for a fall bucket list! Use real ones that you’ve preserved in wax or artificial ones like these.
26. Visit a cider mill
Another obvious choice for a fall bucket list! If you haven’t already found a favorite, check your area for cider mills! Look for some that offer the whole experience. Ya know, cider and donuts, playground, animals, pumpkins, hayrides, etc.
27. Go trick-or-treating
This one has always gone without saying on our fall bucket list! Besides just hitting up the neighborhood on the actual night, be on the lookout for trick-or-treating events in other locations! We always love trick-or-treating at our favorite historic village. The old-timey village mixed with spooky goodness gives off all the best kind of vibes. And the haunted train ride that they offer is our son’s all-time favorite!
28. Plant a fall garden
There are plenty of plants that thrive in cooler temps, so why not make your garden last a little bit longer? This year we decided to plant some kale, lettuce, carrots, and radishes so that we could continue to have a harvest into the fall!
29. Walk around the neighborhood to look at Halloween decorations
I can’t get enough of all the spooky decorations this time of year! So recently we actually made it an activity on our fall bucket list to walk around and look at all the decorated houses. You can even turn it into a scavenger hunt!
30. Carve pumpkins
Without a doubt, this is one of my personal favorites off our fall bucket list! And it’s so much fun for our little dude to finally be old enough to enjoy it as well! Of course, he still can’t really handle a knife. So if you need some unique, no-carve pumpkin decorating ideas, try these out!
31. Go to a corn maze
Preferably at night, and definitely watch Children of the Corn before you go. Perhaps don’t include your actual children in that last bit though…
But for real, how fun are these? This is a fall bucket list activity that I’m super excited to share with my little guy! I used to go with a group every year when I was a little older.
It’s especially exhilarating in the dark of night with the stars shining above you, little clouds of breath in the crisp air every time you exhale, nothing but rows of tall corn all around, and the feeling of being utterly and completely lost in the middle of nowhere.
32. Go for a hike
Hiking is a great activity to do in every season because you’ll get a new experience each time! Fall is obviously great for hikes with the cooler temps, fewer bugs, and beautiful foliage displays. Check to see if your area has any hikes that are particularly good for leaf viewing!
33. Do an acorn craft
My little guy loves collecting acorns, even when we have no plan for them at all. But there are also tons of fun crafts and activities they can be used for as well! Here are a bunch of great acorn ideas!
34. Make nature potions
One new thing I came up with for our fall bucket list this year is to make nature potions! Or witch’s brew, depending on what kind of spin you want to put on it. Grab a cauldron and some jars, gather up some nature items, and start mixing!
Dressing up as little witches and wizards would also add greatly to the fun of this activity. If your kids are Harry Potter fans, mix up some ingredients or potions from the books! Here’s a list if you need a brush up.
35. Make autumn leaf crowns
Nature crowns are always fun, but autumn leaf crowns can result in some beautiful results! Head out with the kids and gather up some pretty leaves and any other foliage that captures your eye. Then try this tutorial, which is easy to follow along with the kids!
36. Thanksgiving bird feeding tree
Here’s a fall bucket list activity for those of us who actually acknowledge the existence of Thanksgiving 😜. Last year, we had fun decorating a tree with little bird feeder ornaments so that the birds could have a feast too! It looked super festive, and it’s fun to watch the birds from your window afterwards!
37. Play dress up
Since many Halloween events are being cancelled, get more use out of your costumes this year by playing dress up!
38. Visit the farmer’s market
Summer is great, but fall is a magical time to visit the farmer’s market! There’s just something about the bounty of the autumn harvest and the variety of colorful produce laid out to tempt you. If you want to avoid some crowds, try visiting a u-pick farm to obtain some of your fall food!
39. Go fishing
Fishing is a great nontraditional option for your fall bucket list! And if you happen to live somewhere where you can witness salmon running upstream, that’s a pretty cool thing to observe as well. Check out rivers in your area to see if there are any good viewing spots and head out with the kiddos!
40. Ride a chairlift
A lot of skiing resorts offer chairlift rides in the fall for the purpose of color viewing. This has been a really cool opportunity that we’ve been able to take advantage of a few times in northern Michigan.
The fall colors only last for a short time, so we try our best to view them as much as possible in as many ways as possible!
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Feeling inspired to get out there and embrace fall? I hope this gave you some ideas to try out!
Have fun creating your own fall bucket list with your family. Get everyone involved and make it a family activity to come up with a fun list of things that excites everyone! Consider even printing it out and keeping it on the fridge for easy access!
Now let’s get out there and make those memories 🙂
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