30 Things on My Fall Bucket List

Crisp air, warm pumpkin spices and scents, and Halloween movies – it is my favorite time of year! I love all the fun fall activities you can do when the weather cools down. Enjoy my family’s downloadable fall bucket list below.

For me, fall is all about getting outside and taking in the fresh air. If I’m not outside, then I love to make things extra cozy by baking and filling the house with wonderful aromas. The best feeling is when you can start snuggling up in front of a warm fire with a mug of hot chocolate.

My Fall Bucket List

Pick pumpkins

Pumpkin picking to me is always the first thing on our fall bucket list and, for me, marks the official start to the fall season. We make it a tradition in our family to go pumpkin picking each year at a local farm.

Hot Tip: If you are saving your pumpkins for Halloween, don’t carve your pumpkins until the week before so they avoid rotting too soon. Alternatively, try painting your pumpkins.

Create a fall playlist

One thing that instantly puts me in the fall mood is listening to my Halloween playlist. I love Disney’s “99 Happy Haunts” or the eery soundtrack from the Halloween movies.

Enjoy my favorite playlist here. I love to listen to this while driving or when I’m making dinner each night.

Cook fall recipes

Apart from the cooler weather and beautiful leaves of autumn, I love getting to cook all the fall recipes. The smell of pumpkin, apple, and spices just warms my soul.

From pumpkin pie, to apple cinnamon coffee, to turkey and mashed potatoes, fall recipes are some of the best tasting meals in my opinion. Don’t forget the famous pumpkin spice latte!

Explore More: Check out my favorite autumn recipes post to help with your fall meal planning. Enjoy recipes for pumpkin spice lattes, apple butter chicken, pumpkin pasta, apple spice coffee cake, and more!

Open the windows

Fall is the perfect time to open the windows in your house and let the crisp autumn air flow through. There is something about opening the house up that helps bring a calm and peace.

Wear your favorite sweater

When the cooler air comes it is time to break out the sweaters! Fall is all about getting warm and cozy. What better way to do that than with a big, fluffy sweater?

Visit a farmer’s market

Farmer’s markets are great places to find local fruits and vegetables that are in season. I love to walk outside and pick up fresh ingredients for all my fall recipes.

Get lost in a corn maze

Going along with pumpkin picking, corn mazes can be a lot of fun for groups. For me, it is a bonus if it is a haunted corn maze trail.

Take a hay ride

I have fond memories of taking a hay ride with my son on his kindergarten field trip. Kids love hay rides as a way to see pumpkins and animals.

Make caramel apples

A fun fall activity for kids is to make caramel apples. Start off by going to an apple orchard to pick your own apples.

You can then make your caramel and select from a number of toppings to put on top. The Stay At Home Chef has a great tutorial on how to make caramel apples.

Volunteer

Spread the joy this fall season by giving back and volunteering. You can use a website like VolunteerMatch to find opportunities that work best for you.

Sip on hot chocolate

Making hot chocolate is the absolute #1 thing on my kids’ fall bucket list. They honestly would drink it all year if they could. I’m a sucker though for keeping it as something special in the fall and winter.

Our favorite way to make hot chocolate is combining milk with chocolate chips and sweetened condensed milk. You then cook it low and slow on the stove or in a crockpot until completely melted. Top it off with a bunch of marshmallows and chocolate or caramel sauce.

Attend a football game

Football and fall just go hand and hand. I was born and raised in Pittsburgh so I love rooting for my home team the Steelers each fall.

I was also on dance team in college, so attending college football games were a regular weekend occurrence. I like going to college football games as they tend to be more affordable than NFL games.

Burn fall scented candles

Hands down, the best candles come out in the fall season. Smells like warm vanilla, pumpkin spice, and apple cinnamon can fill your entire home.

Or, if you are like me and my daughter, we just smell every single candle in the candle aisle at Target.

Get cozy

Fall is the time of year to embrace the Scandinavian hygge lifestyle, meaning all things cozy. I love to break out the warm blankets and fluffy socks in the autumn season.

There is something so relaxing snuggling up on the couch in front of the fire while reading one of my favorite books.

Spooky movie night

My daughter and I made it a goal one year as part of our fall bucket list to watch a Halloween movie every single night of October. Sadly, we failed, but we had fun trying!

Our family always tends to start off the season with watching Hocus Pocus on Disney+. Other family favorites include The Addams Family, Beetlejuice, and Ghostbusters.

Explore More: Turn it into a themed movie night by cooking some spooky foods to go along with it.

Stay in your pajamas all day

There are some days where I tell my kids it is a pajama day and we just aren’t going to get dressed that day. It becomes a day to reset with snuggling and movie marathons.

To me, autumn is always a time to slow down and just live in the moment appreciating the smaller things. Pajama day allows that to happen.

Campfire and s’mores

Fall is the perfect time for enjoying a bonfire as the temperature starts to cool down. Make the night extra special by indulging in some s’mores cooked over the fire.

Jump in the leaves

Enjoy the fall leaves by making a big giant pile to jump into it. You can use hand rakes to make it easier to make piles.

Take a road trip

The best way to see the changing leaves in the fall is to take a road trip through the mountains. It is one of my most favorite things to do here in North Carolina during peak leaf season.

Explore More: Read my post on how to plan a road trip or the best road trip snacks.

Drive-in movie

I love going to the drive-in during the fall months because it gets darker earlier allowing movies to start earlier. Our local drive-in does a night full of classic scary movies leading up to Halloween.

Make your time at the drive-in extra cozy by filling the back of your car with blankets and pillows.

Complete a puzzle

As the weather gets cooler, cozy up inside and cross another thing off your fall bucket list by completing a puzzle. My favorite puzzles are those by White Mountain or the Disney ones by Ravensburger.

Camp outside

Enjoy the great outdoors and crisp air by sleeping under the stars! It is also a great way to disconnect from technology and enjoy a digital detox.

Eat candy corn

This is a hot debate for some, but I love candy corn! I certainly can’t eat a large amount of it, but I do enjoy the taste of it around Halloween.

Are you pro candy corn or against it? Let me know in the comments!

Go to a haunted house

For those who love a good jump scare, make sure a haunted house is on your fall bucket list.

If you are looking for a top notch haunted house, consider going to Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida. I have gone to many haunted houses, but no one does it like they do.

Contact me if you need help booking your trip!

Tell spooky stories

Halloween time is the best time to share spooky stories around the campfire ala Nickelodeon’s “Are You Afraid of the Dark?”.

My favorite haunting stories come from Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark series. Was anyone else scared as a child from the scary story of the girl with the green ribbon from his In a Dark, Dark Room? Just me?

Buy/make Halloween costumes

It is tradition for my kids to go to the store to pick out their Halloween costumes each year. They have been everything from a creepy unicorn to a dragon to some character from Fortnite.

I personally love homemade costumes. Growing up, I would often hand make my costumes with my group of friends as something fun to make together.

As an adult, I once felt super extra and made my son a transformers costume. I loved the challenge, but let’s just say I have never done it since.

Carve pumpkins

Is is really fall if you don’t carve a pumpkin? I love to use a pumpkin kit to carve intricate designs with a stencil, whereas my kids love to design their own.

Throw a Halloween party

Celebrate the fall holiday season with a Halloween party. Everyone can wear a costume and enjoy some spooky foods. Don’t forget to play your favorite Halloween playlist and use some black lights to set the mood.

Go trick or treating

This is truly the best part of Halloween time and definitely one of my kids’ favorites on their fall bucket list. My kids love to lay out all of their loot at the end of the night and see what were the most popular candy bars that year.

Attend a Thanksgiving parade

Holiday parades start in late fall. Parades can be a fun way to get outside, come together as a community, and enjoy some local entertainment.

My personal favorite is to watch the Macy’s Day Parade on television. For me, it is the perfect way to wrap up the fall season and start looking towards the end of year holidays.

My Fall Bucket List:

What is on your fall bucket list? Let me know in the comments below!