10 Fall Activities & Games for Kids

Fall is here, and we are so excited for all of our favorite classic family activities like pumpkin patches, apple picking, and corn mazes. Looking to add something new to your family’s fall line-up? Add some (pumpkin) spice to your afterschool and weekend autumn adventures with these 10 unique fall activities and games for kids.

1. Bounce House Freeze Dance

Soak up the last of the warm weather and head to the backyard for an afternoon of active play. It takes only a few minutes to inflate your Backyard Bouncer or Backyard Bouncer Jr. During that time, little ones can think of their best fall dance moves, like pretending to pick apples in an orchard, shaking like a skeleton, or floating like a friendly ghost. 

Parents should control the music, so when the music stops, little ones should stop dancing and strike their best pose! The last kid jumping wins. When littles are all danced out, head inside to refuel with a fall snack, like fresh apple slices or toasted pumpkin seeds. 

2. Ultimate Printable Halloween Guide 

Get in the spooky spirit with our Ultimate Printable Halloween Activity Guide. You will be set for fun afternoons indoors or outdoors with this free printable scavenger hunt and activity booklet. Whether your family chooses to level up your neighborhood walk by spotting pumpkins or complete the crossword activity, there’s an activity for every kid! Bonus: both printables double as coloring pages.

3. Wagon Toss

Kids can practice their coordination with this interactive activity for toddlers. Start by placing your My 1st 2-in-1 Wagon a few feet away from your little one. Then, take turns tossing the included teddy bear into the wagon. If you have older kids, level up this game by moving the wagon a few steps away from the child after each scoring toss. Or, practice counting by predicting how many scores they will get and count each winning toss.

4. Active Indoor Activities

On days when it's too chilly or grey outside for outdoor fun, bring the activities indoors with these simple fall games for toddlers. Opportunities are endless to get moving indoors, but here are a few starting ideas:

• Climber Hide & Seek: Our Play & Fold Away Treetop Climber has a fun secret play space that little ones will love climbing in and out of before the parent counts to 10 to seek! Can they successfully scare their siblings with their best “Boo!”

• Obstacle Course: The Tumble Town Foam Blocks can be rearranged in endless combinations to create an obstacle course perfect for your child. The blocks are lightweight enough for toddlers to carry to create their course. Outline the blocks in a walking path to create a pretend corn maze or practice their best mummy walk as they complete the obstacle course.
• For more ideas, check out our blog post “5 OT Approved Activities for Kids” for more ideas by our Expert Play Panel!

5. Fall Sports Scavenger Hunt

One of our favorite parts of fall is fall sports! Whether your family spends weekends at soccer tournaments or evenings playing t-ball in the backyard, this fun & free fall sports scavenger hunt printable is sure to delight little ones. It is perfect for younger siblings watching on the sidelines or for your all-star after the big game.

6. Local Farmer's Market

Explore your community and support local businesses by taking a wagon ride to your local farmer's market. Store your kids and cargo while you learn about autumn produce and get some fresh air. While you’re there, play a game of iSpy with littles (who can spot the biggest pumpkin or the reddest apple?) or grab a few items to create autumn recipes at home (pumpkin pie and apple muffins are calling our names!).

7. Pretend Play Racetrack

Start your engines because we’re zooming into fall! We have a variety of race car toys for kids like our Ultimate Go-Kart, a battery-powered race car with awesome drifting action for older kids or the My 1st Race Car™, a fun ride-on toy that inspires imaginative play for toddlers! Once you find the perfect ride for your expert racer or beginner rider, draw a racetrack with chalk on the driveway or sidewalk. Make this fall-themed by adding obstacles in the course like pumpkin barriers or a pile of leaves to go around.

8. Pumpkin Relay Games

Before you get to carving pumpkins (we’ll get to that one next), double the fun and use your pumpkins as props for active play games. Relay games aren’t only a blast, but they build coordination and gross motor skills. Kids can take turns balancing and carrying miniature pumpkins on their heads, sweeping a pumpkin across the yard using only a broom, or pulling pumpkins across the yard in a wagon. Combine a few of these to create a relay or come up with your pumpkin relays!

9. Pumpkin Carving 

What’s fall without pumpkin carving? Our classic Jack-O-Lantern template in our Halloween Activity Guide is a great starting point for this fall activity for kids. Little ones can also get creative and make their own designs! If carving isn’t in your future this fall, paint and paper mache are great substitutes and help the pumpkins last longer as a decoration compared to carving.

10. Self-Regulation Activities

Sensory bins are trending right now, and it's no surprise beacuse of their learning benefits as well as how fun they are to make and how easy they are to store away for future use. Create a fall sensory bin using corn kernels, leaves, and any other small fall materials you have on hand! Here is a tutorial example form the blog Fireflies and Mudpies.

Another activity that supports self-regulation is a mindfulness walk. Smell the fresh breeze, observe the colors of trees, and feel the crisp air. For more ideas on self-regulation activities for kids, check out our Expert Play Panel blog on this topic.

If you try any of these activities and games this season, let us know by tagging @radioflyerinc on social media. Happy fall y’all!