The Fall and Its Wonders – 7 Engaging Ways to Have a Quality Family Time

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It’s that part of the year again – the summer is gone and a period of cooler weather is ahead of us. But this doesn’t mean that we should stop our outdoor activities altogether since the fall can be as beautiful as any other season. On top of this, we should aim at spending quality family time all year long and regardless of weather conditions.

This is why we’re going to talk about some engaging ways to create memorable moments with your loved ones. We find this truly important, especially in this day and age where we’re so preoccupied with our jobs, careers, school, college – whatever it might be the case. We simply can’t let this stand in our way since family should always come first. Here are some ideas on how to connect with our families and further strengthen family ties.

Go to a Nearby Park

This is probably the most simple thing that you can do – visit whatever park is nearest to you at the moment. What’s great about this is that you don’t need to plan too long ahead. Just make an instant decision to skip watching TV after dinner, and opt for a family park visit instead.

Not only is it going to be much more beneficial health-wise than slumping on a couch, but you also never know when can something truly interesting happen. For instance, you can find a cool bug or a rare flower – your kids are absolutely going to love these kinds of things. Parks are especially beautiful in the fall, as the leaves start to turn to yellow/brown and fall off. Children adore stumping on these piles of fallen leaves, so make sure they have their portion of fun.

Camping Trip

This idea requires a little bit of planning ahead, but it’s definitely worth considering at this time of the year. These are some of the last chances and moments that you can use to go on a camping trip before the temperature starts to drop rapidly in the winter.

If you have smaller children, they’re going to be so excited about the trip. They grow up so fast so you want to use all the opportunities you have to do all these different activities together. This is your chance to sing songs around the campfire and toast marshmallows. Don’t worry if the weather suddenly turns for the worse – you can always go inside and play some board games together. Just remember to pack them on time because you don’t want everyone turning to their phones if the weather gets ugly.

Camping trips are an awesome opportunity to spend quality time together with your family and you should definitely make this a tradition in your home. You can make long-lasting memories that help at creating the bond between the family members.

Biking Trip

While we’re on the subject of family trips, going with your family on a biking trip is another awesome way to spend a day together. What’s so great about family biking trips is that you can enjoy nature and fresh air much more than you would if you just used a car to go from point A to point B.

This way you can make a stop anytime you or any of your family members like and observe things from up-close. We’ve already mentioned that the fall is especially beautiful with all the breathtakingly rich colors. You’ll be able to hear the birds sing and the wind blowing through the branches, and these family bonding moments are really priceless.

And speaking of priceless bonding moments, you can also consider using tandem bikes, to further strengthen family ties and team spirit – we don’t even have to mention all the fun that’s guaranteed along the way. Like with all family trips, you can also make your biking trips something of a tradition. You can even challenge everyone to bike through every state park within a certain radius. This way you’ll not only have loads of fun family time together, but you’ll also stay fit and healthy. Why go to the gym when you can take care of your health (and the waistline) with regular bike riding trips with your family members?

Celebrate All the Birthdays, Anniversaries, and Holidays Outdoors

We’ve already indicated how beneficial it is to spend time outdoors, even if the weather is maybe not as warm or nice as it used to be during the summer. But the fall also has its fair share of sunny days (the so-called ’Indian Summer’), so why not take advantage of this and celebrate all the birthdays, anniversaries, or upcoming holidays outdoors?

This is your chance to grab the last portions of the Vitamin D that the sun’s so generously giving out. Celebrating these special moments outdoors with your friends and family members can also save you from any potential troubles or issues concerning space – you can invite as many friends and relatives as you like to these events, without having to worry if you’re all going to fit in your current living area.

It’s pertinent to note that the kids are going to love this especially. They’ll be able to run around the park as much as they like, without having to worry if they’re going to fall down and get themselves injured, in most cases. Remember that there are fallen leaves all around the park, and these act like cushions most of the time.

Visit a Zoo

It’s crucial that you get your children interested in animals and nature while they’re still little. This way they’ll start to develop the adventurous spirit from an early age, and they’ll probably also become environmentally conscious.

One way to achieve this is to take them to the zoo as much as possible, along with other outdoor activities that should get them excited about nature and outdoors. There are just so many things that you can explore together at the zoo that it can hardly ever become boring and dull. So, whenever you feel like you’re lacking ideas on what to do during weekdays, take your children to the zoo and get them curious about native and exotic wildlife.

If you make this a routine and you start to visit zoos on a regular basis, your children will most likely become so interested in animals that they probably won’t have any trouble in a biology class at school. And who knows, they maybe even end up having a career in the field – but as long as you have fun and memorable time together, nothing else really matters.

Go to the Beach

The fall is usually the time of the year when the water gets colder, so there aren’t many opportunities to swim, but you can still do other great stuff while you’re there. Some would argue that the fall is the best season to visit the beach since you don’t have to worry about getting sunburnt and applying sunscreen.

You can play all day long, building sandcastles and collecting shells in the sand. You can also search for other animals such as birds, turtles, or other sea animals if it’s low tide and it’s not too cold to dip in your toes a little bit. And if you dig a little deeper, you can always try your luck at finding pippies. In case you have trouble finding any animals, just make sure that you look for the signs. Find crab escape holes and other footprints and try to guess which animal does it belong to.

If you have binoculars, don’t forget to pack them: there are usually many birds still at the beach, and you can try to count them together, or guess what type they are. Whatever you end up doing at the beach is great – the fresh, salty air is something that hugely benefits everyone’s health.

High Ropes/Rock Climbing

If your children are older or in their teens, it’s time to instill and revive some competitiveness and team spirit in your family. A great way to accomplish this is by taking them to a high ropes course or rock climbing. These activities are essential for building resilience, or challenging and motivating each other.

As these activities can be hard and demanding, it’s equally important to continue to motivate and encourage one another, especially if someone gets stuck. Make sure to remember that this is all about bonding and making long-lasting memories – it’s not a real competition.

Even if your children are older, this is still a great opportunity for them to learn valuable life lessons – that it doesn’t matter who wins, as long as you all have a good time together; that all you can do is give your best, and if someone else is better, you should congratulate them; that it’s not all about accomplishing a goal, but about the journey also; that the hard work pays off; that it’s important to help others; that you can accomplish many great things if you work together as a team, and so on.

The Bottom Line

Family activities like these are really going to help your children develop into (more) complete human beings, that care for others as much as they care for themselves. That’s why it’s of utmost importance that you start early with engaging them with fun activities that you can all do together.

It doesn’t matter if it’s going to the nearby park, organizing camping trip, going for a family bike ride, celebrating birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays together, or visiting the zoo, going to the beach, and high ropes/rock climbing – what truly matters is that you spend every second and chance you get with your loved ones.

Start making these memorable moments as soon as possible because your children grow so fast. And each period of your and their life is special and unique, so don’t miss out on these moments for anything in the world. Once you and your children grow old, these quality family times that you’ve spent together are going to be invaluable.