A Guide to Fall Family Activities and Festive Treats
Schedules may be less hectic in the summer than when fall arrives. Consequently, planning fall family activities to enjoy together helps ensure quality time. To organize autumn experiences for your family, you may be wondering about the following:
● What are some ways to plan fall family activities?
● What are some ideas for fall family activities to enjoy?
● What festive fall treats and other seasonal dishes can your family enjoy together at the Freddy’s near you?
Keep reading to learn more about planning fall family activities as well as why you may want to include ordering for dine-in, carry-out or delivery from Freddy’s as part of the fun!
Planning and Prioritizing Fall Family Activities
The first day of autumn doesn’t arrive until later in September. While its arrival may be the perfect occasion to get everyone together to share their hopes, ideas and wishes for the season, you don’t have to wait until this date to start thinking or talking about fun fall family activities to enjoy. Simply brainstorming this list of ideas together can be an occasion for quality time, especially if combined with seasonal drinks and treats like apple cider, pumpkin bread or one of the seasonal menu selections at Freddy’s (more on these sandwiches and sweet selections later!). To help your family collect and organize everyone’s fall requests and recognize their achievement, check out the three ideas listed below!
Design a fall family activity bingo card or bucket list. While there are a variety of printable bingo cards focused on fall activities available via Pinterest, creating and designing your own may help make your intentions more meaningful and personal. One option is to provide blank bingo cards or checklist templates to your family members to design as they so choose, as you come up with ideas to add.
Create one huge and festively-decorated poster with your ideas. Then, you can display it in a central location in the house, and check off the activities as you complete them as a family.
Make an idea jar. If spontaneity and surprise are your family’s style, then you might like the idea of filling a big jar or other seasonally-decorated container with each person’s fall family activity recommendations. You might consider assigning different meanings to idea notes according to fall color or shape. Then, the fall family activity can stay a secret until its selection, but you’ll have an idea of the time it might require or the type of activity you are choosing (such as outdoor or indoor).
When you are generating what you want to do, also think about setting aside a day each week or as schedules allow on which to enjoy one or more of these activities as a family. It may be a good idea to post these dates on a shared family calendar to remind everyone to keep them free! If you want to be spontaneous in what you choose for that day, just write “Reserved for Fall Family Activities” on the space for that date!
4 Fall Family Activities that Don’t Revolve around Screen Time
During any season, many families enjoy watching their favorite shows, holiday movies or sporting events together. However, there are many other fall family activities that are a little more interactive and better enable moments to connect and share with each other outside of any thoughts about what’s happening on screen. For your planned collection of ideas or more impromptu fall fun, here are four activities that may be of interest:
Plan an outdoor adventure day (or several).
Cooler weather and beautiful foliage contribute to this season’s appeal for a variety of outdoor activities. From backyard bonfires and scavenger hunts to excursions to parks, beaches or farms, there is a lot to see and do during the fall as a family. Here’s a list of possibilities to consider:
Go to a local pumpkin patch or apple orchard! Aside from being able to pick out your own pumpkins or apples for decoration or eating, these locations often have additional fall family activities to enjoy. From hayrides to corn mazes, not to mention the variety of treats like cider and pies to try, there is much fun to be had at these outdoor experiences.
Camp out in the backyard or at a local campground. Whether you build a blanket fort for the day or plan to overnight in a tent or camper, you might include making s’mores around a campfire, having a picnic or doing a fall scavenger hunt, such as the one provided by Highlights, as part of this event.
Find a fall fair or festival to attend or host your own event! Explore local events happening near you or choose to experience one of the many celebrated festivals across the country, as shared at The Pioneer Woman. Have so much fun at your end-of-summer party that you want to throw one to celebrate fall? Explore these fall harvest party ideas from HGTV.
While enjoying these outdoor activities or any others, you might consider collecting a leaf or leaves at each site. If you are keeping a scrapbook of this year’s fall family activities, each leaf might get its own page with notes about the date and place of its collection, as well as the other adventures you had that day. You might also use leaves to create cards to send to other loved ones telling them about your family fun, as explained at PBS Kids. For even more leaf and fall-oriented craft ideas, keep reading to learn more!
Create crafts to decorate the house for the season.
Need some inspiration? HGTV offers a list of more than 100 fall craft projects designed for people of all ages. The collection of 50 ideas from Good Housekeeping has been curated especially for kids, though other family members can also have some fun doing them as well. Check out some of the suggested ideas from these resources below:
Create homemade scarecrows to set a festive fall scene. This activity is great inside or outside (your outdoor installations may even help scare critters away from your fall flowers and vegetables). Often, the materials needed to make them may be readily available in your house!
Create candy corn banners, leaf garlands, acorn ornaments and more. Exploring the local neighborhood or park helps bring bring colorful and festive flair to doorways, fixtures and other locations in and around your home!
Need a centerpiece for a special event? Create a vase made from one of the season’s most beloved gourds or make pinecone flowers, as per this guide and video tutorial from TODAY!
Volunteer or engage in a community service project.
After learning about or participating in the August Roundup for the Kids In Need Foundation, your family may be even more eager to start or continue helping others in your community or around the country. All For Kids provides a variety of community service ideas to consider doing this fall or any other time of year. By choosing something fun and meaningful to put on your fall family activity list (or otherwise add to your calendar), your family can make a difference and enjoy the opportunity to do so together. In the months leading up to various holidays, the following ideas can be especially helpful:
Volunteer at a food pantry or soup kitchen near you. Feeding America offers some tips and additional guidance for getting involved in these efforts.
Host a donation drive or choose a gift-giving project to participate in. Whether you want to focus on clothing, blankets, food, toys or other requested items, your efforts and collected contributions will be greatly appreciated.
Use your creativity! If your family enjoys doing arts and crafts projects, then making handmade cards for various causes may be a great choice. One option to consider is the Cards for Kindness program organized by the Creative Kindness Foundation.
Make seasonally-inspired meals and treats together.
Explore and learn about different fall fruits and vegetables at The Spruce Eats to help you come up with menu ideas. Whether a new ingredient or recipe inspires your fall family activities in the kitchen or you simply prepare your favorite comfort foods for cooler weather, cooking and baking together as a family can be an interactive, educational and delicious experience. Find some ideas and resources below!
● This recipe collection from Delish is designed with kids and the fall in mind.
● Taste of Home offers more than 30 no-bake desserts to try that are fitting for the season – many of which require less than 30 minutes of total time. So, you have plenty of sweet options to get you through the fall!
● When you are craving comfort classics, consider making even these food experiences into events, like voting on which air fryer grilled cheese sandwich recipe is the best!
Want to enjoy some seasonal dishes and treats as a family that you don’t have to prepare? You can also find scrumptious fare including limited-time fall menu additions at Freddy’s as further discussed below!
Delicious Fall Fare to Enjoy at Freddy’s
For frozen custard treats to enjoy amidst your day of fall family activities or for dinner near you after all of the excitement, Freddy’s has your family covered! With special meals designed just for kids, as well as a range of savory sandwiches, sides, frozen custard treats and drinks, spend some quality time with the family while enjoying the menu selections from Freddy’s. Here are a few seasonally-inspired treats to try as well as other popular items available at the Freddy’s near you.
Pumpkin Pie Concrete: One popular limited-time offer that often appears on our menu in the autumn months is the Pumpkin Pie Concrete. With hints of spices often associated with this pie and the season in general like cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger, this treat features fresh and creamy vanilla frozen custard blended with a whole slice of rich pumpkin pie, including the crust.
Smoky Bacon Cheddar Stack: Arriving for the first time ever in 2025, the Smoky Bacon Cheddar Stack is a hearty dish that may soon become a new fan favorite at Freddy’s. To start, the cooked-to-order Smoky Bacon Cheddar Stack includes two steakburger patties, melted sharp cheddar cheese, and not one or two but four slices of crispy Applewood smoked bacon. Caramelized grilled onions and Freddy’s Smoky Fry Sauce® add even more flavor, while the toasted King’s Hawaiian Bun perfectly enfolds all of this deliciousness into a single scrumptious package.
Grilled Cheese Steakburger: This steakburger leverages the flavors and components of a classic fall duo – a grilled cheese sandwich and tomato soup! This mashup creation is made with two steakburger patties, as well as four slices of cheese – two slices of Swiss cheese and two slices of American cheese. A savory tomato spread as well as crispy bacon and buttery Texas toast complete this mouthwatering dish. Once a limited-time offer, the Grilled Cheese Steakburger was so beloved by our guests that we added it to our permanent menu! Similarly, the Prime Rib Steakburger with its sautéed mushrooms, grilled onions and Swiss cheese in addition to thin-sliced prime rib also made the transition to the core menu based on popular demand.
Candy-Filled Frozen Custard Treats: You don’t have to wait for that highly anticipated candy collection date to enjoy your favorite candies in the frozen custard treats at Freddy’s. Fans of REESE’S Peanut Butter Cups will love the REESE’S Royale® which combines peanut butter sauce and peanut butter cups with vanilla frozen custard. Want to create your own candy and frozen custard combination? To your choice of sundae, concrete or shake, add sweet bites of Butterfinger®, Heath® Toffee, M&M’S® or even colorful gummy worms or sprinkles! If your preferred fall treats feature seasonal fruit instead of candy, then keep your eyes peeled for the possible return of the Caramel Apple Pie Concrete, which combines vanilla frozen custard, caramel sauce and cinnamon-seasoned apples.
Enjoying fall family activities is a great way to spend quality time together and celebrate all that this season has to offer. Don’t miss out on the fall specials and tasty steakburgers, rich and creamy frozen custard treats and other delicious dishes available year round at your local Freddy’s. If you are throwing a party this fall for a holiday or any other occasion, Freddy’s also offers catering services, including burger bar catering, sundae bar catering and more!