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55 Ways to Get Cozy and EnJOY Autumn with Family

Autumn is a savory time of year with hints of spice and candlelight. It is a time of harvesting and enjoying the fruit of your labors. There is still work to be done, but many hands make the load light. Autumn is my favorite time of year, and this list of 55 ways to get cozy and enJOY autumn with the family will jump-start your creativity and bring in the cozy connection.

child buried in red fall leaves peeking out

Autumn

Autumn is just the most fantastical time of year. When you think the heat of summer has got the best of you, the fog rolls in, the nights cool, and the first leaves fall. Nature begins its journey to rest with a display of gold, crimson, burnt orange, and magenta splendor. Autumn seems to engage all the senses at once: breathtaking hillsides of colored foliage set against an azure blue sky, crackling fires from tidied-up landscapes, honking geese flying south for the winter, pumpkin spice…everything, and, of course, the feel of the crisp cool days and evenings perfect for bundling up in snuggly hats and jackets, boots and scarves.

It is a time of gathering together, whether around the table at the Thanksgiving meal, with friends on a Scavenger hunt, or backyard hot dog roast around the campfire. EnJOYing Autumn with family means apple picking, apple cider donuts, pumpkin carving, and scarecrows on the front porch. It includes leaf piles, turkey dinners, knife throwing, and candle making. Autumn with family means connecting and getting cozy…together.

2 chickens walking together
father and son in front of a canvas tent
two boys on a 4 wheeler in the leaves
girl holding a bowl full of apples
family wearing yellow emoji shirts
man and woman in cowboy hats
boy in yellow shirt with a lollypop
kids in a three-legged race
an orange pumpkin
3 pinecone owls on a ledge
man throwing knives at a wooden target
a tray of cinnamon rolls with a single cinnamon roll on the side
candles that have just been poured and are setting
a mug of tea with 3 chocolate almond biscotti and a board on a slate surface
a tray of finished glazed apple turnovers
a fall leaves felt banner
pumpkins on a hay bail lit up
a jar of elderberry syrup with ginger and cinnamon sticks
a jar of caramel sauce next to a pumpkin with a spoon dripping with caramel
boy with a painted face
kids throwing up yellow fall leaves
little boy with his face painted
little girl and yellow lab with a carved pumpkin
marshmallows by the fire
a display of pumpkins
carved white and orange pumpkins
boy biting an apple
a cabinet with labeled jars of herbs
a black and white chicken looking up at the camera
a carved pumpkin as a head in a boys sweatshirt
field of pumpkins
father carrying fall leaves and children in a blue wheelbarrow
thanksgiving dinner on an orange table cloth with a glass of wine
a fall front porch display with pumpkins, hay bales, and cornstalks
boy eating a donut

55 Ways to EnJOY Autumn with Family

  1. Rake a huge pile of leaves and jump in it. This is our dog’s favorite fall activity.
  2. Read a book together. We enJOY a family read-aloud, but I also have a basket of children’s books that I change with the seasons. On some nights, the children pick a book from the seasonal book basket, and we light a candle, pour a cup of cozy, and snuggle up on the couch for story time.
  3. Listen to the leaves crunch under your feet on a walk.
  4. Snap a family picture every year.
  5. Go out for apple cider donuts on a Saturday morning.
  6. Find a local cider mill and learn how to press cider.
  7. Take a drive through the country and enjoy all the fall leaves.
  8. Go apple and pumpkin picking.
  9. Bake an apple pie, apple turnovers, or apple crisp.
  10. Carve pumpkins together and roast pumpkin seeds.
  11. Study the Jewish feasts and find fun ways to enrich your Christian heritage. 
  12. Dress in amazing costumes and have a fall festival in your yard or at church.
  13. Volunteer at a soup kitchen or serve Thanksgiving meal at a local shelter.
  14. Visit an old mansion, historic site, historic home, or walking tour.
  15. Go on a scavenger hunt or Treasure Hunt through your city.
  16. Enjoy a progressive dinner with friends. Travel from house to house, starting with appetizers and ending with dessert. Every participant plans a course of the meal hosted at their home. It’s even more fun if you stick to a theme.
  17. Run a diffuser with spicy holiday essential oil blends. The smell is a sense that will trigger memories for a lifetime. You want your home to be associated with happy memories; smell triggers the deepest memories.
  18. Get lost in a corn maze or take a hayride at a local farm.
  19. Cozy up on the couch or create a blanket fort with tons of blankets and pillows on the floor. Grab your favorite snacks, such as Popcorn with a Pop, or apples dipped in Caramel sauce, and watch a good movie filled with autumn vibes, such as It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown, Dead Poets Society, or a classic ghost story like The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (nothing gory).
  20. Put flannel sheets on the bed. I do this strictly for my husband and look forward every night to spring arriving. Lol
  21. Prepare Chocolate Almond Biscotti and dunk it in a mug of your favorite hot drink.
  22. Prepare dinner with a glass of wine and play an autumn playlist with Chris Botti, Michael Bublé, Diane Krall, Melody Gardot, Andrea Bocelli, Scala and Kolacny, and Libera. You can thank me later. (mom time)
  23. Roast a chicken and make nourishing bone broth from the bones.
  24. Decorate for fall with velvet pumpkins, candles, cozy throw pillows and blankets, heavier curtains, and window candles to welcome the cozy season.
  25. Throw a party and coordinate family costumes where everyone plays a character in your favorite movie or theme. One year, we purchased yellow shirts, and everyone painted their favorite emoji on them. We don’t celebrate Halloween, but we love to dress up in costumes!
  26. Build a bonfire, share stories, sing songs, and roast hotdogs or S’mores.
  27. Rent a cabin in the mountains.
  28. Play a game of touch football.
  29. Clean out the garden and prepare it for winter. Plant bulbs in your garden for the spring.
  30. Make Birdseed Ornaments and watch your yard become a bird sanctuary.
  31. Build a scarecrow to display in your front yard.
  32. Decorate your front porch with mums, corn stalks, pumpkins, and scarecrows.
  33. Collect colorful leaves and preserve them in a glycerine solution, a flower press, or waxed paper under heavy books.
  34. Set up a Hot Chocolate, coffee, or tea station complete with all the fixings—Homemade Marshmallows, peppermint sticks, a jar of Chocolate Almond Biscotti, your favorite mugs, and, of course, an instant tea kettle.
  35. Host a murder mystery party.
  36. Tour a winery at harvest time (this one is just for mom and dad).
  37. Spend a day antiquing.
  38. Rescue and refurbish a piece of furniture and add it to your home’s decor. Chalk paint is a miracle worker. I love using Annie Sloan chalk paints.
  39. Take a family bike ride.
  40. Visit a farmer’s market and buy pumpkins, Brussels sprouts (still on the stock), apples for applesauce, and winter squash. Fill your home with the smells of autumn.
  41. Whip up some homemade Carmel sauce, dip Honey Crisp apples, and roll it in chopped toasted almonds or pecans.
  42. Prepare homemade soup such as Pumpkin & Butternut Soup, and bake homemade bread like No- Knead Lemon, Garlic, & Rosemary Bread.
  43. Simmer a pot of hot apple cider with oranges, lemons, cinnamon sticks, and whole cloves, and sip slowly while watching the birds feeding or leaves fall from your front porch.
  44. Create a gratitude tree with a tree branch, or sew one with felt and hang it on the wall. Cut out leaves in beautiful autumn colors, write down something you are grateful for each day, and hang it on the tree. (Check out my gallery page towards the bottom for an image of our gratitude tree I made with my grandma, daughters, and mother-in-law.)
  45. Learn to knit or crochet and make matching scarves and hats. If you are new to handcrafts, my daughter started with Wobbles and is now crocheting up a storm.
  46. Build a target out of a hay bale or large tree stump and have a knife, ax, or tomahawk throwing contest.
  47. Set out a fall-themed puzzle, pour yourself a cup of cozy, and settle in for the night with family or a quiet time solo. Trust me, if you have a puzzle set out, it will attract people and invite sweet, unhurried conversation.
  48. Create a family photo album on Shutterfly and maybe give it as a gift on New Year’s Eve to celebrate all the sweet memories you have made over the year.
  49. Go camping, hiking, kayaking, canoeing, or boating, and enjoy the fall leaves while watching the geese fly south for the winter.
  50. Restock your natural herbal remedy kit by making Thieves tonic, artichoke, hibiscus, & orange bitters, elderberry syrup, garlic honey, and elderberry winter immunity tincture and prepare for winter.
  51. Go foraging and make a fall wreath for the front door. Hide things in it for the birds to munch on.
  52. Preserve the harvest by canning, pressure cooking, freezing, or dehydrating. Many hands make the load light.
  53. Decorate for Thanksgiving Day and make placeholders such as pinecone owls or pinecone turkeys.
  54. Bring some light and warmth into your home by making your own beeswax candles.
  55. Visit a bee farm and learn how they harvest their honey.
apples

Check out the following posts to learn more about how to savor each season:

In everything you do -eat, play, and, love- may it always be Seasoned with Joy!

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