When people think of family things to do in October, a lot of them have to do with Halloween. However, Halloween is only one day of the month, so why limit yourself? There are five weekends to have fun with your family this month, as well as any weeknights you have free.
If you want to have a family outing at a pumpkin farm, here are some you may want to check out. The first is local; The Pumpkin Farm in Citrus Heights at 7736 Old Auburn Road. They have train rides, a corn maze, hay ride, animal zoo, barn slides and more. If you have an entire day free, drive out to Wheatland and check out Bishop’s Pumpkin Farm. This place is great if you have older and younger kids. They have a huge corn maze where you have to read clues to get through, 30ft and 50ft slides on Coyote Mountain where you can pan for marbles just like panning for gold, a train that goes all around the pumpkin patch, a petting zoo, shows and great food. If you go to their website at bishopspumpkinfarm.com they have coupons you can print out for some of their attractions and food. If you have even more time, Apple Hill has many farms that offer train rides and pumpkin picking as well.
Once you have your pumpkins, then what? Well, depending on the ages of your children there are many choices. Older children, like teenagers would be able to carve their pumpkins. Encourage them to be creative. If you look for pumpkin carving ideas on the internet, you can find a lot of new ideas instead of the basic two eyes and a mouth. The younger kids can draw what they want, and the parent or older sibling can cut it out for them. After you carve your pumpkin, dry your seeds, put them on a baking sheet and bake 10-20 minutes on 350 degrees for a yummy snack! You can also paint a face, scene or design on your pumpkin as well, if you don’t want to carve it. Acrylic paint sticks the best on the pumpkin, but be sure to cover up anything you do not want to get paint on. If your kids are too young to carve or paint pumpkins, they can color a picture of a pumpkin or make one with orange construction paper. Then they can hang theirs up with the others.
Once you do some things with you own family, why not do some fun stuff with friends? Have a fall harvest party. Be creative in the activities depending on ages of your guests. You can have fun games like pumpkin relay races with the pumpkins between your knees, rolling your pumpkin against another’s, a pumpkin decorating contest, bobbing for apples and anything related to fall. For the menu, make sure you have apples and caramel, apple cider, apple or pumpkin pie or anything with a fall theme. Just don’t forget CANDY!
These are just some ideas to get you started. Get together with your family and plan something fun this month. Have a fantastic October!