Fall brings the opportunity for cooler weather, cozy vibes, and lots of opportunities to make lasting family memories. If you’re looking to create new traditions with your kids, here are some fun and easy ideas to try this season:

1. Host a Family Chili (or Soup) Night

Pick a night each fall to make chili, soup, or stew together. Let the kids help with stirring, toppings, or baking cornbread. It can become your family’s “first chilly night of fall” ritual. A chili charcuterie board is a fun twist on this tradition and then everyone gets the toppings they want! This is also a great tradition to start with friends or neighbors. Host it as a pot luck night in your neighborhood as a way to let the kid's play together and the parents catch up. Here are a bunch of ideas for your chili night. 

2. Go on a Leaf Hunt

Head to a local park or trail and collect colorful leaves. Back home, make leaf rubbings, press them into books, or create DIY garlands for fall décor. Here are some ideas where you can find fall foliage in our area and beyond: Best Places to See Fall Foliage Near Ventura County

3. Start a Halloween Decorating Tradition

Decorating the outside of your home for Halloween gets more popular every year. People look forward to driving around and seeing Halloween decorations almost as much as winter holiday decorations. As a family who has been doing major Halloween décor for years, my biggest tip - stick to a theme! Picking one theme will help you narrow down what to buy and keep your yard from looking like Halloween threw up on it. Over the years, we've focused more and more on 'homemade' décor and steer clear of the mass-marked decorations that everyone else in the neighborhood has. 

Credit: Macaroni KID Camarillo

4. Family Fall Photos

Pick one weekend each fall to take a casual family photo outdoors—no fancy photographers needed. Over the years, you’ll build a sweet collection of seasonal memories. Bonus: this makes holiday cards so much easier when you start early!

5. Friday Night Football or Movie Nights

Cheer on a local high school team (even if you don’t know anyone playing) or start a fall movie night tradition with classics like Casper & Hocus Pocus. 

6. Baking Day

Choose a fall recipe to bake together each year—pumpkin bread, apple pie, or even caramel apples. Let kids do as much of the mixing as possible. One of my favorite simple fall recipes is these pumpkin whoopie pies made with boxed cake mix, Cool Whip, and a pudding packet.

credit: Fat Kid at Heart Bakes

7. Give Back Tradition

Fall is a season of gratitude. Start a tradition of donating food items to a local pantry or making cards for neighbors, grandparents, or veterans.

8. DIY Fall Craft Night

Once a year, make something together—paint pinecones, create handprint turkeys, or craft a thankful tree.

9. Gratitude Countdown to Thanksgiving

All November, write one thing your family is thankful for each day on slips of paper and collect them in a jar. Read them together on Thanksgiving.

10. Annual Fall Adventure

Choose one big outing every fall: pumpkin patch, apple orchard, corn maze, or hayride. The kids will look forward to it year after year. For my family, it's heading to the pumpkin patch to do all the farm activities and pick the perfect pumpkin. I have a list of pumpkin patches locally for you to choose from and some apple picking options a little further away. 

credit: Macaroni KID Camarillo

💡 Bonus Tip: You don't have to do EVERYTHING - start small. Even one simple tradition—like roasting s’mores in the backyard or lighting a fall-scented candle at dinner—can turn into something kids cherish forever.

When visiting events and local businesses, be sure to tell them Macaroni KID sent you... and don't forget to tell all your friends!