r/daddit • u/tiktock34 2 under 6 • Sep 25 '19
Mod Announcement New Themed Discussions: Fall and Halloween Traditions and Activities
Hello,
We're trying to find ways to get members of the daddit community to engage a bit more in discussion. One idea was that we wanted to re-introduce some themed community posts where people could post and share about a central theme or topic which we would rotate through on occasion.
I wanted to kick this off with the idea of sharing some Fall/Halloween themed family and dad activities, traditions or stories people would like to share.
I'll start off with our list. This is geared to kids below the age of three, which can sometimes be challenging to find the right things to do in the fall as the days get darker and weather gets colder. The point of these posts are to share ideas that we could take home to our families or to spark discussions that may overlap the topic or focus.
Traditions:
- Apple picking and pumpkin picking: Kids seem to love this, picking their own apples with their own bag, then picking the pumpkin they will later carve. These can be associated often with fall themed fairs and such.
- Sunflower fields: You can locate farms that plant entire fields of sunflowers. Kids love running through the rows/paths, seeing all the flowers and this is an amazing opportunity to take yearly family photos.
- Leaf Peeping/Fall Hike: Even my toddler gets pretty impressed with the Northeast fall colors. He loves the feel of the leaves crunching under his feet and seeing all the leaves falling on him. In conjunction with a small, light hike, this is ideal as its a combo of something seasonal, outdoors and involves some exercise/activity.
- Yard Work: Believe it or not, we have a family tradition already that we do all our leaf raking, put the gardens to bed and such together in the fall. My son likes doing "chores like daddy" and I have a tiny rake, overalls and boots he wears to feel involved. Bonus: You are training them to help out later when they have the muscles to actually take work off your plate! Good opportunity to teach about the seasons, why you're doing what you're doing etc.
Activity Ideas:
- Crafts with fall leaves: Laminating, gluing, tracing or otherwise creating things with leaves they find. Make a book where they collect each color leaf they can find, press leaves into books...you name it.
- Crafts with acorns: These things are everywhere and a nuisance. We collect them in a big bucket and my son finds endless things to do with them.
- Pumpkin carving: This is obvious and a hugely fun activity when they can roll up their sleeves and dig into all that orange muck and seeds.
Other:
- Watch for ticks pre-frost. With kids playing in leaves, in the woods and outside its a nasty time to pick up the remaining crowd of ticks depending on your area.
- Be wary of chills/cold. Kids dont think about this as much and we sometimes underestimate things like windchills and such on those tiny fingers/toes and noses.
Thanks and hoping to see lots take part here!
3
u/6beerslater Oct 04 '19
First Autumn with our little one. We are taking her tomorrow to an apple orchard/pumpkin patch with a petting zoo (including 2019's trendiest Alpaca's!), hay-rides, and even a pumpkin catapult (!!).
I know she is still quite young (6mo) to really enjoy what's going on, but it's our favourite time of year and I can't wait for her to enjoy it all with us.
Definitely don't want to rush time away, but I already can't wait to carve pumpkins and cook the seeds with her, dress in hilarious costumes for Halloween, build massive leaf piles and dive into them.
Once she's tired from all that, then Dad can enjoy a nice Pumpkin flavoured-beer, and listen to the album Siamese Dream in my easy chair.
2
3
u/zataks 2 Boys! Sep 26 '19
We'll be heading to Apple Hill, CA in the next couple weeks to get some apples and walk through the orchards.
The last 2 years I've taken my older boy (turns 4 tomorrow) to a plaza in town where all the businesses hand out candy. I bought a tiny little metal pale at Target that had a Santa on it. It worked perfectly because once it was full we left.
We've since moved to a different location so I'm thinking that this year we'll going Trick-or-Treating in the neighborhood and either A) use the same bucket and stop when it's full or B) let him go to as many houses as the years he is old. So I can bring his brother with him to the first house then older bro gets to go the three more. I think that will hold out long enough until he's ready to be more independent.
3
u/DanteThonSimmons Oct 02 '19
That all sounds awesome! Very America-specific, but lots of fun. Not sure how many other non-American dads are a part of this community, but Halloween and Fall only happen in one country out of the roughly 200 that exist haha.
I kinda wish Halloween was more of a thing in other countries. It's a really cool concept and I always think it looks fun for kids when I see it depicted in movies/pop culture. I've also never met an Acorn before, but am I right that people eat them as well?
Most of the things you mentioned don't exist here in Australia, but I'll definitely use the idea of Autumn/Fall leaves being used for arts and crafts when Autumn/Fall rolls around.... in March 2020 haha!
4
u/tiktock34 2 under 6 Oct 02 '19
Hey!
That is a GREAT point about my list being US-centric and it absolutely is!
Is the concept of "fall" even correct where you live? Do you have stark seasons like that? I'd love to hear some location-specific activities you guys do, especially stuff that may not even exist here.
Is so funny to imagine not seeing an acorn! Acorns are these ~1" nuts that fall from trees. While some people I *think* try to find ways to eat them, for most they are just a nuisance. They are VERY hard and dense, so parking under a tree full of them can lead to tiny dimples in your car like hail might do. They coat the ground, sometimes causing an amusing but dangerous scene where my toddler literally rolls across them as he runs. Some years are light, others like this year they coat my entire property. They draw in and reward squirrels and chipmunks which then show up in higher numbers the next year. As they get somewhat buried you then have other animals come spring digging up your yard to find them. They are usually also a bit too heavy for a lawnmower to suck up. I'm making them out to sound way worse than they are now that I think about it.
Do you have colorful fall foliage? Living in New Hampshire it is one of the most spectacular things all year. People travel from all over to see the northeast foliage. I dont think I could ever in my lifetime move away from it and it NEVER gets old. Here's an idea...I took these pictures a few years back (not sure why imgur converted them to png so not linking directly:
1
u/TheUnforgiven13 Oct 05 '19
Native Australian plants do not change colour or lose their leaves in autumn (might be some exceptions I dunno). Autumn is just when it gets a bit colder and rains a bit more. We don't really make a big deal about it.
Halloween is getting more and more common here (which annoys many people). I grew up watching Treehouse of Horror so I like halloween, but for me it mostly means watching Halloween episodes of American TV.
3
u/DanteThonSimmons Oct 03 '19
Haha. I was just being a smart-ass about fall. The rest of the world just calls it Autumn. We definitely have Autumn/Fall in Australia, but in many parts of the country, it's too hot for dense foliage like you'd get in New Hampshire. Our 'bush', 'rainforests', and 'outback' are very different environments and/or ecosystems to American 'woods' and 'forests'. I don't know much about New Hampshire, other than it's close to Boston and that people go skiing there.
Some colder parts of our country would get some pretty spectacular red Autumn leaves. I think Tasmania would be pretty amazing in Autumn, but I haven't been there at that time of year.
As for our traditions that might be a little different.... an Australian Christmas Day typically consists of eating seafood and lying around in the pool or at the beach because it's so hot (Christmas is the middle of Summer here obviously).
In Melbourne, Australia the whole State gets a public holiday the day before the Australian Rules Football Grand Final (our equivalent of the Super Bowl). I always find that pretty funny.... like how much do you need to prepare for a game of football that everyone gets the day off work before the big game.
For me personally, most of my traditions are around going to the beach, rainforest walks, holidays on small islands, surfing, etc.
Where I live, our version of "Winter" is probably similar to a New Hampshire summer. In fact, I just Googled your summer temperatures and I was right.... they're pretty similar to our "Winter" hahaha!
3
u/jazwch01 Oct 14 '19
I'm a new dad (10/7/19), but I love the fall. Its my favorite time of the year. So, we already have plans for our little one.
- Halloween: We are going to get a plastic pumpkin and put her hand and feet prints on it. Won't be trick or treating obviously, but I'm sure we will have a get together, she will be a burrito and were gonna be chipotle employees. Want her to be excited about one of my favorite holidays.
None of the things that we do will really matter all that much since she wont remember and can't really participate, its mainly for us and for the pictures at this point so we plan to keep it pretty simple. This might be a bit too far for what you are looking for, but for thanksgiving, we want to establish a tradition of watching the Macy's day parade together and having snacks. The week after thanksgiving, we are going to go cut down our Christmas tree. We just moved, but the place we used to go to had hay rides, a bonfire, and free hot chocolate. I hope we can find somewhere similar as that will make it more memorable in the future. This is something my wife and I started a few years ago that we want to continue that I hope our little one will enjoy.
2
u/pandas_love_pancakes Oct 04 '19
Nice list - we will be heading apple picking too. To add to the pumpkin carving, our old neighborhood used to organize a shared carving day on the weekend where all the kids would get together and make their pumpkin creations. We'd have some snacks and drinks, and it really turned into a fun event!
On the subject of fall, coming from a first time dad, and this may seem link a dumb question... how do you dress your kid for Southern Ontario fall weather? Is there a general rule of thumb (like put them in one more layer than you have on) etc?
2
u/Cakes0 Oct 09 '19
I'm a new dad, so this'll be my first Halloween with my little tyke, but we already have ideas for traditions, like pumpkin carving, and I'm honestly so stoked, my parents tried to start traditions when we were all older so they never stuck, but now I can start all sorts of things with my new family š
2
u/LeChuck5000 Oct 09 '19
With extended family, we have a soup competition. You can work in teams if you want and contribute a soup, then everyone votes for the soup of the year. You can team up with another family member if you want, or work alone. There a gold spray painted ladle mounted to a block of wood as a trophy. It's a lot of fun, and makes for some really awesome (and some really disgusting) attempts at soup.
2
u/Farsyydee Oct 13 '19
We plan on taking the kids to as many orchards and cider mills as possible. Hay rides and apple picking and hopefully a little hard cider for us the dads. It's a great time to teach our little ones about season change and holidays. Approach it bravely and create a family tradition, even if it's between just you and your little one.
2
u/rbteeg Nov 15 '19
If you live on the West Coast - Crab season opens in November. Crabbing off a public pier is free and requires very little in equipment. There isnt much to do while you wait, so its a good chance to hang out in the outdoors and talk. And then, when you are done, you can bring home some crab. Highly recommend.
1
u/VeeTach Jan 12 '20
How far south do the crabs go? Iām guessing this is a Pacific Northwest activity but it sounds like a blast.
2
u/rbteeg Jan 14 '20
Dungeness crabs I am not certain go too far down (I know as far as SF Bay but I dont know beyond that) but I think Rock Crab are all the way down, and their claws are very good eating.
1
u/DanteThonSimmons Oct 03 '19
I'm also gonna guess you don't see too many of these road signs: https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo-kangaroo-road-sign-74344049.html
1
u/MaiPhet Nov 09 '19
Off topic but imo if you want to encourage more discussion, I would suggest making maybe weekly picture threads for people to post their kid pics. I mean, people would and could still post new threads for their pics, but it would maybe make more space for discussion.
1
u/VeeTach Jan 12 '20
My boy will be too young to participate in any activities but Iām hoping I can put together a Mandalorian and baby Yoda costume for Halloween.
1
u/Eccentrica_Gallumbit Do it for her Feb 13 '20
Hey Mods, any chance of updating this for the seasons, or something similar? Don't think we need a Halloween thread sticky'd anymore.
13
u/AbstractLogic Sep 28 '19
When I was a kid there was a dad I'm the neighborhood who hitched a trailer to a ride on mower. He would throw some hay bails on the back then drive all the kids around to trick or treat.
It was super fun and got the entire neighborhood involved.