Ready for Autumn?  The air is crisp in the mornings and at night, the summer’s bounty is about to be harvested, and it is a time to enjoy the season with your nieces and nephews. Here’s to a celebration of the traditional season of fall. If your niece or nephew is having a party in September or October, this is an excellent theme.

This is a great party to do either at your home or at an outside venue, such as a local farm. So, take a look around and see if there are any local farms in your area that allow for parties. If you hold your celebration at such a location, the hayride and picking of apples and pumpkins will be great activities whether it’s just you and your own nieces and nephews or a whole party of kids.

Invitations

Cut out leaf shapes or autumn harvest shapes and place them on card stock and include all of the information on the inside of your card.

Decorations

Orange, brown, and yellow are great colors for this theme. Purchase party and table ware in these colors.  Alternatively, you can use leaf patterns.

Use mini pumpkins for your table centerpiece.

Tall cornhusks and bales of hay would add another decorative touch to the party.

Crafts

Paint/Decorate mini-pumpkins and have the kids can take these home. ?

Make Scarecrow Candy Necklaces.  Using straw, have the kids string round candies with holes in the center to make their necklaces.

Sponge paint placemats with leaf shapes.

Games/Activities

Bob for apples. ?

Have a Pumpkin Roll Contest. Divide the kids into two teams and provide a pumpkin to each team. Have the kids roll it to one end and back and pass it along to the next person. ?
Throw a Hula Hoop around a large pumpkin.

If you have bales of hay, have the kids jump over the bales of hay as an obstacle relay race.
String up donuts and tie the kids’ arms behind their backs. Have them eat the donuts off of the line without using their hands.

Hold a scavenger hunt outdoors. If at night, hand out glow sticks for the kids to search for the loot.

Fill a large cardboard box with leaves and place toys in the leaves. Have the kids put their hands inside the box and pick out a toy.

Play Hot Pumpkin, like Hot Potato. ?

Menu

BBQ is always good for this type of a party; spice it up with spare ribs. ?
Chili is also an excellent option. Have all of the fixn’s so that people can enjoy topping it off. ?
Serve corn bread muffins.

Make Rice Krispie Treats and add orange food coloring to them. Stick them on a Popsicle stick for a treat.

Serve Apple Cider. As an added treat, place caramels on fancy sticks and have the kids stir it into their apple cider for Hot Caramelized Apple Cider.

Make caramel apples.

Make sugar cookies cut out into autumn shapes. Have the kids decorate the cookies with frosting and candies.

Make a batch of cupcakes and ice them with orange frosting and little black, orange, and white sprinkles. The kids can always do the decorating.

Goody Bags

Purchase little plastic pumpkins, which are so popular as trick or treat bags this time of year. Fill it with all things “fall” - caramel apple cider packets with a cinnamon stick, little themed notebooks, pencils, erasers, pumpkin candy, and candy corn packets.

Happy Autumn, Savvy Auntie!

Republished: September 17, 2014