Now that summer is winding down and kids are going back to school, cool weather activities are on the brain. Autumn is one of the most beautiful times of the year and there is so much to do outdoors and indoors. Here are some ideas to get you started. Apple Picking - The colorful leaves and beautiful weather are enough to get anyone outside but adding in the adventure of apple picking can keep kids interested for hours. We have a local orchard where kids can pick their own apples. Afterward, we always end up with way more apples than we know what to do with. You can always make a homemade apple pie or apple sauce but if you want to try something new, consider using your handpicked apples to make a delicious filling for churros. Akin to the cinnamon sugar-covered apple cider doughnuts that are sold at our local orchard, apple cider churros are fun to make at home with kids and SO delicious. Tip: Before using your apples in your desserts, fill a bucket up with water and let your kids try bobbing for apples! Pumpkin Carving - Another fun fall activity to do with kids is pumpkin carving. We like to pick our favorite pumpkins from our local pumpkin patch, which has tons of pumpkin varieties so our kids can pick the perfect one. But, I realized that carving pumpkins creates a ton of waste as you have to carve out the gourd in order to create a spooky jack-o-lantern. We started roasting the pumpkin seeds which I love for topping salads and even as a healthy snack. You can also use the pumpkin to create a pumpkin cheesecake churro filling (or, you can just pick up some pumpkin puree from the store). For a more kid-friendly jack-o-lantern, give your kids paint, markers, or stickers to decorate their pumpkins. Throw a pumpkin decorating party for your kids and their friends and serve delicious mini pumpkin-flavored churros that are easy to make at home. DIY Fall Decor - If it’s too chilly to play outside, bring autumn indoors and let your kids help decorate the house, make crafts, and cuddle up with a good movie like “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.” For an easy, budget-friendly fall craft: make little leaf ghosts to decorate for Halloween. “Send the kids out to forage for fallen leaves, and then head indoors to make these un-boo-lievably adorable ghosts. Paint the leaves with white paint. Once dry, draw on black eyes with a black permanent marker. String them together for a spooky garland, scatter them along the table, or use them as place cards” (Check out more fall craft ideas at Country Living). 5. Play in the fall leaves - Make yard work fun. The changing leaves of Autumn are a blessing and a curse. The beautiful foliage can be a pain to rake up once they fall from trees; but, you can have some fun with leaves at home with your kids. Let your kids jump in leaf piles after raking them up! You can also go on a hike for a “leaf hunt.” Bring a plastic baggie or folder on your hike and your kids can collect beautiful leaves off the trail and identify them at home. Use some of their leaves to create leaf rubbing art by placing the leaves under a piece of white paper and using a crayon to reveal the leaf print. End the afternoon with a delicious treat!