My favorite time of the year is here! The hues of browns, reds, yellow and oranges will be popping up soon. The cooler temperatures and all the fun things about fall: Pumpkin patches, fall nature walks, spooky season, and all the fun fall foods like chili. My kids always joke with me because fall time starts in our home on September 1st. Even if they have a favorite season, they have truly loved fall because of the way we acknowledge and celebrate yearly. Fall equinox is a staple time in our household, and we make sure we go all out to celebrate.
What is the Fall equinox?
Fall equinox is a seasonal change and it marks the first day of fall in the Northern Hemisphere. In more scientific terms it is the day when the sun crosses the equator from the Northern to the Southern Hemisphere. On this day, the sun rises and sets in the east and west. It also is a day when day and night become the same length. Sometimes the dates can vary between September 21st and 22nd, butthis year our Fall Equinox is Monday, September 22nd. Growing up, the fall equinox was always about having gratitude and balance in our lives. A time to truly reflect on the year and the many accomplishments and lessons learned. Then be able to plan ahead for the future with a new season ahead. When I became a mother, I made sure to have the same values with my children and allow us to celebrate as a family.
Here are a few ways to celebrate the Fall equinox with your littles. Some are very educational while others are more so just a thing we do. Hope these ideas can help you think about how you can celebrate with your loved ones:
- ????Fire Pit + S’mores : We use the fire pit often in our backyard, but there’s nothing like a chill evening with all of us sitting around the fire, s’mores and great storytelling or even just sitting in silence. We try to go bigger every year. Most times it is just my husband and children. We have had a big family fire night where their cousins all came over and sat out back by the fire. It’s really a nice space to relax and just be in community with each other without distractions; we have a no phone rule by our fire pit. 🙂
- ????Fall Crafts: I have many ages of children but my two youngest are of an age where the crafts are really fun for them. My youngest son is in 1st grade, and this is really his first full year where he can bring home school-time crafts and art projects. He was home with us during the pandemic and he started Kindergarten last year. So every year, he was used to the “thumbkin” projects and the food print ghosts. Zhuri is in her toddler phase, and she really is into artsy and craft projects, so I have many ideas lined up. I am very much a Pinterest mama so most of my ideas come from there.
- ????️Decorations: Earlier, I said fall starts on September 1st and I truly mean it. I plan it out every year, thanks to my storage of fall items (I do not buy yearly) and the local dollar stores to add minor touches to things in our home. We decorate the porch, our dining and kitchen, and our guest bathroom as well. My older boys are too cool for the fall decor in their rooms now but in our living room I have made sure there’s more to add. It’s just a fun and cozy feel for our household. Especially on days where it may be a ‘hard day,’ fall decor brings me peace.
- ????Fall-themed family nights: Every night is family night, but some weeks are more chaotic than others. We have many sports in this household; soccer, hockey, boxing and wrestling all happening at once. So, the time we do get to sit and be together all at the same time, we will do a family movie night, fall food for dinner, pumpkin painting, or even fall family feud. Our first family night already happened; we created tiny fall bucket lists of things we want to do this fall and watched Coraline together. Our next theme night will be an outdoor movie in fall pjs and possibly karaoke or charades. Any way to disconnect from the world and just be with and enjoy family – again I use Pinterest for ideas. I have to keep the older kids entertained.
- ????Fall outings: From apple picking at Eckert’s, to many pumpkin patches, the farmer’s markets, nature hikes, and more. We are outside a lot. I think one of my family’s favorite outings is the corn maze at Eckert’s in Millstadt. When we go, we usually stay for hours because there’s always so much to do. My two middle school boys both play soccer, as well, so that is also a time when we’re out enjoying the cooler temps with Friday night lights and early Saturday mornings for game days. STL Mom is a great resource to find all your weekly fall plans to go do with your children or even for an adult date night. Now that my older boys are teens and tweens, Six Flag’s Fright Fest is a big one for them that they enjoy yearly. Opening night for fright fest is September 13 and goes all the way until November 2nd.
- ????Fall reading: Any opportunity to read is a great one. The local libraries always do a great job creating the reading challenges, and my family has been doing them for years. They also have many great story time pop-ups for the younger ones. In the north county area, we do the Little Readers Festival every year at the Florissant valley branch. It will happen on Saturday, September 27th this year. It’s catered to children under 5 but there are other opportunities for the entire family that happen at our libraries. Get those kids in a great book for fall. I have a few book purchases I have made recently that I will read over the fall season.
- ☀️ End of Summer celebration: We always celebrate the season before entering a new one. Labor Day usually is our end of summer celebration and that usually looks like a pool, BBQ, and family time. We always take time to talk about what was our favorite moment this summer and plan for things we didn’t get off our bucket list to put for next summer or another season if possible. My kids also love looking at their pictures from summer so when they go to school and don’t remember all the fun they had this summer they can reflect with the many pictures I take and print for them.
I hope our list of things we do to celebrate can give you new ideas or ways you can celebrate with your families. There’s always help of blogs like this one, social media, or just get creative with the kids and make your own new celebration and activities. Happy fall y’all!
