Disclosure: I am currently serving as a “Play Ambassador” for Let’s Play. This is a sponsored post, however, the opinions expressed are my own.
I talk about it all of the time, so you probably don’t even want to get me started.
October and November are hands down, my favorite months of the year.
October has playoff baseball and the return of incredible football match-ups going on, all at the same time. The heat of summer has died down AND we get the excitement and entertainment surrounding Halloween.
This week, I welcomed in November by smashing those rotten pumpkins on the front porch (well, I watched the kids have fun smashing them) and pulling/recycling the fake spider webs out of the front bushes (we’re getting our $1.49 out of those suckers). I took down the paper skeletons, pillowcase ghost on a shovel handle and the fake crow that I had perched on the flag holder.
Almost all of the leaves have fallen from the trees and we’ve enjoyed raking them up and burying one another inside on cool, breezy fall afternoons.
We’re breaking out the flannel shirts, gathering the dried Indian corn around the dining room table and cleaning off the roasting pans.
I can almost taste Thanksgiving.
The holidays (especially this one) always seem to have the greatest food, whether it’s leftover double-decker turkey and gravy sandwiches or sweet potato casserole topped with bruleed marshmallow whip.
These next few weeks are my heaven… before we know it, autumn comes and goes, and the temperatures plunge into the unbearable. In fact, we just had snow in Maryland last night.
SERIOUSLY. I need to clean out the garage and get it ready for ACTUAL CARS. Not just inflatable swimming pools and princess scooters…
With all this food and inclement weather, how do YOU manage to keep your kids active?
As a kid, I remember this time of year very vividly.
With the leaves off of the trees, it offered a different perspective of the woods that surrounded our house.
My brothers and I (mostly me, they were busy with Nintendo) would take hikes without enduring the pain of the thick briars tearing gashes in our thighs and shins. We would collect the vacated, fallen birds’ nests and beehives from the trees and take them to school for show and tell. We would press leaves into a journal and make an effort to identify what tree they came from, using this old, smelly book that my grandfather had passed down to us.
EDITOR’S NOTE: To this day, I judge most books by their smell.
We would scavenge pinecones, pheasant feathers and the shells of the sweet gum tree, in an effort to make a homemade Thanksgiving centerpiece to show off to our grandparents.
The smells, sounds and feel of the weeks surrounding Thanksgiving are just too powerful to deny.
With the weather turning colder, what do you do to keep your kids active this month?
Do you have any specific outdoor activities planned? Or do your kids make their own fun… building forts, making ramps for their bikes, or just lying on their backs, enjoying life as they watch the entrails from the planes of holiday travelers?
Do they throw the football around or put paper grocery bags on their heads and crash into each other?
I want to know about your family and how you celebrate Thanksgiving.
I want to know how YOU plan to keep your kids occupied while you prepare the feast that your family will enjoy.
To sweeten the deal… Let’s Play and Dad or Alive want to offer up a few VISA gift cards.
Give us a glimpse of your family traditions in the comment section below and we’ll give you $25, $50 and $75 to spend it on whatever game or activity defines your holiday fun.
Happy Thanksgiving from Let’s Play and Dad or Alive.
And don’t forget to check out more of what Let’s Play does to support play at LetsPlay.com connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest.
Dad or Alive’s “Thanksgiving Giveaway” starts on Friday, November 14, 2014 and ends on Sunday, November 30, 2014 at 11:59 a.m. (EST), and is open to all Dad or Alive readers, subscribers, and/or fans 18 years old and older in the continental U.S. No purchase required. Three (3) winners will be chosen randomly and announced soon after the ending date. You must leave your contact information to collect your prize. If a winner does not respond within 3 days, a new winner will be chosen. Allow 3-6 weeks for giveaway fulfillment. Prizes valued up to $75.
AnnetteP says
My favorite outdoor activities this fall are just being outside! I really do enjoy walking in this weather.
OWTK says
My girls have brought their Spooner boards into the house and scoot and shimmy all over the place. And then there’s always a good high speed, ‘daddy’s gonna tickle the craps outta ya!’ Chase.
BrendaHaines says
Going to the beach to watch the waves and playing in the leaves with my son.
ChrisBernholdt says
If it is anything like last fall/winter in Philly it means giving each kid a shovel and watching them clean the driveway while I sit on the porch with a cup of hot chocolate. If no snow, then we make hand turkeys and do Thanksgiving crafts before the football games start.
TenorDad says
Definitely leaf play. The kids love to rake them (thank goodness!) and then they love to jump in them. We are also very lucky to live in a cooperative community where there are nearly always children outside for them to play with, so they make their own fun!
ChrisNichols2 says
I enjoy raking and playing in the leaves with my son. I also can’t wait for the first big snowfall so we can build a snowman and have a snowball fight.
marleykristin says
We love hiking on the mountain! We’ve been raking leaves and went to the pumpkin patch a few times.
purposefulpappy says
My son is all about football and jumping on the trampoline!
whittiekre says
I love hiking in the fall
jwinner0601 says
I love carving pumpkins and drinking coffee! Also, wearing scarves and boots!
nealcall says
We recently moved from the concrete of L.A. to a small mountain town, and we’ve enjoyed the changing of seasons with a beautiful driven into the mountains. Thanksgiving is just the right time of year for it.
linjumi says
I love running and hiking