Celebrating Fall: Fun and Games for the Grandkids

Fall is here! The leaves are changing colors, the air is cooling down, and it’s time to get together with family. Whether you’re looking for a way to entertain your grandkids or want ideas for Fall-themed parties, we have just the thing for you! We have some low-prep, fall fun and games for grandkids and grandparents to enjoy together. From favorite afternoon fall activities to holiday games, you’ll find something here that you and your grandkids will love!

As a busy grandmother, I often need to keep things simple and inexpensive around holiday time. These ideas for fall fun and games for the grandkids are all included because they are both! Most of the ideas here can be used with things that you already have around the house. If you don’t, just substitute an item and change things up a bit.

Easy Fall Fun and Games for the Grandkids

We begin with some simple indoor games that your grandkids will love:

• Leaf Blower
• Spider Launch
• Candy Corn Stand Up
• Acorn Pickin’
• Don’t Eat Pumpkin Pete
• Fall Mad Libs

Candy Corn Stand Up

Prep: You will need some candy corn and a table or some other sturdy surface.

To Play: This one is easy peasy! Give two players an equal number of candy corn. Simply stand your candy corn up on the table. The first player to get all of his/her candy corn to stand up is the winner. Or you could again have a time limit and the player with the most candy corn standing when the time has expired, wins.

 

Leaf Blower

Prep: This simple game is simple and doesn’t need much preparation. All you need is a couple of straws, some tape (painters tape works well), and some leaves. The leaves can be real or artificial.

To Play: Make a couple of squares on a table with some tape. Sprinkle the leaves outside of each square. Players must blow leaves into their square. Whoever has the most leaves in their square in 60 seconds (or whatever time limit you choose) wins!

 

Spider Launch

Prep: For this game, you’ll need some small plastic spiders, webbing, and plastic spoons.

To Play: This game can be played as a fun activity or a challenge between two teams. I’ll describe how to use this activity as a challenge. Put up some webbing for each team. Have the teams line up however you choose – in front of each webbing.

Give the first person in each line a plastic spoon and some plastic spiders. When you say, “Go!”, each team begins “launching” the spiders at their webbing by holding the handle of the spoon and using the other end to “launch” the spiders at the web. The team who gets the most spiders in their web after a certain amount of time or after each player has had a turn, wins.

 

Acorn Pickin’

Prep: Here’s another super simple game. You will need some acorns (or some brown craft pom poms will do), a bowl, and a pair of chopsticks. This game takes a bit of coordination so you may want to reserve it for older grandchildren. However, your younger grands could make up their own version of how to use the chopsticks.

To Play: Again this can be played as a single player against a fixed amount of time or in teams. The object is to pick up the acorns with the chopsticks and put them in the bowl. Sound simple? Yeah. . .just try it! Whichever team has the most in their bowl at the end of the time, wins. Or, a single player just tries to get all their acorns in the bowl before time is up.

 

Don’t Eat Pumpkin Pete!

Prep: All you need for this game is the “Don’t Eat Pumpkin Pete!” gameboard and some bite-sized Fall-colored candy. I’ve included the printable gameboard here.

To Play: This game is great for all ages! Put one piece of candy in each square of the gameboard. Choose one person who is “it” to go out of the room. After the person is gone, the rest of the group chooses one of the pumpkins to be Pumpkin Pete for that round.

The person who is “it” comes back into the room but doesn’t know which square Pumpkin Pete is in. That person then picks up a candy from one of the squares. If the square doesn’t contain Pumpkin Pete, then the person can eat the piece of candy. However, if the square has Pumpkin Pete in it, the group yells, “Don’t eat Pumpkin Pete!” The person has to return the candy to the square and their turn to be “It” is over. Another player is then chosen to be “It.” Play continues for as long as the group is having fun.

Fall MadLibs Stories

Who doesn’t love MadLibs?? The beauty of this activity is that the story can turn out different each time. So you can do it over and over. You can find many free MadLibs online.

Prep: Fall MadLib story, a pencil, and some imagination.

To Play: Choose one person to be the reader. The rest of the group fills in the story by choosing words that match the parts of speech that the reader asks for. The group does this without looking at the story. The reader simply asks for each part of speech in the order that is listed. When all the words are chosen, the reader then reads the story out loud substituting the words into the MadLib story.

Next up, are some easy crafts for your fall fun and games party. . .

Easy Fall and Games for the Grandkids with Crafts

These simple crafts will allow your grandchildren to do their own thing and be creative. The beauty of these crafts are that they can be done mostly with things you already have around the house making them pretty inexpensive. They are:

• Make a Monster
• Paper Strip Pumpkins
• Apple Pumpkin Prints
• Leaf Rubbings

Make a Monster

This activity is great for allowing the kids to use their imaginations and express some creativity. Here is what you need for each child:

• A small can of play dough (or more if you have them)
• Some wiggly eyes
• Pipe cleaners – any and all colors work great
• Different sizes of craft pom poms
• Any other embellishment that you think would make good monster “parts”

 

Have the kids shape their own monster bodies using the play dough. Then have them create their monster by using any of the other supplies. Their monsters can be friendly or scary, pretty or hairy. It’s all up to them!

When the kids are done, give them a bag to keep all of their monster parts in. Make sure the play dough is back in it’s can or it will dry out. If they keep everything in the bag, the kids can re-create as many monsters as they want. You can give them an extra challenge by having them make up a story about their monster.

Paper Strip Pumpkins

There is not a lot of preparation for this craft. You only need some orange and green cardstock and a couple of paper fasteners (some people call these brads).

I have included pictures at the bottom of this section for the instructions below. . .

Step 1: Cut the orange cardstock into equal strips going along the 11″ length of the paper. I like 8 -1″ strips. However, the strips can be as wide or skinny as you want it to be. You may even let the children just cut their own. Even if the strips are not equal or straight, it will give the pumpkin some originality and creativity unique to that child.

Step 2: Lay all the strips in a stack on top of each other. Punch a small hole through each end of the strip stack so that each strip has two holes in it – one on each end. Punch these holes about 1/2″ in from each edge of the strips.

Step 3: Insert one of the paper fasteners through all the strips of paper on one end and expand the two sides of the fastener on the backside of the stack. Only do this on one end of the strip stack. (Note: I found that the pumpkin will stand up better if you turn that “brad” upside down so the ends of the fastener are on the very bottom of the pumpkin.)

Step 4: Next, lay the stack of strips in front of you and fan out each of the strips until they make a circle. This next part takes just a slight bit of coordination so younger grands may need some help.

Step 5: (not pictured) Grab the loose end of one of the strips and raise it up to where you think the top of the pumpkin should be. Hold it there while you grab the strip that is directly next to it and meet the other strip at the “top” of the pumpkin. Continue doing this until you have all the strips raised up and your strips now look like a pumpkin.

While holding the strips, match up the holes and put the other paper fastener through all the strips of paper and expand the ends of the paper fastener to hold the strips tight.

You can embellish your pumpkin with a stem out of the green cardstock and attach it to the top of the pumpkin. It can be flat or 3-D. Use your imagination! You can use markers or crayons to embellish your pumpkin with curly vines or other decorations.

Apple Print Pumpkins

Ever thought about how apples and pumpkins kind of have the same shape? It’s just that one is generally quite a bit bigger than the other. Well, if you’ve thought that, you would be right! This next craft takes advantage of the fact that they do look alike.

For this craft, you will need half of a large apple for each child and some paint or ink pads in orange and green.

Simply cut the apples in half and give one to each child. Also give each child a piece of paper. If using paint, I like to get each child a small paper plate and squeeze a small bit of each color of paint onto the plate. Have the child dip the inside of the apple half facedown into the orange paint. Then have them “stamp” it onto their paper. They can then use the green paint to create a little stem, leaves and vines on their pumpkin if they want. (Alternately, they could use crayons or colored markers instead of the green paint.)

Alternately, they could simply make apples out of their stamps. They can then add stems and leaves to those as well.

Since I don’t have photos of this craft, I found Jen over at the ABC’s of Motherhood who does a similar type of craft. . .plus, she has a great hack for putting a “handle” on the apple! Very clever!! Check out her Fall Apple Stamp Tree Craft.

 

Leaf Rubbings

This craft is probably something you remember from your own childhood. It’s a great craft for smaller children. They love seeing the leaf “appear” right before their very eyes!

Gather up some leaves and lay them as flat as possible on the table. Then place a piece of white paper over the leaves. Tear the paper off the crayon you want to use and rub the side of the crayon across the paper where one of the leaves are. You will begin to see the outline of the leaf and many details from the leaf as well. Try using different colors for each leaf – the kids may enjoy using some unconventional colors like blue, purple, or pink.

Simple Fun and Games for the Grandchildren with Food

What would fall fun and games for grandkids be without some fun food! There are a few ideas here that are easy to put together and makes for a fun activity with the grandkids. Feel free to change these up to fit your grandkids liking.

Here’s what’s in the line up:

• Festive Fall Snack Mix
• Pumpkin Patch Pudding Cups
• Caramel Apple Dippers

Festive Fall Snack Mix

Ingredients: (adjust these quantities if you want more or less)

• 4 Cups of Chex Cereal (honey nut, chocolate, plain cereal)
• 2 Cups of Mini Twisted Pretzels
• 1 Cup of Honey Roasted Peanuts
• 2 Cup of Reeses Pieces
• 1 Cup of Candy Corn (or you can use the mix with the candy pumpkins as well)

Flavor Coating:

• 1/2 C. Butter (melted)
• 1/2 C. Brown Sugar
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1-2 Tbsp. Pumpkin Pie Spice (adjust to your liking – 1 T. has a light taste & 2 T. is quite heavy)

Directions:

1. Mix the cereal, pretzels and peanuts together in a large bowl.
2. In a small bowl, mix all the ingredients for the flavor coating together – butter, brown sugar, vanilla, and Pumpkin Pie spice. Mix until well blended.
3. Pour the flavor coating over the dry mix of cereal, pretzels and peanuts. Stir this all together to coat the dry mix as completely as possible.
4. Spread out this mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spread it out into an even layer across the baking sheet.
5. Bake at 275° for 45 minutes. Stir the mixture about every 15 minutes.
6. Spread onto another piece of parchment paper or wax paper and let the mixture cool.
7. After the mix has cooled, toss it back into the large bowl and mix in the Reeses Pieces and candy corn.
8. Store in an airtight container.

Pumpkin Patch Pudding Cups

To make these, you will need to make some chocolate pudding and put them into plastic or paper cups. Next, crush up some Oreo cookies minus the cream filling (how you take out the filling is YOUR business). You want to crush up the cookies pretty fine to look like dirt. Sprinkle the crushed Oreo cookie “dirt” on top of each pudding cup. Then add some little candy pumpkins and the pumpkin patch sign (printable included here).

You can make these for the kids or let them help. This type of treat can double as a craft at your fun fall and games for grandkids party.

Caramel Apple Dippers

Here’s another super easy, yummy treat for the kids this Fall.

Simply cut up some apples into slices, then cut the slices into chunks. Warm up some caramel dipping sauce. This is available at most grocery stores or use a homemade recipe. (Oh, and if you have a yummy homemade caramel sauce, PLEASE share it with us in the comments. I’ll love you forever!!)

Give each child some dipping sauce, apple chunks, and a toothpick. Why a toothpick? Because EVERYTHING is better if a child can dip their food using a toothpick! If you don’t believe me. . .just try it. I promise it will satisfy even the pickiest eaters.

Are You a Planning a Party Using Some Fall Fun and Games for Your Grandkids?

I hope this list gives you some ideas on how to celebrate the season with some fun Fall activities and games with the grandkids! These ideas are great for an actual Fall party or just some fun afternoon fun and games. You may even want to use them in connection with a Fall holiday like Halloween or Thanksgiving. Whatever you decide, keep it simple and make it fun!