Celebrating Fall

As Christian's we do not celebrate Halloween. It's a personal choice but there is so much to Fall besides the ghosts and goblins and the harvest season is upon us once again; a time for celebrating the bounty brought forth from God and a time of wonder amidst the beauty and charm of autumn!

Fall Harvest Carnival Theme Ideas:.
Pumpkin Seed Toss - Number and line up 5 small baskets or crates; then have the children stand 3 feet in front of the first crate and toss seeds into the crates in sequence. Small prizes can be given for each of the crates they get their seeds in.
Corn Husking Race - Give each child 4 ears of unhusked corn and race to see who can have all of their corn husked first.
Pumpkin Walk - This is like a regular cake walk except instead of numbers, place pictures of several fall items on the floor for the children to walk on and call out the names of the items instead of numbers. Use fall themed music such as "Turkey In The Straw" or "Jimmy Cracked Corn".
Floating Pumpkins - Number the bottom of the small gourds that look like miniature pumpkins and float them in water for the children to choose one for small prizes.
Picking Apples - A regular sucker pull can become "Apple Picking." Make a large apple tree with lots of red apples out of construction paper; then connect the tree to some peg board. Mark the tips of the handles on only a few carmel apple suckers then poke them through the peg board holes; poke several unmarked suckers around the marked suckers; then let the kids pick an apple. Have prizes ready for those who get the marked suckers, but everyone gets to keep the sucker they pulled.
Musical Bales - Play musical chairs with bales of straw instead of chairs. A scarecrow in the center makes a fun decoration for this game.
The Squirrel Game - Let the kids pretend they are squirrels gathering nuts for the winter. Give each of the kids a small paper bag, then toss out several unshelled nuts onto the floor and let the kids race to see who can collect the most. Older and younger children should be separated for this game. Another way to play this game, (if you have a way to corral a large quantity of leaves) is to hide nuts beneath a large pile of leaves and give the kids a set amount of time to find as many nuts as they can.
Turkey In The Straw - Fill a wading pool with straw and hide a small picture of a turkey in it for groups to dig through to see who can find it first.
Pumpkin Race - Set up starting and finish lines and have the children race to see who can get their pumpkin over the finish line first using only their feet to slide the pumpkins along. Scarecrow Relay - This game is a little messy, but a whole lot of fun! Divide the children into two equal groups and have each group form a line. Provide identical scarecrow costumes for each group consisting of a pair of bib overalls or an old faded pair of jeans with a rope for a belt, a flannel shirt, a straw hat, & a basket of straw or the softer version of straw like material that is sold in craft stores. The first person in line is to put the scarecrow costume on over their clothes and stuff the straw under their hats and inside the flannel shirt or bib overalls. Once they are completely dressed they must go to the end of their line, remove the straw & costume and pass the items as they are removed up through the line to the person at the front of the line. When the last player has finished passing up the pieces to the costume, have the first person in line lay the complete costume out on the floor in front of the line. The group that finishes first is the winner.

Decor can include grape vines, pumpkins, leaves in greens, browns and oranges - let your mind wander and go outside and look around for even more ideas!