10 Fun Fall Activity Ideas

Fall is just around the corner. The days get shorter. The sky turns into a fiery gold and mahogany sheaf laying a rustic leafy carpet of harvest pastels.  This is the season of Autumn Festivals where creativity knows no bounds. That said, why not plan your own fall fest this year. It's a wonderful way to introduce the seasons bounty to sons and daughters and make unforgettable memories along the way.

Here are some activity ideas:

Fall Fest Activity List

1. Plan an autumn stroll in the park and stop for some refreshing apple cider and warm pumpkin or sweet potato pie right from the picnic basket.  
2. Collect colorful leaves and press them in the pages of your favorite books. Pine cones, leaves and hazelnuts to make an autumn reef. 
3. Have a leaf raking party with all your family and friends including an outdoor BBQ and leaf bagging relay race.
4. Visit an apple orchard or pumpkin patch. 
5. Have a scarf or sweater knitting party.
6. Make your own kites and go kite flying this fall.
7. Have a harvest recipe swap complete with a dish tasting party.
8. Have a harvest themed bake sale.
9. Have an autumn themed book swapping party for adults and the kids.
10. Visit local fall festivals and enjoy those juicy sweet caramel apples.
11. Plan a school, club, corporation or community fall fest. 
    

Get fall festival marketing memorabilia ideas here.

Preserving Memories

Did you enjoy this years family reunion? Use the Newsletter template and Slide show app that comes in Fimark's award winning Family Reunion Planner Social web app and publish those memories. 

The web app interface provides access to all our standard event planning templates, printables, worksheets in pdf and word format and ebooks as well as the reunion planning spreadsheet with attendee database. What, don't have Fimark's award winning Family Reunion Planner Social web app yet? Good news. The app is reduced from $49 to only $39 for a limited time. Go to http://family-reunion-planner.fimark.net/index1.html and get started on your family reunion fundraiser, newsletter, slideshow and your next fun filled family reunion event.

More Family Reunion Freebies

Every now and then I like to point my readers in the direction of some great free stuff so you can save those hard earned dollars used for your family reunion event. Here's a great deal if you're looking for music to play at the reunion or you want to create a family reunion slideshows and video. 

Did you know that Amazon.com offers free music downloads to subscribers? Just can beat it. Go to www.fimark.net and click on the Music MP3's link. Then click on "Deals". Next select "Free."

Hey, here's a great idea. Make a family reunion slideshow for your Reunion Banquet Dinner. Show a scene from each past family reunion event. Make the video short and sweet, no more than 10 minutes in length.  Enjoy the freebies!

Need help planning your family reunion. Get Fimark's Family Reunion Planner Social Web app. It guides you through the entire process from planning. organizing and managing your event. 

What? Don't have Fimark's Family Reunion Planner Social Web app? Was $49. Now $39. You save a whopping $10 bucks. Click on the link on this page. Instant downloads after setup. Happy family reunion planning.

Labor Day Weekend Activities For Kids.

It's Labor Day weekend, and whether you have kids sleeping over or not  you're trying to figure out what to do with a house full of kids high on adrenalin that won't leave you exhausted or break the bank. 

As they wind down children tend to be accident prone, irritable and less attentive to the needs of others. The key to enjoying the weekend is giving them something fun to do that is both intellectually and emotionally stimulating leaving each child with a sense of wonder, discovery and accomplishment.  What might that be? Read the following articles for great weekend activity ideas.

http://familyreunionplanners.blogspot.com/2014/08/best-family-reunion-activity-for-kids-3.html

http://familyreunionplanners.blogspot.com/2014/05/how-to-blow-gazillion-gigantic-bubbles.html

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Best Family Reunion Activity For Kids 3 and Up

When it comes to planning family reunion activities, sometimes kids ages 3-8 get the short end of the stick (no pun intended). And if you haven't planned age specific activities you're in for a bit of a surprise. What surprise you say? Think about this. It's a known fact that most kids in the 3-7 age group have shorter attention spans than their older counterparts, teenagers. That said, those youngsters attention will only go as far as the activities take them. What to do?

Believe Here's a secret to keeping even the youngest of the younger generation totally and completely engaged for 3 - 4 hours straight with no deviation to the program what-so-ever.  I've been personally implementing this solution for over a decade and believe me it works brilliantly. Even better, teens and grownups love it. And that's a plus because when grownups are engaged in activities our little ones love they will play longer without disturbing those involved in other activities. 

Secret Solution Revealed So what's the big secret to keeping those munchkins happily at play during your next family reunion? Put on a soap bubble show. That's right, a low cost, inexpensive, easy peasy super duper soap bubble show. No, we're not talking about passing out little bottles of liquid soap with mini wands in them.  We're talking about a full blown presentation table surrounded by a cheering audience enthralled at all sorts of bubble tricks leaving everyone entertained and begging for more.

What You Need
So how can you pull this off? The secret is in the presentation. 

What you'll need: 
1. Giant Bubble Soap Solution 
2. Volunteer Bubble Artist / Performer 
3. Assorted Bubble Wands and Tools 
4. A Card Table  
5. 10 Bubble Tricks 
6. Plenty of Space 
5. Sunny or Cloudy Day (no rain) 
6. Temperatures above 38 degrees 
7. Some practice

Once you've mastered the performing art of bubble blowing you are ready to throw a bubble show. Caution:Bubble play is addictive and very fulfilling. Just checkout the  number of soap bubble artists on YouTube. Once you get started you won't want you to stop. Don't say I didn't warn you. Happy family reunion planning. 

What! Don't have Fimark's Family Reunion Planner Social web app yet? It's the ideal event planning app for desktop PC's and tablets. Try it, we think you'll like it. Get quick access to the app from the links on this web blog page.

5 August Family Reunion Planning Tips and Reminders

1. 

   
   August is the eighth month of the Gregorian calendar. Latin for "sixth month," indicating its position in the early Roman calendar. It means respected, distinguished, illustrious and impressive. For kids of around the world the last month of summer vacation typically ends in August or early September. 

   The last weeks of August and early September are considered the last hurrah when it comes to summer vacation.  When family reunions are scheduled at the end of the month just about everyone wants to make it something special. So here are five August family reunion planning tips you're bound to enjoy.

   5 August Family Reunion Planning Tips

   1. Find a Virtually Mosquito Free Area. Whether you're at home or on vacation, Find out when mosquito season is likely to be at its peak. The website Weather.com has a handy customized mosquito activity forecast, where you can type in a zip code and see a prediction of mosquito activity in that area. If mosquito activity is high consider using organic, natural repellents or planning some activities indoors.

   2.  Dress Appropriately Each Day. While August temperatures are typically in the 80's and 90's with lots of sunny days it's best to find out the daily highs and lows, humidity and barometric pressure well in advance as this will determine what activities are best when planning your reunion event.
   
   3. Genealogy Recital. Family reunions are not complete without a recital of family history and genealogical chronology. It's best to keep it simple and light while adding a few impressive points of note as well as humorous, inspiring anecdotes. 

   4.  Watch a Movie In The Park. If the evenings are cool and the park is open this would be a great time to snuggle up and watch a movie in the park or on the beach. Serve hot buttery popcorn, S'mores and chilled fruit salad cups with a variety of drinks.

   5. Play Water Sports and Games. Cool down with a line of water sports activities everyone will enjoy. Start off with wet dodge ball, which is simply a sponge ball soaked in water. Play water balloon relay or enjoy a variety of activities by the beach or at a pool.

   For more in depth  reunion activity planning ideas read my family reunion planning book featured on this page. For family reunion event planning from start to finish access the family reunion planner social web app. Everything you need to start planning a memorable family reunion.

5 Fun DIY Family Reunion Activity Ideas

Looking at our most resent family reunion keepsake booklet it is commendable that we've enjoyed over 40 years of fun and inspiring family reunion events. I would have to say that commitment to strong family values is the key.

If you're like me you want each family reunion occasion to be the most memorable for everyone involved. Whether your reunion is just around the corner or several weeks away there are ways you can put an indelible mark on the memory of your next family reunion event.  Here are 5 fun DIY family reunion activity ideas that won't break the bank.

This Months Events: So you've planned some activities but still need last minute activity ideas.Something that the children will consider outstanding, fun and memorable. Nothing comes close to  these three exciting activities.

1.  Dodge Ball - Water Balloon Slam

2.  Bubble Show - Performing Arts with Giant SUV Size Soap Bubbles!

3.  A Fun Relay Race 

4. An Outdoor Music Concert featuring a family members garage band

5.  A Food Fest featuring the families favorite recipes

For more details on these activities consult your family reunion planner web app.

Future Events:  If your event is months away consider planning a family talent show right now. Talent shows rank high on the most popular family reunion activities list and certainly the most entertaining. The fun part of planning a talent show is the auditions. Take video of each audition and make it a feature of the show. The laughs and awe are unending.  Select clean comedy, well rehearsed music recitals, good singing, cute clown or gymnastics acts, professional puppet shows and other engaging performances.   

Tip: Most families have at least one performing arts professional. Include them. Call the talent show something like, "The Smiths Got Talent!"

Past Events: We suggest sending attendees a newsletter sharing the highlights of your event. The newsletter maker is readily available along with the keepsake reunion booklet maker, genealogy presentation worksheets, a welcome package and so much more using Fimark's Family Reunion Planner Social web app. Quick planner access provided at the bottom of the page.

How To Raise Funds For Your Family Reunion

Need more funds for your family reunion? There are a number of ways to raise funds. Much has to do with the kind of event you're planning. We'll discuss some of the more popular fundraising ideas in this article. But first let's talk about promoting the event.

To raise funds for your event you need the support of key players who will help you plan, organize and manage the event. Consider family members with exceptionally good social and communication skills. The best way to go about soliciting support is to feed your potential volunteers, and feed them well. That's right, invite them over and feed them a light lunch complete with a yummy dessert. About midway thru the course while you are pouring drinks ask them for fund raising ideas. Find out what they have done to raise funds for other charitable events. Next warmly ask for their support. Next you'll to promote your fundraiser. 

The Young At Heart Should Take Part

Get the youth and young at heart involved in the process as soon as possible. Tell them what you want to accomplish and get their ideas on how they plan to pull it off. They'll offer loads of them just brain storming. Get all the ideas down in writing. Make sure your ideas for event activities center around the interests of family members, especially those most prominent and most loved. Get the fun and active family members involved. Give them specific assignments that are in their area of expertise.

1. Have some draw up and mail fundraiser invitational flyers.
2. Have some send animated announcement ecard from their phone or tablet
3. Have others call older family members and arrange for transportation to the event.

Memorabilia and Keepsakes

A great way to raise funds is by way of selling memorabilia and keepsake items like t-shirts, caps, visors, aprons and hand bags. Once you decide on a theme and slogan for the event it's time to begin designing the art for t-shirts and other keepsake items. Fimark's Family Reunion Planner web app showcases pre-designed event theme art on t-shirts, caps, visors, aprons and hand bags via Zazzle.com. The interface allows you to price and sell these items and more online. 

Reunion Website with Fund Raising Features

Another fun idea is to hold an online fundraiser from your family reunion website. Fimark's Family Reunion Planner web app guides you through the process. Just open a family reunion website account, select the fundraiser form and you're up and running in minutes. Send a link to all your event invitees with periodic updates featuring those who contributed. You might even offer a prize to persons donating $50 or more.  Example: Win a free Family Reunion Keepsake Book filled with family reunion recipes, family history charts and a journal and genealogy section. You can also even sell tickets to the reunion event. The family reunion website is enabled with an event ticket sales feature. If you're going to sell tickets to the event you'll want the entertainment to be above standard. How?

Have talented family members? Treat your family reunion like a concert. Invite talented entertainers, artists and craft person to showcase their skills at the family reunion talent show. Have the event catered and hire a highly recommended event decorator and band. Many of these services are a part of the package when renting out a reception hall.

Traditional Fund Raising Ideas

If you want to keep the reunion event simple another way to raise funds is a book and bake sale. Find out what desserts, books, music and DVD's your family members like most. Create a list of deserts and books, music CDs and DVD titles family members like.  Send the list to all family members asking for title and baked goods donations. Next invite all family members to a local book and bake sale and use the proceeds to fund the family reunion event. 

The company is MyEvent.com. They boast having helped raise over $25,000,000 and is the only company that allows individuals to accept donations online and sell tickets without a merchant account on a complimentary fundraising web page that has no ads and hundreds of design themes to choose from.