It’s almost the end of October, and we’re getting deep into the heart of fall now. You can see the leaves changing colors and feel the air getting crisper, but with the unusual circumstances of this year, you may not be experiencing fall in the usual way. The solution is to create fall for yourself!

 

Here are five sports you and your kids can play in your backyard or at the playground, each with a fall-themed twist!

 

Touch Football 

The twist: Use giant piles of leaves for endzones.

Football is the ultimate fall sport. Just grab a couple of buddies and the ol’ pigskin and you’ve got yourself a game! Instead of using cones or natural markers for endzones, rake two piles of leaves into a tarp and place them on either side of the playing field. Score touchdowns by running or diving into the pile of leaves. 

If you don’t have enough leaves to line the entire endzone, just create a small pile in each end zone. Make it extra points to jump into the pile, but not required. The best part of a fall afternoon is diving into a pile of fresh leaves, and now you can play a friendly game of football at the same time!

 

Basketball 

The twist: Decorate basketballs with glow in the dark paint. 

Let’s combine sports with arts and crafts for an awesome fall twist on basketball. Everyone loves carving and accessorising pumpkins for Halloween, so why not do the same for basketballs? Basketballs are orange so they already resemble pumpkins, so all you need is some glow in the dark paint to create your own basketball jack-o’-lantern!

You can buy glow in the dark paint at your local arts and crafts store, or online, and embellish your basketball with scary facial expressions and ghostly designs. Then take your decorated basketballs to the court after dark and play a nighttime game of spooky basketball! Don’t go alone, and make sure your parents know where you are.

 

Soccer 

The twist: Stack pumpkins and use them as goalposts.

Everyone who loves fall has oodles of pumpkins lining their front yard, pumpkin pie cooking in their oven, or even pumpkins seeds in their pantry for a healthy snack. Now we have another use for pumpkins — soccer goal posts! 

Create the goals by lining two pumpkins up about five feet apart on each side of the playing field. To make the goals more easily seen, stack pumpkins on top of each other to truly create high soccer goal posts. Then grab a soccer ball and go for a goal!

 

Lacrosse 

The twist: Use apples instead of the regular ball.

How can we talk about fall traditions without mentioning apples? Whether you go apple-picking, bob for apples on Halloween, or simply enjoy a cup of apple cider, there’s no debating the place of apples during the fall season. 

We can add lacrosse to the many uses of apples. They’re about the same size as lacrosse balls, and they’re easier to find during the fall. Take your sticks out and practice throwing an apple back and forth — it’s a lot of fun, and you can eat your ball when you’re done! 

 

Track/Cross Country

The twist: Run through a cornfield or forest.

Runners are some of the fastest and strongest athletes, but their training often consists of running around the same track every day. Take advantage of fall to enhance your training regimen.

If your child runs track, take them to a cornfield and time how long it takes them to run one, two, or four laps. If your child runs cross country, do the same in a small forest or wooded area with a path. The change of scenery may improve their speed, and it will definitely improve their spirit! 

 

Fall weather is ideal for sports, so take advantage of it while you can. If your kids come up with any great fall-themed games yourself, upload a video to the Campfire so the rest of the Happy Camper Live community can play too. Enjoy!