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I’m a big fan of bucket lists—lists are my jam! There’s something immensely satisfying about crossing items off a list (a bit of negative reinforcement, if you’re into the psychology of it). My numerous bucket lists offer me that sense of accomplishment and more. As I work on shifting my mindset from an all-or-nothing approach—where I feel compelled to complete everything on the list—to a more relaxed attitude of “do what you can,” I’m finding that my perspective on these lists is evolving from short-term goals to long-term enjoyment.

Last year, I created bucket lists for each of the kids’ breaks: fall, winter, spring, and summer. Realistically, only the summer break list was manageable since it spanned two months.

This year, I’m taking a different approach. Since the goal of these lists was never to tick off every item completely (even though my inner perfectionist kept insisting I should), it doesn’t matter whether we tackle these activities over a one- or two-week period, or spread them across the entire season. I originally made these lists to have a repertoire of ideas for when boredom struck or when we “ran out of things to do” during the breaks, which inevitably happened.So our fall bucket list…

• Visit a pumpkin patch
• Carve pumpkins
• Make leaf rubbings
• Fall color scavenger hunt
• Visit a fall carnival or fair
• Trick or Treat
• Make apple cider
• Watch spooky movies
• Make a new recipe with pumpkins
• Watch a football game
• Share what you are thankful for
• Donate food to a blessing box
• Bake a pie
• Decorate the house for fall
• Make chili
• Go on a hayride
• Make a fall craft
• Roast marshmallows
• Relax by a warm fire
• Decorate the house for Halloween
• Light a fall scented candle
• Go apple picking
• Take a fall themed family photo
• Roast pumpkin seeds
• Make caramel apples
• Go on a hike
• Collect different colored leaves
• Attend a fall festival
• Visits corn maze
• Have a Friendsgiving
• Make fall holiday cookies
• Read a fall holiday book
• Make a spooky playlist
• Build a haunted house using recycled materials
• Decorate a spooky gingerbread house
• Do a Halloween scavenger hunt
• Play Halloween BINGO
• Play Thanksgiving Day parade BINGO
• Do a fall puzzle
• Collect pine ones
• Make a scarecrow

Featured image from DepositPhotos artist: poznyakov