I told my son that next month, I’m taking him and his sister apple picking. The first word out of his mouth was “Why?”

Followed by, “Can’t we just buy them from the store?”  

See. This is why we really need to get outdoors more and experience nature. Our kids (or should I say kid?) have grown accustomed to city life and modern conveniences, to the point of becoming indifferent to how things are made or where they come from.  I seriously couldn’t believe this dude’s response. Like, whose child is this?

When I was a kid, I used to get excited every time my mom took me and my brothers to the apple orchard.  Growing up in upstate NY, apples are plenty. Good apple cider is everywhere in the stores from local farms.  I can still remember us coming home with big boxes of apples.  My mom would make all types of apple stuff. We’d have baked apples or fresh apple pie. You know the deep dish kind with the dope crust. Yeah, that was us.

I want my kids to have great fall memories too.  So that means putting the electronics and toys down and getting outdoors.

Get Outside and Explore With Your Kids This Fall

This weekend I forced my son into the car and took him and his sister for a drive.  We took a few country roads to get to downtown Franklin, TN.  This time we set out to explore Franklin’s Bicentennial Park for a bit.  The section shown below is Point Park , which has a nice walkway and observation area that overlooks the Harpeth River.

After a nice walk, we ventured across the street from the walkway to check out Reed’s Produce & Garden Center. Their outside stands are full of fall fruits and vegetable.   I wasn’t really a fan of the peaches or plums I saw, but they had a TON of gorgeous tomatoes and pumpkins of all types and sizes.  

Inside is a no frills market with a lot of homemade canned goods like preserves, jellies and jams.  I also saw small baskets of Muscadine grapes on the counter.  I couldn’t resist when I saw this jar of homemade Strawberry Banana Butter on one of the shelves.  The toddler and I love to get our warm butter toast on in the mornings so this will be a nice touch for breakfast.

For those of you parents that have kids that act (pretend) like mine.  Clueless. Do something about it.  Set some goals to get outside this fall and do some exploring. Discover something new where you live and use harvest times to teach your kids about produce, how it’s grown and what tasty things can be made from fresh foods.

Things To Do Outdoors With Your Kids This Fall

• Go on a scavenger hunt
• Visit a pumpkin farm and corn maze

• Go nature hiking
• Apple picking
• Picnics in the park
• Fall photo shoots
• Window Shopping
• Hay rides
• Create your own sidewalk art
• Leaf art
• Attend Football games
• Collect pine cones and leaves for indoor crafts
• Go to the playground

• Take rides in the country
• Visit a nature park or nature walk

What kinds of things do you like to do outdoors in the Fall?