It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Fall is full of so many fun things and it’s a great time for neighborhood traditions! My kids look forward to some of these every year – and my husband and I look forward to some of the grown up traditions just as much!
Boo Your Neighbors
One of our favorites is a popular one – My girls LOVE boo-ing neighbors! As soon as they see the buckets in the dollar spot they’re begging to fill them with goodies and drop them off on friends’ porches. There are so many options for things to put inside – window clings, spider rings, sticker sheets, glow sticks, craft activities, dress up items, and of course candy and prepackaged snacks (that conveniently come in bulk!) We use the cute Wichita Mom printables!
Booze Your Neighbors
The kids can’t have all the fun, though, and a neighbor introduced us a couple years ago to booze-ing adults! We’ve had buckets with a couple seasonal beers, bags with shooters and fun disposable coasters and bar napkins, and even one that had both my husband’s and my favorite cocktails! This has also been a fun way to involve our friends in the neighborhood that don’t have kids yet or are empty nesters.
Annual Chili Competition
A tradition we’re hoping to start this year is a chili competition. Since chili is easy to transport in a crock pot, we plan to do ours outdoors in our neighborhood’s common area and have yard games and kids’ activities. We’ll do some silly trophies for the winners to take home so they can brag about their title until next year.
Halloween Night Pizza Party
Another neighborhood favorite is our Halloween tradition! No mom wants to have to figure out making dinner on Halloween, so we order a bunch of Costco pizzas and meet at the clubhouse. Each family brings a few dollars and everyone is fed and all the kids get to see each other in their costumes before we set out trick-or-treating! It would be fun to set up a “photobooth” or backdrop for pictures together, too!
The easiest way to turn your neighborhood into one you want to live in is to make it that way! It only takes a few people to start fun traditions or to organize activities before it catches on and more people participate. Happy fall!
