Favorite Fall Backyard Party Ideas
Rather than having a Halloween party this year, try having a fall harvest party. This is a wonderful way to celebrate the season at churches, schools, and the home. A fall party is also a great way to celebrate one of the most beautiful seasons of the year.
With a little bit of creativity, fun party games, and harvest filled colors, foods, and decorations, the entire perfect season party can be a hit. We just adore celebrating the season and beautiful weather with outdoor gatherings.
Decorations and Party Gear
Bring the autumn spirit present with beautiful fall colors such as red, yellow and browns. These colors are all beautiful and quite present with the fall season so it can be easy to create a harvest themed party. Aside from the beautiful colors decorations can also consist of farm themed decorations. Farm themed (or a modern farmhouse vibe) can be items such as hay bales, gourds, pumpkins and even scarecrows can make the perfect setting for a party.
Consider taking a look at a local party supply store for items that can be placed around the event area. This area might be inside or outside, so be sure to get appropriate party supplies.
The Dollar Tree has a wide variety of decorations that are perfect for a party. They have plastic cups, plates and silverware for dining. Not only that but they carry tablecloths, and fun decorations for the walls and table such as glitter pumpkins, artificial gourds, and fall leaves made of paper to scatter along the walkway.
Seeing as fall is all about the fallen leaves, and the beauty of nature and it’s foliage, these leaves can also be scattered along the tabletops, or around the house miscellaneously.
Food ideas
Fall parties are not only about the decorations but about the food served. After all, nobody wants to have hungry guests. A menu can be things such as roasted pumpkin seeds, apple cider doughnuts or even zucchini bread. Chips, pretzels, and popcorn balls are also a common party snack for fall parties. To go a more sweeter route, consider serving caramel apples, candy or even some Halloween treats. These snacks will satisfy the guests’ sweet tooth. Another option is to celebrate Fall by having sausages, and other Oktoberfest.
Fun
While fall parties can be both beautiful, have great food, and be exciting there are also things to consider such as things to do. Consider things to do based on the age group of the guests. If there will be children present, consider decorating games such as painting pumpkins with paint. Children can also go outside to collect leaves. These leaves can be pressed by following these directions.
A fun and exciting craft that adults and children can do is also to make leaf place mats. These place mats are simple to make and only take a few steps. Collecting leaves that are out on the ground and place them in between two pieces of contact paper to make autumn place mats. For some adults, drinking games can also be fun for adults. Here are some ideas of what games can be played at the fall party.
Favorite Fall Backyard Party Ideas
Fall Party Ideas
When the weather starts cooling off, its time to hold a fall party in your backyard. The cooler temperatures can inspire intimate or boisterous gatherings for adults or children. After choosing a theme, set a date, write out your guest list and make invitations. Write the party details directly on small pumpkins that you can hand out, or cut an appropriate shape out of cardstock for the party you are hosting.
Apple-Themed Party
Celebrate the harvest season with a party centered around apples. Decorate your home with either red or green apples, depending on your personal favorite variety. You can accent the bright red and green colors with deep yellow napkins or cutlery. Baskets of fresh apple slices can be set on picnic tables as centerpieces.
Set up a couple of apple-themed activities for party guests to enjoy. Arrange for apple-bobbing. Float a layer of apples in a metal bucket holding clean water. The participant tries to grab an apple using only their teeth. Be sure to have plenty of towels available.
Create a candy apple bar. Stick apples onto craft sticks. Melt caramel in a double-boiler and place bowls of possible toppers such as candies, nuts, chocolate chips and sprinkles for guests to dip into.
Oktoberfest
Plan a backyard Oktoberfest for your adult friends. This is a traditional fall beer festival that can be recreated in your home.
- Set up a party tent and place a long dining table with chairs inside.
- String black, red and yellow streamers from the center of the party tent to each corner.
- Purchase or make German flags, blue- and white-checked Bavarian flags or personalized Oktoberfest banners to hang inside and outside of the tent.
- Serve traditional hearty German fare such as sausages, potato salad and sauerkraut.
- Serve beer from a keg to keep costs down but have several varieties of bottled beer available as well. Play loud music and enjoy your party in the crisp fall air.
End Of Summer Campout For Outdoor Parties
Invite friends over for a backyard campout in the great outdoors to mark the end of summer and enjoy the fall weather. Set up a tent and provide all of the guests with flashlights. Make sure and check out this Backyard Glamping article here!
You can even take a hike through your neighborhood or a nearby park. As the sun goes down, catch fireflies, play flashlight tag and arrange for everyone to sit around a campfire or fire pit with their cozy blankets. Roast marshmallows, tell spooky stories or set up a radio nearby for kids to sing or dance to.
Fall Wine Tasting
Host an adult gathering in the late afternoon in your backyard on your next party. Decorate the area with pumpkins and string clear Christmas lights in the trees to create a more formal fall setting.
Set up wine tasting stations around the backyard. Small card tables covered with a tablecloth will work well. Each station should offer a small appetizer and several small plastic wine glasses, or a pitcher of water and a bucket for guests to rinse their glasses with in-between types of wine.
Another way to hold a wine tasting in your backyard is to have each guests bring a bottle of wine in a brown paper bag. Place a number on each bag. Guests can sample each wine and fill out a scorecard to find the winner. The guest who brought the winning bottle of wine wins a prize. Have extra prizes on hand in the event of a tie, or give prizes for the worst score, sweetest or other designations.
Outdoor Party Ideas & Outdoor Games Ideas
The fall season ushers in preparations for Halloween-related activities. However, some people may get a jump on the Halloween party season by celebrating the fall season itself.
Fall party hosts can engage guests in a variety of activities, awarding small prizes for their efforts playing games that involve hay stacks, pumpkins, scarecrows and other items synonymous with the fall season.
Tossing Games For So Much Fun
Various outdoor tossing games set the mood for a fall party. The host can have guests try to ring a pumpkin by lining up three large stemmed pumpkins next to each other. Using hoops made from embroidery or duct tape and rope, players take their mark at a designated throwing line and try ringing a pumpkin stem.
Players may compete individually or in teams. Whichever individual or team rings the most pumpkins wins the game. More adventurous players may use hula hoops to ring the whole body of a large pumpkin.
Guest may enjoy tossing pumpkin seeds into small baskets or crates. The host lines up five baskets or crates, one after the other. Players stand 3 feet in front of the first crate and toss seeds into the crates. The player who gets the most seeds into the crates wins. A player earns a bonus if she lands seeds in every crate.
Pennies In A Hay Stack Is A Great Option
A hay stack serves as an ideal place to hide small items like pennies. Prior to the party, the host dumps a number of pennies into a broken hay stack. Guests dive in and try to find as many pennies as possible. Whoever collects the most pennies wins the game.
Musical Bales Are A Fun Idea To Have A Great Time
In this variation of Musical Chairs, the guests playing the game must total one more than the number of bales. As a non-player plays music, players walk in a circle around the bales. Once the music stops, players race to find a bale to sit on. If a player fails to find a bale, he’s out of the game. Each time a person exits the game, the host removes a bale from play. The last person remaining wins the game.
Pumpkin Relay Race For Outdoor Gatherings
Guests can use pumpkins of all shapes from a local farm for relay races at a fall party. After establishing a turnaround line (which should be at least 20 feet from the start line), players use their hands to roll the mini pumpkins from the start line to the turnaround line and back. Once the first team member returns to the start line, the next person in line rolls her pumpkin in the same manner. The first team to have all of its members roll the pumpkin to the turnaround line and back to the start line wins the game. As an alternative to hands, adult players may use a stick to roll the pumpkins.
Scarecrow Races Are Great Ideas
Scarecrows remain a symbol of the fall harvest and party guests may enjoy competing against other guests to create their own scarecrow. The host distributes clothing, straw and stuffing to guests, who may work individually or in teams. Whichever individual or team finishes creating and stuffing a scarecrow first wins the game.
Pumpkin Pie Eating Contest
Pumpkin pie gains popularity with the advent of the fall season. A good closing game to a fall party may be a pie eating contest, with guests competing to devour their piece of pie the fastest. Guests with the ability to eat large quantities of food may enjoy the challenge of eating a whole pie, almost as much as other guests will enjoy cheering them on in their efforts. The player who consumes a whole pie in the quickest time wins the challenge.
No matter where or when the fall party is, make sure to be completely prepared and have a good time. After all, fall is a great season and has plenty of holidays throughout the season to celebrate. Halloween, Fall itself, and even Thanksgiving, can be celebrated all together at one party.