1. Buy or pick apples. Make applesauce, an apple snack, or apple pie to share with the troop.
2. Pumpkins represent the fall. Where did they originate? Who first grew pumpkins? How big can they grow? With your troop, brainstorm some other ways pumpkins can be used (for example, in 1997, someone used one as a boat).
4. What are different foods made out of pumpkins? Bake pumpkin seeds to serve at a troop meeting.
5. Most fruits and vegetable growing seasons end in the fall. What is a harvest? Visit a farm or orchard and learn about their harvest procedures.
6. Learn how to preserve fruit or vegetables by methods such as drying, freezing, or canning. Plan to use them at a meeting later in the year.
7. Go through a corn maze. Talk to the maze designer. How do they design/cut the maze? Design your own simple maze. How can you make it come to life?
8. How did jack o'lanterns come into being? Do one of the following:
a. Draw or carve a jack o'lantern.
b. Describe a jack o'lantern's face on paper. Trade descriptions with a troop member. Draw or carve the jack o'lantern described on your paper.
9. Try your hand at leaf rubbings. Collect fall leaves and press them between layers of newspaper for a few days. Setting them on a hard surface, place the paper over the top and rub gently with the side of a peeled crayon. Make several different types of leaf rubbings to create a design on one paper.
10. Collect several different kinds of fall seeds and create a mosaic picture, or seed jewelry.
11. Research and discuss: which trees lose their leaves in winter and which do not, how and why does this happen, what are the differences in these trees. Take a fall walk and collect various leaves. Using a tree book, identify the name of the tree they come from. Press and dry the leaves, or seal in wax paper with a hot iron.
12. Find the history of Halloween. What is the significance of the event? Why do people wear costumes? Do other cultures celebrate Halloween
13. Why are goodies handed out at Halloween? Review Trick or Treating safety. Find a way to remind younger children about it.
14. Plan Halloween caroling at a local nursing home or senior citizen center. Go in costume if possible.
15. Have a "Mummy" race.
16. What are some traditional symbols of Halloween? Plan and carry out a Halloween party for a younger group of children. This could include a hospital, day care center, Girl Scout troop, or other group in your community. Include games and themed food. These websites might give you some ideas:
