10 ways you can include nature in your Halloween festivities

Happy Halloween! There are lots of activities you can do today to celebrate that can help you get out in nature. Here is a list of 10 activities you can do that celebrate Halloween in our natural environment:

Go pumpkin picking

Take a day trip to your local pumpkin patch and spend the day picking pumpkins, going on hay rides, navigating a hay maze, and whatever other activities your local patch offers! This is a fun activity you can do by yourself, with friends, or with family.

Carve pumpkins or make a yummy fall treat

Once you’ve gotten your pumpkins, there’s so much you can do! There are tons of templates you can use to carve a spooky jack-o-lantern. If you decide not to carve your pumpkin, there are lots of different recipes you can make with it instead, such as roasted pumpkin seed, pumpkin pie, and more!

Recycle your pumpkins for local wildlife

Since pumpkins are made up of mostly water, they start decomposing rather quickly. You can recycle your pumpkins by adding them to your compost pile, upcycling them into snack-o-lanterns for birds and small critters, planting your leftover pumpkin seeds, cutting them up into small treats and leaving them outside, or even sharing the seeds as a tasty treat mixed into birdfeed.

Make fertilizer with pumpkin 

Pumpkin guts make a great natural fertilizer because they’re full of nutrients and water, and once they’ve begun to decompose, that nutrient-rich pulp can feed your plants and promote growth. All you have to do is cut up your pumpkin into small pieces and either scatter them on the soil of your plants or place them under the soil. You can even use pumpkin juice as a liquid fertilizer.

Go apple picking

Caramel apples are a fall staple, and there’s nothing better than getting out to your local apple orchard and spending time in the cool autumn breeze while picking out some apples. You can make delicious caramel or candy apples, apple pie, homemade applesauce, apple butter, and so much more! The possibilities really are endless.

Make arts and crafts with items you find in your backyard

Spend some time outside picking out leaves, acorns, pinecones, or whatever you can find. You can use these items to make spooky Halloween and fall decorations. Not only is it free, but it’s also a great way to get yourself outside for a bit. You can make mini pumpkins using acorns, ghosts out of fallen leaves, skeletons out of sticks, and much more.

Go for a walk and check out Halloween decorations

Fall and Halloween bring out the exterior decorator in lots of us. Take advantage of this by going for a stroll and looking at all of the beautiful and creative decorations people have in their yards. This is also a great chance to check out all of the beautiful fall colors found in nature.

Go on a spooky scavenger hunt

Gather up a group of friends and family and set up a frighteningly fun scavenger hunt! The best thing about this is that you can customize your scavenger hunt to include all the spooky fall items you love! You can set up your scavenger hunt however you want, whether it’s limited to the indoors or even all around town, its entirely up to you and your guests.

Stargaze

Now that the weather is cooling down, it’s a great time to grab some blankets and a friend and go stargazing. If the stars aren’t too noticeable from where you are, consider taking a short trip deeper into nature, where there’s less light pollution, to get a better view. Stargazing is a great way to reconnect with nature and can act as a stress reliever. All you have to do is lay back, relax, and enjoy the beautiful natural light show in the sky.

Trick-or-treat

Last but certainly not least, you can go trick-or-treating on Halloween evening with the kids in your life, or you can pass out candy to the kids in your neighborhood. This is a great way to connect with your neighbors and spend some time in the cool autumn air.

This Halloween season, we hope you take some time relaxing and enjoying nature. Autumn is a great time to reconnect with nature. It’s important that we take advantage of the plentiful benefits that nature provides us with. Even just going for a short walk can improve your mood and even lower your risk for disease.

Source: One Nature Institute