By: Dallin Rahlf 

It's your average Wednesday night. You finish some evening errands and come home to discover everyone sitting on the couch doing nothing. Nights like that can be good, but it's been like this all week! You alone stand between your family and the never-ending consumption of media. It is an endless void, and you need to do something about it, lest your children become total zombies to the TV screen. Never fear, my friend, for I come bringing counsel during these October times. Use my wisdom provided in an appealing list format to get you and yours excited to leave the comforts of the living room and find adventure out in the wilds of the land. Or at, you know, a pumpkin patch or something. Here we go. 

1. Visiting a Pumpkin Patch

Let’s quickly discuss one of the most excited things to do in the October season. Being able to visit your local pumpkin patch is an absolute treat for everyone. It was sort of magical for myself as a kid. I’m not totally sure why, but I just got hyped on the fact that there was a pumpkin patch like I see in Charlie Brown by my own house! That’s wild.

Visiting the pumpkin patch is a blast as well. Even if it’s one of the smaller types that strictly sell pumpkins, you’ll still find your kids having fun exploring the different sizes and types of pumpkins as they try to find the best one for themselves. Pair it with the fact that they get to pick their own pumpkin to carve later makes the experience more of a thrilling hunt. They are responsible for finding the best pumpkin for them, and it’ll be adorable to watch what kind your kids will get. Will they go for the cute, petite little guy? Or will they go for the massive one, sacrificing beauty for size and a larger canvas for carving? The pumpkins that people pick at these patches are perfect prizes to prove what personality they portray. There’s my alliteration challenge for the day. And rhyme! I’m on a roll.

2. Visiting a Corn Maze

Often paired with a pumpkin patch visit is attending the local farm that puts on one heck-of-a corn maze to blow your mind. If you’re lucky, you’ll have a couple to choose from—some that are family friendly, and some that are more “haunted” and have some jump scares for the unawares. Both are fun, depending on how brave your little four-year-old is feeling. Time it with the darkening of the day and you’ll have a great night of adventure.

If you haven’t tackled any sort of maze before, don’t you worry. Most mazes will be upfront with how the difficulty ranges compared to others. Call around and see what the locals consider the one that’s right for you. If you need some tips from a corn maze expert (yours truly), consider these:

- Dress to be warmer than you think. Night comes quickly, and it’ll get chilly real fast.

- Pick a marker at the entrance that you can easily find during your exploration. A tower, a big Ferris wheel, etc.

- Look for checkpoints. Many mazes have higher platforms as checkpoints so you can see where you are.

- Stay calm. Don’t let the maze stress you out! There will be others walking around as well, you’ve got your phone on you, and everything will be ok. It’s pretty impossible to have a bad time at these mazes.

- Get lost! The whole fun of a maze is allowing yourself to get lost for awhile. Have fun trying to figure your way out, laugh at the dead ends, and believe you’ll make your way out.

- Follow the right wall. I mean literally putting your hand out to touch a side of the maze, then follow that wall of corn. Eventually, you’ll find your way out!

3. Night Games

Did you ever play night games as a kid? Oh man, was it awesome. It’s dark. It’s a little chilly. It’s spooky. It’s the perfect atmosphere for creating memories that will last a lifetime. Let me show you some of my favorite games we played as a family. They’ll become family favorites for you in no time! If it’s a little too cold or scary outside, these work great indoors as well. For some extra Halloween fun, have everyone where their costumes. Any excuse to whip out the Pikachu attire as a kid was quite welcome.

Ghost in the Graveyard: One person is the ghost. The ghost hides somewhere in the paying area. Everyone else is looking for the ghost. Once someone sees the ghost, they have to yell “Ghost in the graveyard!” and hurry back to the designated base. The ghost tries to tag as many people as they can before they reach the base. From here, you can continue playing as the ghost where everyone tagged joins as ghosts, and they all hide together until one person remains.

Kick the Can: This game is both simple and revealing as to who in your family is the worst puppy guarder. You designate an item as a “can”. I would highly recommend something soft that won’t hurt when you make an epic leap for it. The person or two (depending on how many people are playing and where you’re playing) will count for x amount of time while everyone hides. The goal is for the guarders of the can to tag everyone. Once they tag someone, they’re out. The goal for the other team is to kick the can (or simply get possession of it). To help speed up the game, play with a time limit. If the time runs out, the guarders win. You can also set an area where the guarders cannot go, where the can is in the middle. This will prevent some forms of puppy guarding.

Capture the Flag: You should have played this many times when you were a kid. If not, I am sad for you. Each team has a “flag” that they hide someone on their territory. You can split the playing field down the middle and set up various rules for where the flag can be hid, or each team can know exactly where the flag is hidden. Each team tries to get the other team’s flag and bring it to their side. If they do that, they win!

If you get tagged while venturing on the enemy team’s side, you go to jail. Your teammates can rescue you from jail if they touch you. This game is prefect for all ages to enjoy some chaos! Some kids are great at hiding, some want to show off their running, and others can play defense and guard the flag.