Fall Yard Cleanup: Find Fall Crafts & Activities for Kids to Help Out

Fall Tips for Family Yard Cleanup

As fall sets in, it’s time to think about cleaning up your yard. The cooler temperatures make it easier to get through your chores and it’s the perfect time to fix any issues with your lawn before winter. Whether you’re planning a new flower bed, fertilizing or reseeding the lawn or clearing leaves, proper fall cleanup and care is essential to a lush, healthy lawn in the spring. Look for ways to involve the whole family in your lawn care this season. From showing older children how to pull weeds from the flower beds to keeping younger children occupied with fall crafts and activities, here are some great tips to get the whole family involved in fall yard cleanup.

Fall chores for your family
Make fall yard cleanup less of a chore by getting the whole family involved! Teens can help organize the garage, clean up lawn furniture or wash windows. Need to clear leaves? Have your children help rake any wet leaves from the more dense areas before you use a leaf blower to do the rest. Kids can help build up leaf piles, and with the leaf blower for fast cleanup, it’s ok if they jump in a few! You can also have your kids use their wagons to carry leaves to the compost pile. Spend your Saturdays as a family, working together and enjoying the beautiful fall weather as you clean up the yard. Other chores to tackle in the fall include:

• Lightly trimming any branches that could endanger your home or property when weighed down with snow or blowing in the wind (don’t cut back too much or you’ll do permanent damage)
• Preparing flowerbeds for spring and cutting back perennials
• Washing and storing patio furniture
• Weeding the flower beds 
• Planting new grass seed 

Fall lawn care
Taking care of the lawn is an important part of fall yard cleanup. Check out these tips and tools that make your job easier and help you get chores done faster so you can focus on doing fall activities with your kids.

• Fall leaves can be taken care of quickly and efficiently using a leaf blower. Clear leaves from the driveway, pathways and lawn. Then, use a chipper/shredder to turn leaf piles into mulch. Clearing leaves with a leaf blower or chipper shredder vacuum is important as too many leaves can suffocate lawns, and wet leaves can produce mold and diseases if left alone. Once mulched with your chipper shredder, you can add the leaves to your compost pile or spread the cuttings on the lawn as fertilizer

• Fall mowing and lawn care is different than summer lawn care. Mow regularly until you no longer see new growth on your lawn. You should also water your lawn often in autumn. The last time you mow, your riding lawn mower should be on the lowest possible cut setting to prevent matting from the snow. However, do not cut your grass lower than two inches to avoid damage from winter sun, cold and wind.

• After your last cut of the season, properly store your machine for winter. Remove oil, spark plugs and fuel at the end of the season and wipe down the mowing deck of your riding lawn mower. If you intended to leave fuel in the tank you should add stabilizer to reduce breakdown.

Fall activities for kids
Even when your children are too young to help out with the chores, there are still fun fall activities to keep kids busy while you work in the yard. Let your kids help you clear leaves and stuff them into some old clothes to make a scarecrow. Collect pinecones together and make birdfeeders for the cold weather, jump in the leaves and decorate windows and doors with construction paper leaves. Take a break from fall yard cleanup to play football as a family or carve pumpkins. These fall crafts help your kids get outside and enjoy the season while you do fall yard cleanup.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored guest post