Step Into Fall - West Palm Beach Style
For children living up north, getting into the spirit of fall is simple. There’s a chill in the air. Pumpkin patches are thriving. And apple cider and hot cocoa are drunk in abundance.
While jumping into piles of colorful leaves may not be the norm for Floridians, children living in West Palm Beach can still experience all the fun that fall has to offer.
Attend Holiday Events
Get into the fall spirit by attending fun and festive events while supporting our community.
Visit a local pumpkin patch, beginning October 7th, from 12:30 to 8:30 PM, at Hope Lutheran Church at 7430 Belvedere Road or Good Shepherd Pumpkin Patch at 2341 S. Military Trail in West Palm Beach, from 9 AM to 9 PM. Experience story time at both patches and make it a family event as you choose your own pumpkin to take home and carve for Halloween.
Once you’ve picked out your pumpkin for the season, visit the Palm Beach Zoo & Conservation Society for their 19th “Boo at the Zoo” event during the weekends of October 20th to 22nd and October 27th to 29th.
“We are the family friendly, not-so-scary Halloween party,” says Naki Carter, the zoo’s Media & Public Relations Manager. “Children can dress in costume and trick-or-treat in a safe environment.”
The event, which includes costume contests, trick or treating, games, crafts, a pumpkin patch, face painting and close animal encounters, offers two sessions - daytime, from 10 AM to 4 PM and evening, from 5 to 9:00 PM.
What’s more?
“The candy distributed to children is wildlife friendly and does not contain palm oil,” says Carter.
So you and your kids can feel good about protecting forest lands and animals that depend on them, like the Malayan tiger in Southeast Asia, where palm oil is harvested.
Check out the zoo’s website at palmbeachzoo.org for details and price of admission. And later in the season, have brunch with Santa and Mrs. Claus at the zoo. “Brunch with Santa” kicks off on Saturday, December 13th, and goes through Sunday, December 21st. Reservations are required and most seats sell out, so guests can register online early at palmbeachzoo.org/santa.
Take a glimpse into Florida’s agricultural past when visiting the Historical Society of Palm Beach County’s 9th annual Scarecrow Festival and Contest on Saturday, October 28th from 2 to 5 PM at 300 N. Dixie Highway in downtown West Palm Beach.
The event, which highlights the history of agriculture in Palm Beach County, takes place on a fenced in lawn, surrounding the Richard and Pat Johnson Palm Beach County History Museum.
“We pride ourselves on creating a historically accurate fall festival,” says Jeremy Johnson - President and CEO of the Historical Society. “We partner with Yesteryear Village who brings out authentic pioneer games and activities.”
Families can have fun making cornhusk dolls and decorating pumpkins while listening to live bluegrass music.
“The two highlights of the afternoon are the scarecrow contest and the pie eating contest - which is a fun activity that would have been reminiscent of a fall festival 50 years ago,” Johnson says.
Don’t forget to vote for your favorite scarecrow, created by local elementary schools, churches, and service organizations. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winners win cash prizes.
For only $10.00 per person (children under 3 are free), families can enjoy BBQ, ice cream, activities and games. And don’t forget to take home some fresh, locally grown vegetables. Visit hspbc.org for more details.
Read Seasonal Books Together
Take a trip to the library and check out books that will get your little one excited about the season.
“We have different holiday collections at the library and we separate them so that parents can come and pull anything,” says Jennifer McQuown, Youth Services Manager at Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach.
“Cookbooks for families are always brilliant when parents have downtime or they’re looking up their menus and how to incorporate their kids helping in the kitchen,” McQuown says. “We also have cookbooks for children on making holiday cookies, which are always beautiful.”
Are your kids feeling crafty? “We have craft books for kids if they want to make their own holiday gift cards or gift labels or even make their own wrapping paper for whatever holiday,” McQuown explains.
In addition to great books, the library also offers fantastic fall events for the entire family.
Children birth to five years old will be entertained by the library’s “not-so-spooky” Halloween play and can enjoy some trick-or-treating fun on Wednesday, October 25 at 11:00 AM. Don’t forget to dress in costume.
One of the library’s most popular events is “Letters to Santa.” Stop by the holiday corner, December 3rd through December 30th, in the library’s KidSpace to write a letter to Santa or make a holiday card for family and friends. Drop it in the KidSpace mailbox and don’t forget an address so the library can mail your greeting.
Pete the Cat and the First Thanksgiving, by James and Kimberly Dean
Cook Fall Recipes
While pumpkin and peppermint lattes can give parents a taste of fall flavors, whipping up some fall-like goodies with your kids at home can also be a treat.
“Pumpkin puree is the best thing to use (with kids at home), and it's so easy,” says Library Assistant, Kim Husing, who teaches children’s cooking classes at the Mandel Public Library of West Palm Beach. “It can be switched out for a lot of ingredients that you would use in pancakes and muffins and cupcakes. If you get a box of cake mix and mix it with a can of pumpkin, you don’t need anything else in it, and you can make pumpkin muffins out of that very easily.”
“You can also add a can of pumpkin to chili,” adds Husing. “It adds a nice fall fragrance. You don’t really taste the pumpkin in it that much, but it gives it a nice orangey color.”
Kids in grades three through five can join Husing for hour-long cooking classes that teach fall-like recipes that are “kid favorites,” like banana bread pancakes in September, one-pot pasta marinara in October, and apple crisp in November.
Classes, which take place in the library’s program room on the third floor are sponsored by the Quantum Foundation and the West Palm Beach Library Foundation who provided “The Healthy You” grant, which is a series of nutrition, exercise, and wellness classes designed to inspire a healthy and active lifestyle.
Create Fall Crafts and Decorate
Make seasonal crafts together and spruce up your home with some festive homemade decorations.
“Go on the internet and research the changes of the leaves, since we don’t have that exposure in Florida), says Courtney Palacios, Creator and Founder of Rhythm & Hues - a children’s art and music center, located at 5016 S Dixie Highway in West Palm Beach. “Children can draw or paint the pictures that they see. Or print (the pictures of leaves) and have children color them and then put them around the house.”
Getting ready for Halloween? “Make a cool collage of all of the different costumes you see in the magazines,” says Palacios. “Take the pictures of the kids in costume and put them in a line on construction paper and make a costume parade.”
Decorate your house with homemade snowflakes. “Take a piece of copy paper and continue folding it until you have about a 2 inch by 2 inch by 2 inch square,” explains Palacios. “Cut triangles and circles out of the side of that square, and open it up and you have a snowflake.”
Register your little one for art classes at Rhythm & Hues this fall where they can paint pumpkins, create turkeys out of seashells and make meaningful Christmas ornaments. Check out Rhythmandhues.com for a schedule and fees for art and music classes for ages birth to twelve years old.
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