“Hooray for Fall” Boxes 2020

Hooray for Fall Boxes have become a much anticipated way to celebrate the arrival of our very favorite season! This is my third year putting these boxes together (see our first year HERE and second year HERE) and I just love the creative, heartfelt process of finding and making goodies for each of our kids. Today I am sharing my favorite tips and practices, in case you would like to put together boxes of your own!

I try to be very intentional when putting these boxes together, seeking items that are necessary and/or encourage our family to spend time together. Every year our boxes vary based on what I find, and this year happened to be heavily Halloween-focused.

Here are some suggestions for what you can include in your Hooray for Fall Box:

Items your children need. These are things I would have purchased anyway, but including them as a gift for the kids to open was WAY more exciting!

• pajamas
• warmer clothes (pullovers, vests, hats, gloves, socks)
• boots
• coats

Items that encourage family time and creativity.

• New seasonal books We LOVE snuggling up and reading books together. Need some new book suggestions? Check out our favorite fall books and favorite Halloween books– they are perfect for these boxes!
• Games (card games, memory, brain teasers, Halloween Mad Libs). The Target Dollar section often has little games. There are also so many wonderful small shops that sell or give out printables, which is super convenient because you don’t even need to leave home to get them.
• Craft and art supplies Pipe cleaners, pencils, stickers, glitter, paper, shaped hole punches, beads, paints, etc. Affordable seasonal/holiday art supplies are readily available at any craft store or online. You can also find lots of crafty staples at the Dollar Store.
• Plans for an outing or experience Include a little note or picture in the box that describes your plans (go leaf collecting, try a new fall recipe, visit the pumpkin patch, attempt a corn maze, make a Halloween craft, etc.)
• Cooking or baking supplies Finding great indoor activities for the colder months is always a good idea– why not create something tasty?

Odds and Ends All the little fun extras!

• Cute accessories (headbands, hats, nail polish, themed shirts, temporary tattoos, mugs, etc.)
• Decor items for your kids’ rooms (wall art, garlands, pillows, blankets, stuffed animals, string lights, pumpkins, etc.)

This year’s boxes were actually sturdy black wire baskets that we could use around the house.

Inside Cole’s box:

• Books
• Jack-O-Lantern jammies (I’ll share a separate post about these, but they were super special– the kids actually designed the Jack-O-Lantern faces!)
• Halloween shirts/pullover
• Leaf blanket
• Witches brew mug
• Haunted house wooden sign to paint (he was obsessed with this!)
• An apron (Cole’s newest passion is helping us in the kitchen, so we’re going to try our hand at making pumpkin cinnamon rolls)
• A few sparkly spiders

Inside Isla’s box:

• Books
• Jack-O-Lantern jammies
• Halloween shirts/pullover/skirt
• Jack Skellington pumpkin decorating kit
• Skeleton socks
• Pumpkin checker board
• Glitter bows
• Witches brew mug
• Haunted house wooden sign to paint
• Pumpkin greeting cards, bat stickers, and Halloween pencils
• A few sparkly spiders

Creating seasonal baskets does not have to be difficult or expensive. You can make them as grand or as simple as you’d like! Below are my favorite tips for making your own boxes:

Shop ahead.

• Buy after-season sale items THIS year for NEXT year’s box. I purchased a number of items after Halloween last year (almost all of the clothes, the Jack Skellington decorating kit, leaf blanket, sparkly spiders, and the pumpkin checker board) for this year’s boxes. Just make sure you make note of what you have purchased, so you don’t forget! I keep a list going in the notes app on my phone.
• Use Honey to watch for sales on fall and Halloween items throughout the year. You can add desired items to your Honey Droplist, which follows them for 60 days and alerts you if the price drops.

Buy used. Many of the books we buy for the kids are used. This allows us to keep our costs down and be conscious about our consumption.

Choose a fall craft to do ahead of time so that you can include the necessary supplies in the gift box. Pinterest has so many wonderful craft ideas. Here are some fall crafts that have inspired us!

Make a checklist of what you want to include in your box, and check off what you have purchased. This helps keep your planning more organized and your purchases more intentional.

Consider and incorporate your children’s interests when choosing items. Cole loves helping us cook, so I got him his own little apron and chose a fun fall recipe to try together. Isla adores receiving and sending letters, so I got her some cute little pumpkin cards (Target dollar section last year) and Halloween pencils (Dollar Store) to encourage her writing.

Make sure your box doubles as storage. Choose boxes or baskets that you can use around the house or that you can store your Halloween goodies in during the rest of the year.

If you have more than one child, try and anticipate any potential points of jealousy. Make sure some of the items are the same, or that their gifts can be shared. Last year Cole was completely enamored with the leaf blanket Isla received, so I made sure to get him his own this year.

Shop small businesses whenever you can. Gifting is a great opportunity to look for small businesses you can support. We included some adorable fall bows from Harper Ella Co. Accessories in Isla’s box.