October activity ideas, week by week
Coffee, fall leaves, a pot of soup, and Halloween without the fright, one week at a time.
October gives you a full harvest month with Halloween at the end, plus International Coffee Day, World Teachers' Day, and World Food Day along the way. Here is a plan for each week of October: one coloring page with its Story Starter, plus two or three low-cost ideas, each with a seated version.
Halloween here means pumpkins, hats, and candy, without the fright. Nothing on this page needs a mask, a scream, or a dark room.
The month at a glance
- International Day of Older Persons: October 1
- International Coffee Day: October 1
- World Teachers' Day: October 5
- Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples' Day: Monday, October 12
- National Hispanic Heritage Month: ends October 15
- World Food Day: October 16, the day the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization was founded
- National Cat Day: Thursday, October 29
- Halloween: Saturday, October 31
The holiday dates above are always this year's, so the list can go on the bulletin board and stay there.
Week by week
Week 1: Coffee, advice, and teachers
The month opens with International Coffee Day and the International Day of Older Persons on the same day, and World Teachers' Day follows on the 5th.
Color Mushrooms and a mouse, from The Harvest Pack. Print it in Regular and Bold. Bold has thicker lines and fewer tiny details, easier to see and easier to finish. Hand out a page or two with a cup of coffee, and read the Story Starter once, aloud: "Morning or evening: when did you like to read the paper?" It goes well with a cup in hand. Then go back to your own page and wait.
Also this week:
- A coffee bar. Brew a light roast and a dark roast, and set out cream, sugar, and decaf. Let people come up and fix their own cup the way they like it. Seated version: carry the pot and the fixings to each chair and pour to order.
- A wisdom wall. Ask everyone for one piece of advice for a young person starting out. Write each one on an index card and let people walk up and pin their own card to a board. Seated version: a staff member writes the card at the table and pins it up for them.
Week 2: Fall color
Columbus Day / Indigenous Peoples' Day falls this week. Spend the rest of it on the colors outside the window.
Color the Autumn leaves and butterfly, a page full of leaves with one butterfly in it. Set out every red, orange, gold, and brown in the box. Its Story Starter is "When the leaves turn, which color catches your eye first?" There's no wrong color. Some people love the reds. Some wait all year for one yellow tree.
Also this week:
- A color drive. If you have a bus, take a half-hour drive to the best trees in town. Seated version: put photos of fall trees on the big screen in the activity room and pass a basket of real leaves around while they play.
- Caramel apple slices. Set up a dipping station with apple slices, warm caramel, and chopped nuts on the side, and let people come up and dip their own. Check diet lists with the kitchen first. Seated version: bring a small plate of slices and a cup of caramel to each place.
- Leaves in the window. Gather bright leaves on a short walk, press them flat between two sheets of wax paper, and hang them in the window. A staff member presses the sheets with a warm iron. Seated version: bring the basket of leaves to the table and arrange them there.
Week 3: World Food Day and a soup pot
World Food Day is October 16, and National Hispanic Heritage Month ends the day before. It's a good week to cook together.
Color the Horn of plenty, from The Harvest Pack, spilling over with fruit and vegetables. Its Story Starter is "Who in your family grew something every fall?" A grandfather's tomatoes, a neighbor's pumpkins, a pot of herbs on a back step: follow the answer to the kitchen.
Also this week:
- A soup pot. Make one big pot of vegetable soup together. Snap beans, peel carrots with a vegetable peeler, and take turns at the stove for a stir. Check diet lists with the kitchen first. Seated version: do all the snapping and peeling at the table, and bring the pot over for the last stir.
- Lotería. Close out Hispanic Heritage Month with lotería, the Mexican picture game that plays like bingo. Play it in the dining room with the whole group. Seated version: play at a small table, with the cards enlarged on the copier.
Week 4: Halloween without the fright
National Cat Day is on the 29th, and Halloween ends the month.
Color the Jack-o'-lantern in a witch hat, the cover drawing of Pumpkin Patch: a carved pumpkin in a tall hat, with a candle and a few fall leaves. Its Story Starter is "What was a pumpkin for in your house, pie or a jack-o'-lantern?" Pass around a small real pumpkin while you ask. Feel the ridges and the stem.
Also this week:
- Painted pumpkins. Skip the knives. Set out small pumpkins and paint pens and give each one a face, a pattern, or a name. Seated version: set a small pumpkin on a lap tray with a paper towel underneath.
- A hat parade. Anyone who likes wears a hat, any hat at all, and you walk a short parade through the dining room to a march. Seated version: pass a box of hats around the circle and let everyone pick one to wear.
- Reverse trick-or-treat. Invite staff families to come by in friendly costumes, no masks, and let everyone hand out the candy. Seated version: line chairs along the hallway with a bowl on each lap, and the visitors come to you.
Ten questions for the month
Read one at a time, to the whole table, and wait. None of them has a wrong answer, and each one asks about a story or a preference, never about whether someone remembers.
- Black, or with cream and sugar: how do you take your coffee?
- Which teacher would you thank if you could?
- What's the best advice anyone ever gave you?
- What did your street look like when the leaves turned?
- Who made the best soup in your family, and what kind was it?
- What's a dish from somewhere else that you learned to love?
- Tell me about the best cat or dog you ever knew.
- What costume did you wear, or wish you'd worn, as a child?
- What was the best thing to find in a trick-or-treat bag?
- Are you a night owl or an early bird? This one is the Story Starter on the Owl in the tree.
New in the library this month
New pages arrive on the 1st of each month, in time for next month's calendar, and that morning's email lists what's new. Already in the library for October:
- Pumpkin Patch, Halloween without the fright: Horn of plenty, Scarecrow and pumpkins, Apple tree and basket, Jack-o'-lantern in a witch hat, Mushrooms and a mouse, Owl in the tree, and Squirrel and acorns.
- From The Harvest Pack: Autumn leaves and butterfly, Rain and umbrella, and Tree with a little door.
Every drawing comes in Regular and Bold, with a Story Starter on the page. See the Halloween page for a coloring hour on the day, or the whole Pumpkin Patch pack.
If you'd like to try it first, the First Pack is six drawings with a Story Starter on each, free, with your organization's name on the cover.
Free coloring pages for your activity calendar: tablewellpages.com/free