October 24th

By Mutt Mulligan

How to make a family game out of raking the leaves

Beautiful fall leaves can be a blessing and a curse. The vibrant colors create a lovely canvas to look at, but once they fall onto the ground the hard work begins. Raking leaves is a great way to get the family outdoors and can even burn more than 200 calories per hour!

Rake leaves with the family.

Here are a few ideas for turning the chore of raking leaves into something fun for the whole family.

1. Make it a contest to see which member of your family can rake the biggest pile of leaves. The winner gets a special treat, such as an ice cream date with mom or dad.

2. Rake the leaves into a huge pile, then have everyone take turns jumping into it. (Make sure your pile is big enough to offer plenty of cushion!) You can even “rate” the jumps on a scale of one to five.

3. Find a vibrantly colored leaf and ask your kids (armed with a rake, of course!) to find one that best matches it in size and color. The winner gets to pick what’s for dinner that night.

4. Section out the yard and assign one section to each child. Let them be creative and create a picture or write their name by clearing the leaves in their section.

5. Host a “Leaf Party.” Sometimes just calling it something other than a “chore” makes yard work more appealing. Include a game or two and complete the party with fall-themed treats like caramel apples, pumpkin muffins and hot apple cider after the leaves are bagged.

Have you found a fun way to include the whole family in leaf raking? Share your ideas here or on TurfMutt’s Facebook page.