Planning a fall festival for kids doesn’t have to be expensive!
Check out our list of cheap fall festival ideas, budget-friendly fall festival activities, inexpensive carnival games, low-cost kids’ activities, and even inexpensive fall festival foods.
Use this guide as a fun way to celebrate the autumn season with families, plan school carnivals, host a church harvest festival, and for community group ideas for an easy autumn gathering that won’t bust the budget.
Cheap Ideas for a Fall Festival For Kids & Fun Autumn Activities
These are fun carnival ideas for fall, Halloween party, harvest time, or Thanksgiving parties!
QUICK LIST: Money Saving Tips for Fall Festival Planning
- Set a budget before you start planning. ASK: Where can we get donations from the community?
- Choose free or low-cost games that use household items or supplies you already have (like crayons and printed coloring pages).
PRO TIP: Check Canva.com for free fall coloring pages to print.
- Ask local businesses to donate prizes or supplies.
- Borrow tables, chairs, tents, and games from your school, church, or community center.
PRO TIP: On flyers and invitations, encourage families to bring camp chairs and picnic blankets for their own seating.
- Recruit volunteers to run activity stations.
- Shop dollar stores for decorations and prizes.
- Use pumpkins, hay bales, leaves, and corn stalks as affordable seasonal fall decor.
- Print signs at home or work instead of ordering custom banners.
- Offer simple crafts using paper, crayons, and markers.
- Serve inexpensive snacks like purchased popcorn, hot chocolate, and apple cider.
PRO TIP: Buy supplies in bulk to save money.
- Reuse decorations and game materials from past events.
- Ask families to donate craft supplies or baked goods.
- Keep prizes small—stickers, pencils, bubbles, and temporary tattoos are always a hit.
PRO TIP: Have a rain backup plan if your event is outdoors!
Low-Cost Fall Festival Activities and Ideas
Planning a memorable fall festival doesn’t have to be super expensive.
Many of the best budget-friendly fall festival ideas use simple supplies, donated materials, things you have from previous parties or events, or everyday household items.
With a little creativity and using our festival tips, you can keep kids entertained and families having fun while also staying within your budget.
PRO TIP: Don’t be afraid to put a call out to your group or community for donations. Need a couple of bales of hay, corn stalks & mums for a photo opp or selfie station? Ask in local groups!
Here are some inexpensive activities to consider for a fall festival for kids:
- Leaf rubbing station using collected leaves, any kind of paper, and crayons
- Fall coloring pages and crayons
- Sidewalk chalk art
PRO TIP: My teen did community side walk chalk art at an event and it was the most popular activity for kids and adults! All you need is pavement and sidewalk chalk!
- Nature scavenger hunt
- Borrow several corn hole games and set them up in different areas across the festival
- Pumpkin coloring pages instead of decorating real pumpkins
PRO TIP: Ask local farmers if they would be willing to donate small pumpkins in exchange for advertising to families about their farm.
- DIY photo booth with hay bales, corn stalks, and handmade signs
- Ring toss using glow bracelets and pumpkins with stems
- Hula hoop challenge with a fun playlist playing
- Candy corn guessing jar with prizes
- Giant tic-tac-toe made from painter’s tape on the sidewalk, gym floor, or indoor or outdoor basketball court, with oversized X’s and O’s cut out from cardboard
- Bubble station with cheap bottles of bubbles from the dollar store or a bubble blower dance party
PRO TIP: Contact your local fire department and ask if they’ll bring a fire truck for kids to do a “touch a truck” activity and check it out! You can also do the same for farmers and tractors!
- Story time featuring favorite fall books read by teachers or local community leaders
- Make brown paper bag scarecrow puppets or pumpkin puppets
- Decorate paper pumpkins for cost-friendly craft ideas
- Friendship bracelet station
- Guess the weight of the pumpkin (a few different sizes of pumpkins and a bathroom scale)
- Pumpkin seeds in jar guessing game
- “Pin the Leaf on the Tree” game
- Fall sensory bin for younger children – fill a kids’ pool with sand and fall items like pinecones, corn, acorns, and leaves, mini shovels, cups and more for kids to play in.
Budget-Friendly Prize Ideas
You don’t need expensive prizes to make games exciting!
REMEMBER: Most children usually care more about having fun and getting anything than winning big prizes. A well-organized festival with engaging games, friendly volunteers, and festive decorations can create wonderful memories without a large budget. Don’t stress too much!
Kids are often thrilled with simple rewards like:
- Stickers
- Pencils
- Erasers
- Coupons from local businesses or restaurants (Just ask! Many have budgets for this!)
- Temporary tattoos
- Bubbles
- Bookmarks
- Glow sticks
- Small bags of popcorn, wrapped candy, or fruit gummy snacks
- Mini playdough containers
- Apples
- Mini pumpkins
Bonus if you can get the apples or mini pumpkins donated from local farmers! Offer them sponsored signs for their donations.
Easy & Cheap Festival Food Ideas
Feeding a crowd doesn’t have to be expensive either.
Don’t go into it thinking you have to provide full meals or booths like the state fair. You can easily provide cheap festival food that’s still fun for families.
Also, they don’t have to be specially made recipes. You can buy cookies and packaged treats to give out at the event.
Money-Saving Food Tips for DIY Festival Ideas
- Buy snacks and drinks in bulk from stores like Costco or BJs.
- Choose foods that require little prep and can be served quickly. For example, hot dogs are much easier than frying corndogs.
- Ask families to donate baked goods for a bake sale or dessert table.
- Keep the menu simple! Offer a few proteins and then packaged sides (like a hotdog & chips pack combo) or just a snack menu (like nacho chips and cheese sauce).
- Offer self-serve condiment stations to speed up lines.
- Use slow cookers to keep chili, cider, and cheese warm throughout the event.
- Sell meal combos (such as a hot dog, chips, and a drink) for an affordable price while making the food packaging easier.
PRO TIP: Make sandwich boxes ahead of time with chips and then all you have to do is add the hot dog. It makes food service go much faster!
Budget-Friendly Fall Festival Food Ideas
- Bulk Popcorn (prepackaged into brown lunch paper bags)
- Mini apple donuts or pumpkin donuts
- Cookies
- Brownies
- Pretzel sticks
- Soft pretzels
- Trail mix
- Snack mix (like Chex mix)
- Individually packaged rice krispie treats
- Caramel popcorn
- Bulk Kettle corn
- Nachos with cheese
- Hot dogs
GOOD FOR THIS THEME: HOW TO DO AN OUTDOOR S’MORES BONFIRE
- Walking tacos
- Chili
- Pizza slices
- Apple slices with caramel dip
- Mini muffins packs
- Scooped ice cream (CHECK OUT MY HELPFUL TIPS FOR AN ICE CREAM SOCIAL)
- S’mores (fire pit or s’mores kits if you’re having a bonfire)
- Caramel apples
- Pumpkin cookies
- Candy corn cups (or fall candy like this scooped into a cup)
- Individually wrapped chips
- Cotton candy
- Apple cider
- Hot chocolate
- Juice boxes
- Bottled waters (lots of water, especially if it’s hot!)
- Lemonade
- Soft drinks
Have fun with a fall festival for kids!
