As the temperatures drop slightly this month, watch closely as hints of burnt orange, fiery red and golden yellow begin decorating the surrounding trees, farmers’ fields and produce stands. Take in the beauty of autumn with all five senses this season, and share celebrations and fun times with those you love. Try some of the following ideas, or create your own fall fun.
    Labor Day (Sept. 3): Celebrate the wonders of the working world with a fun game. Write letters of the alphabet on small bits of paper and place them in a basket. Let someone pull a letter, then think of a job that begins with that letter and act out that profession for his or her family members to guess. The first person to guess the answer gets to pull the next letter from the basket. Can you get all the way through the alphabet with a job for each letter, from ambulance driver to zookeeper?
    National Butterscotch Pudding Day (Sept. 19): Create this yummy breakfast dish the night before you plan to serve it. Use three 10-ounce cans of refrigerated biscuits. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. Melt 1/2 cup of butter in a shallow, plastic bowl and set aside to cool briefly. In another bowl, stir together 1 package of dry butterscotch pudding mix, 3/4 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon. Dip biscuit pieces in the melted butter, then roll in the pudding mixture. Drop the biscuits in a well-greased Bundt pan. Allow them to rise slightly in the pan for a couple of hours, then bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes. Cool in the pan for about 30 minutes, then carefully invert onto a serving plate.
    First Day of Autumn (Sept. 22): Welcome the season with this colorful craft. Start with a large sheet of white construction paper. Have mom and dad, or two other family members, paint the palms, fingers and inside of the arms, halfway between the wrist and elbow, of opposing arms with brown paint. Have the person who painted the left arm carefully press it slightly off-center toward the right side of paper, with his or her fingers extended to form the trunk and limbs of a tree. Then, have the person who painted the right arm place his or her print on top, but slightly off-center, toward the left of the previous print, with fingers extended, making a larger trunk and additional limbs. Once the paint dries, invite other family members to dip their fingers in fall-colored paint and press dots on the tree to add shades of orange, yellow, red and green.
    Checkers Day (Sept. 23): When is the last time you played a rousing game of checkers? Challenge family members to a couple of rounds to see who is the best checker player. If you want, change out the playing pieces to include raisins for one person and dried banana chips for the other. Then, when players “jump” playing pieces, they can snack on the eliminated pieces. The player with food left wins.
    Pink Flamingo Month: A science website offers several reasons why a pink flamingo chooses to stand on one leg, stating they can sometimes stand that way for more than four hours at a time. Some researchers think the bird stands this way to allow its legs and feet to dry, while others think it helps the flamingos camouflage themselves when hunting food. But the most common theory relates to the bird’s ability to conserve body heat and energy in that position. Work up some body heat of your own with one-legged games outside on a cool, fall day this month. Dress in pink shirts and try some hopping games, relays or obstacle courses to see who in the family makes the best flamingo!
    National Coupon Month: If you don’t already, start saving money this month with valuable coupons. Look for restaurant and food coupons in the newspaper, sales paper inserts, magazines and on the Internet, and check out the Statesboro Herald’s Daily Deals online for weekly specials and savings. Work as a family to clip, print and organize coupons, and try to purchase as much as you can by using them this month. Keep up with the amount of money you save and add that to your piggy bank or donate it to a community service organization.
“Fall” in love with a new season and renew relationships with those you love for a perfectly splendid and awesome autumn. You’ll be so glad you did!
 
    Statesboro native Julie Bland Lavender is married to David Lavender and enjoys celebrating with children Jeremy, Jenifer, Jeb Daniel and Jessica.