120 Fun Facts About Fall Trivia for Kids

What is another name for the season called fall?

North Americans say fall; most other English speakers say autumn.

Fall comes between which two seasons?

Days get shorter and nights get longer as the season goes on.

In which month does fall begin in the Northern Hemisphere?

In the Southern Hemisphere it begins in March.

Which three months do weather forecasters call fall in the Northern Hemisphere?

South of the equator, fall is March, April and May.

What happens to the days as fall goes on?

This carries on until the shortest day, the winter solstice in December.

Which US holiday is often treated as the informal end of summer and start of fall?

It falls on the first Monday in September.

The season's other name comes from which old language?

Autumnus may go back even further, to an Etruscan word about the passing of the year.

What is the day in early fall when day and night are about the same length called?

It falls between September 21 and 24.

On the day in fall when day and night are equal, where does the Sun rise and set?

After that it rises and sets a little further south each day.

When it is fall in the Northern Hemisphere, what season starts in the Southern Hemisphere?

The same equinox marks two different seasons.

Which colours do leaves turn in the fall?

Some places, like New England, get tourists just to see them.

What is the green stuff in leaves called?

It sits inside tiny parts of the leaf called chloroplasts.

Why do leaves lose their summer colour in the fall?

Red colours come from new pigments called anthocyanins.

Where do the yellow colours in fall leaves come from?

Carotenoids are there all along, masked by the green.

What does the green pigment in a leaf do for the plant?

It makes simple sugars out of water and carbon dioxide.

What is the name for tourists who travel to look at colourful fall leaves?

In parts of Canada and the US it is big business.

What word describes trees that drop their leaves every year?

It means falling off at maturity; baby teeth are called deciduous teeth for the same reason.

What is the opposite of a tree that drops all its leaves each year?

Evergreens do drop leaves, just not all at once.

What is the name for all the leaves on a tree taken together?

As in 'autumn foliage'.

What do leaves take in from the air to make food?

They give oxygen back out.

What colour are most pumpkins?

White and green pumpkins exist too.

A pumpkin is a type of what?

Botanically its fruit is a kind of berry called a pepo.

How much did the record-setting heaviest pumpkin of 2023 weigh?

That is more than a small car.

Which little creatures usually pollinate pumpkin flowers?

Pumpkins make both male and female flowers.

Where were pumpkins first grown, thousands of years ago?

Pumpkin fragments found in Mexico are 7,000 to 5,500 years old.

What is inside a pumpkin's thick shell?

The seeds are edible too.

What is a carved pumpkin with a face called?

They are hung out as decorations for Halloween.

Before pumpkins, what vegetable did people in Ireland carve into lanterns?

Immigrants brought the idea to America, where pumpkins were bigger and easier.

The carved pumpkin lantern is linked to an Irish legend about a man called what?

He was doomed to roam with only a hollowed turnip to light his way.

How do you turn a pumpkin into a Halloween lantern?

The face is usually scary or funny.

On what date is Halloween?

It is the night before All Hallows' Day.

Which two countries did most Halloween customs come to America from?

Their immigrants brought the customs over in the 19th century.

What do children say at the door on Halloween night to ask for candy?

The 'trick' is a playful threat if no treat is given.

What did trick-or-treating grow out of in Scotland and Ireland?

Children in costume did a little performance in exchange for treats.

How does a house often show it has candy for trick-or-treaters?

Some just leave a bowl on the porch on the honour system.

In which country was the Halloween phrase for asking for candy first written down, in 1917?

It was in the province of Ontario.

In Mexico, children ask for a small sugar or chocolate what?

The custom is called calaverita, meaning little skull.

Which three colours are on a piece of candy corn?

The wide yellow end is meant to look like a corn kernel.

What was candy corn's original name in the 1880s?

George Renninger of the Wunderle Candy Company invented it.

About how many pieces of candy corn does Brach's make each year?

That is about 85 percent of all the candy corn sold at Halloween.

What is the British name for the red sugar-coated fruit on a stick sold at fall fairs?

They were first sold in London in the 1890s.

Who invented the red sugar-coated apple in 1908?

William Kolb dipped apples in red cinnamon candy meant for Christmas.

What is an apple on a stick dipped in before being rolled in nuts to make a fall treat?

Sometimes it is then rolled in nuts.

Roughly how many kinds of apples are there?

Some are for eating, some for cooking, some for cider.

Where did apple trees first come from?

Their wild ancestor still grows there.

How many seed chambers does an apple usually have?

Cut an apple across and the chambers make a star shape.

The old English word 'apple' originally meant what?

Even a banana was once called an 'apple of paradise'.

What do Americans mean when they order apple pie 'à la mode'?

In an old English style, a slice of sharp cheddar goes on top instead.

What was Johnny Appleseed's real name?

He planted apple nurseries across Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana and Illinois.

Where was Johnny Appleseed born?

His birthplace street is now Johnny Appleseed Lane.

What crop is a farm maze usually cut out of in the fall?

Farms build them to attract visitors in the fall.

What is the British name for the puzzle path cut into a cornfield in the fall?

They are especially popular in the east of England.

The world's largest temporary field maze, cut in 2022, covered about how many acres?

Most mazes are 2 to 9 acres.

On a hayride, what do people sit on?

The wagon can be pulled by a tractor, horses or a truck.

Hayrides began with what?

It was one of the few chances to rest during the busy haying season.

What is a scarecrow for?

Crows and sparrows would otherwise eat newly planted seeds.

Which Japanese village has 35 people but more than 350 scarecrows?

They stand in for residents who have left.

What is the nut of an oak tree called?

It sits in a little cup called a cupule.

How long can it take for an acorn to ripen?

It depends on the kind of oak.

What is the word for a big crop of nuts, like acorns, that forest animals eat?

A huge acorn year is called a mast year.

A group of squirrels is called what?

It can also be called a dray.

What special trick can tree squirrels do that most mammals cannot?

They turn their back ankles around 180 degrees to grip the bark.

The word 'squirrel' comes from Greek words meaning what?

Its long bushy tail can shade it like an umbrella.

What happens to a squirrel's front teeth?

Gnawing on nuts keeps them worn down.

Where do chipmunks carry food when they take it home for winter?

The seeds they drop help new trees grow.

What kind of animal is a chipmunk?

Almost all live in North America; one kind lives in Asia.

What is it called when an animal sleeps deeply through the winter?

Its heartbeat and breathing slow right down.

Why do animals hibernate?

They eat a lot beforehand and store the energy as fat.

What do big animals like bears do before hibernating?

Smaller animals often store food instead of storing fat.

What do female black bears do while hibernating?

The cubs are born in the den in winter.

What do we call birds flying to warmer places for the winter?

They go between breeding grounds and wintering grounds twice a year.

Which bird flies farthest each year, all the way from the far north to the far south?

It sees two summers every year.

What mainly tells birds it is time to migrate?

They find their way using the Sun, stars and Earth's magnetic field.

How do migrating birds find their way?

They also seem to carry mental maps.

Which butterfly flies south from the northern US to Mexico each fall?

It takes several generations to fly back north in spring.

What colours are the wings of the famous butterfly that migrates to Mexico?

The smaller viceroy butterfly copies the pattern.

What colour is the head of the big honking goose that grazes on parks and golf courses?

Its body is brown.

What is the name for the fleshy flap that hangs over a male turkey's beak?

When he is excited it swells and turns red.

What is a male turkey called?

The female is a hen and is much smaller.

Which continent are wild turkeys native to?

They are among the heaviest flying birds in the world.

What tuft grows from the middle of a male turkey's chest?

It keeps growing for the turkey's whole life.

On which day is Thanksgiving in the United States?

That has been the date everywhere in the country since 1941.

Which foods are traditional at a US Thanksgiving dinner?

Corn, squash and green beans are usual too.

How many days did the Pilgrims' 1621 harvest celebration last?

They had brought in a good harvest at Plymouth.

Which Native American taught the Pilgrims to catch eel and grow corn?

His full name was Tisquantum.

Which Native people joined the Pilgrims' 1621 harvest feast?

Their farming and hunting had produced much of the food.

What is the day after Thanksgiving called, when lots of people go shopping?

It is often the busiest shopping day of the year in the US.

Which president made Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863?

Before that it was a regional New England holiday.

Which store puts on the famous Thanksgiving Day parade in New York City?

It has been on television nationally since 1953.

Who arrived at the end of the very first Macy's parade in 1924?

He was crowned King of the Kiddies on the store balcony.

Where did the animals in the first Macy's parade come from?

Later they were replaced by giant balloons.

Which fruit grows in wet, boggy ground and turns red when ripe?

It is related to blueberries.

The name of the red bog berry eaten at Thanksgiving comes from which bird?

Settlers thought the flower looked like a crane's neck, head and bill.

When did the canned red berry sauce for turkey first go on sale?

That let people buy it all year round.

A sweet potato is related to which garden flower?

It is only a distant cousin of the regular potato.

What spices go into pumpkin pie spice?

Sometimes allspice is added too.

Which coffee chain started selling pumpkin spice lattes in 2003?

For years the drink had no actual pumpkin in it; that changed in 2015.

What is maple syrup made from?

The sap is boiled until most of the water is gone.

Which Canadian province makes most of the world's maple syrup?

About 72 percent of it.

Who first made maple syrup?

The sap rises in late winter and early spring.

What are maple seeds famous for?

They spin like helicopters as they fall.

How many neck bones does an owl have, letting it turn its head so far?

Owls can turn their heads about 270 degrees.

What is a group of owls called?

Most owls hunt alone at night.

Why do owls have to turn their whole heads to look around?

They can spin their heads about 270 degrees.

Which are the only mammals that can truly fly?

There are more than 1,500 kinds.

What do most bats eat?

Only vampire bats drink blood; many others eat fruit or nectar.

What is a hedgehog covered in?

Its name comes from hanging around hedges and having a piglike snout.

What game do British children play with horse chestnuts on strings?

You take turns hitting the other player's nut until one breaks.

On what date is Bonfire Night, or Guy Fawkes Night, in Britain?

It remembers the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605.

Diwali is often called the festival of what?

People light little oil lamps called diyas.

What treat is eaten at China's big moon festival in the fall?

They are filled with sweet bean or lotus-seed paste, and lanterns are carried.

In which city is Oktoberfest held every year?

The first one, in 1810, celebrated a royal wedding with a horse race.

In 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown', who waits all night in the pumpkin patch?

The special first aired in 1966.

In 'A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving', what does the gang serve instead of turkey?

Peppermint Patty is not impressed.

What is the name of the nervous schoolteacher in 'The Legend of Sleepy Hollow'?

He rides to the harvest party on a borrowed horse named Gunpowder.

What is the special name for the full moon closest to the first day of fall?

It rises within two weeks either side of the September equinox, and the full moon after it is called the hunter's moon.

In the Halloween game of bobbing for apples, how must you catch the apple?

Apples float because they are lighter than water, and hands are often tied behind the back to stop cheating; in Scotland the game is called 'dooking'.

What letter shape do flocks of geese make in the sky when they migrate in the fall?

Swans and ducks fly the same way; scientists think it saves energy and lets big birds fly close together without bumping into each other's air swirls.

What is a baby goose called?

A male is a gander, a group on the ground is a gaggle, and a flock in flight can be called a skein, a team or a wedge.

What is the soft, fuzzy skin covering a deer's antlers while they grow called?

It carries blood and oxygen to the growing bone; in most deer the antlers fall off and regrow every year, controlled by the length of daylight.