Fall, Florida Style: Family Fun Where Palm Trees Meet Pumpkins

Fall, Florida Style: Family Fun Where Palm Trees Meet Pumpkins

With an iced pumpkin spice latte in hand, I’m on a mission to make fall happen “Florida style,” even though Palm Beach County still feels like summer. There’s a two-day HallowMarine, a 65th birthday bash at the Cox Science Center, a spooky garden maze at Mounts Botantical Garden, pumpkin patches and even a haunted house built by kids at artNEST Studios. Here are fun, family-friendly ways to soak up the season where palm trees meet pumpkins.

HOWL-O-WEEN Dogs’ Day in the Garden with Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League

Mounts’ 3rd Annual HOWL-O-WEEN Dogs’ Day is back! Dogs and their owners are invited to dress up in their favorite costumes and enjoy a tail-wagging day exploring the Garden. Don’t have a dog, or looking for another? Peggy Adams Animal Rescue League is bringing adoptable pets, so you might just meet your newest family member. Sunday, October 11 | 9 AM to 4 PM FREE for Mounts members and children under 6; $20 adults; $18 seniors, college students and military with ID. Dogs are FREE for members and $5 for nonmembers.

Friendly reminders: Non-retractable leashes only, one dog per adult, and rabies vaccinations must be current. Bring your own water, treats and waste bags. Full Garden “Paw-licies” at mounts.org/pet-policy. Mounts Botanical Garden, 531 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach.

FALLoween Festival at The Els Center of Excellence

Crowds, costumes and loud noises can make Halloween overwhelming for many children with autism. Els for Autism’s free FALLoween Festival offers a sensory-friendly way for families to celebrate together. Activities are spread across the campus to keep crowds and noise down. Families can also choose between a spooky decorated hallway and an undecorated route. The festival is open to all ages and abilities.

Saturday, October 10 | 9 AM to 12 PM

FREE. The Els Center of Excellence, 18370 Limestone Creek Road, Jupiter. Learn more at falloweenfestival.org.

Founders’ Day Fall Festival at the Cox Science Center and Aquarium

The Cox Science Center and Aquarium is turning 65, and everyone is invited to the party! Founders’ Day celebrates every guest who has ever looked up at the stars or explored the exhibit galleries. The festival features hands-on activities across the Science Center and Aquarium, anniversary exhibits that look back at 65 years of discovery, community vendors and the new Cats & Dogs exhibit.

Saturday, October 17 | 10 AM to 3 PM

Free with admission.

Young artists, take note: Students in grades 2 to 8 are invited to create a poster split into two halves. One half shows a favorite memory at the Science Center, and the other imagines its future. Winning entries will be displayed at the festival. Deadline: October 11. Learn more at coxsciencecenter.org.

HallowMarine at Loggerhead Marinelife Center

This year, Loggerhead’s popular free HallowMarine event expands to two days of Halloween fun! The fifth annual celebration features sustainable trick-or-treating, a junior vet lab, discovery shows and visits with sea turtle patients. Walk through Haunted Seas, a family-friendly, haunted house-style display that takes guests through the levels of the ocean. Along the way you’ll meet upcycled jellyfish, a leatherback sea turtle, a coral reef and a shipwreck, and learn how plastic pollution reaches every part of the sea. Kids of all ages can join the second annual costume contest and parade, competing for most creative, best ocean theme and most sustainable costume. 

Bring your candy wrappers, too: LMC’s Unwrap the Waves campaign collects them for recycling at the Center and at partner drop-off locations from October 14 to November 14.

Saturday, October 17 and Sunday, October 18 | 10 AM to 3 PM. FREE. Loggerhead Marinelife Center, Juno Beach. Learn more at marinelife.org/hallowmarine.

Sensory-Friendly Exploration Day at the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum

The Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse & Museum hosts its second Sensory-Friendly Exploration Day. It’s an inclusive community program for people of all abilities, with a special focus on autism and sensory processing needs. Families can enjoy modified, low-capacity lighthouse tours, an adaptive nature trail scavenger hunt, a dedicated sensory room, quiet break areas, refreshments, and connections to local family resources. Educators, therapists, community organizations and accessibility advocates will be on-site. Sunday, October 18 | 12 PM to 4 PM

The first 300 tickets are FREE, sponsored by Searcy Law. After that, tickets are $10 adults, $5 kids and FREE for children under 6. Learn more at jupiterlighthouse.org/sensoryfriendlyexplorationday.

Halloween Pop-Ups at artNEST

Serving up a month of creative, colorful (and a little bit messy) Halloween fun at both studios.

Delray Studio

– Pumpkin Patch, Paint & Play: Explore a mini pumpkin patch in true artNEST style. Thursday, October 15 | 3:30 to 5:30 PM | Ages 3+ 

– Spooky Sprinkly Cookie Decorating: Turn cookies into Halloween masterpieces with icing, sprinkles and festive toppings. Sunday, October 18 | 3:30 to 4:30 PM | Ages 3+ (drop-off)

– Halloween Tie-Dye: Create a one-of-a-kind tie-dye piece with bold colors and spooky designs. Tuesday, October 20 | 4 to 5 PM | Ages 5+ (drop-off)

– Ghoul & Goo Messy Play: Ooey-gooey textures, creepy creations and sensory art fun. Saturday, October 24 | 10 to 11 AM | Ages 1 to 5 (caregiver stays)

Boca Studio

– Mystery Blind Box Challenge: A surprise art challenge using mystery boxes of Halloween-inspired materials, characters and prompts. Saturday, October 17 | 10 AM to 12 PM | Ages 4+ (drop-off)

– Squish or Treat: Kids design and make their own spooky squishies. Saturday, October 24 | 11 AM to 12 PM | Ages 4+ (drop-off)

– Haunted House Take Over: Kids work together as artists, builders, designers and hosts to transform the studio into a haunted house. Pizza included, plus 2 Haunted House tickets (extra tickets $5 each). Saturday, October 31 | 10 AM to 1 PM | Ages 5+ (drop-off)

– artNEST Haunted House: Walk through the student-created art haunted house. Saturday, October 31 | 1 to 2 PM | All ages | $5 per ticket

Register at artneststudios.com.

BOOtanical Garden Bash at Mounts Botanical Garden

Get rooted in spooky fun! Mounts’ Halloween celebration grows to two full days this year, with food, music and lots of family activities. Come in costume and explore Mounts’ 20-acre tropical oasis, decorated for the season. 

Kids can get up close with slithering snakes, majestic lizards, spiders and more at the interactive Reptile Encounter, track down eerie greenery on the Wicked Plants Scavenger Hunt, and find their way through the Spooky Giant Maze. They can also make Wizard Wands and Rattle Your Bones crafts, join a UF/IFAS planting activity, and enjoy storytime and fairy wands with children’s author Veronica Green, The Earth Fairy. DJ Bobby G keeps the music going while local vendors serve up tasty food, sweet treats and drinks. Activities run all day both days, and there are plenty of photo ops along the way. All activities are included with Garden admission.Saturday, October 24 and Sunday, October 25 |9 AM to 4 PM. 

FREE for Mounts members and kids under 6; $20 adults; $18 seniors, college students and military with ID; $13 ages 6 to 17. Mounts Botanical Garden, 531 N. Military Trail, West Palm Beach. Tickets at tinyurl.com/mbg-bootanical-garden-bash.

Halloween Week at Schoolhouse Children’s Museum & Learning Center

Big fun, all October long! Schoolhouse is one of the best family deals in town, with two floors of hands-on exhibits inspired by Florida’s history. Halloween Week brings a Halloween twist on their popular classes, plus playful surprises, and drop-ins are welcome. Fall class highlights include Imagine That!, Pre-K Prep: ABCs, Pre-K Prep: 123s, Circle Time with the FAU Infant Cognition Lab, Tumble Tots and Messy Play ($12 members, $15 non-members). Don’t miss the Not-So-Spooky Halloween Party on Friday, October 30 at 11 AM! Halloween Week: Tuesday, October 27 to Saturday, October 31

Open Tuesday to Saturday | 9 AM to 4:30 PM

129 E. Ocean Ave., Boynton Beach. Learn more at schoolhousemuseum.org.

The Magic School Bus: Lost in the Solar System at the Kravis Center

Based on the Scholastic book series, this musical follows Ms. Frizzle’s class when a trip to the planetarium turns into an unexpected interplanetary adventure. As rivalries threaten the group, the students learn that teamwork is the only way to keep from getting lost in space for good. Part of the Kravis Center’s Family Fare Series. Wednesday, October 28 | 6:30 PM | Rinker Playhouse | Ages 4+.  Tickets at kravis.org/events/the-magic-school-bus-lost-in-the-solar-system.

Cats & Dogs at the Cox Science Center and Aquarium

Calling all pet lovers! The Cox Science Center’s newest traveling exhibit invites families to step into the paws of our favorite four-legged friends. The exhibit is organized into three areas: In Their Skin: How cats and dogs move, how agile they are, and how hundreds of breeds came to look so different. In Their Heads: How cats and dogs see, hear, smell and communicate, which helps decode those puzzling pet behaviors. In Our Society: The history of the human-animal bond, from myths and art to modern-day therapy pets.

Kids can test their skills with hands-on challenges like a speed slalom, a jump test and size comparisons, along with games, videos and touchable objects. Recommended for ages 6 and up and accessible to all visitors.

October 10, 2026 to April 16, 2027. Cox Science Center and Aquarium, 4801 Dreher Trail North, West Palm Beach. Learn more at coxsciencecenter.org.

No matter how warm it is outside, there are countless ways to spark that fall feeling in Palm Beach County. Grab your costumes, your candy wrappers and your sunscreen, and savor a Florida-style fall!