I have a late November birthday and I remember growing up thinking all the really cool kids had June-July-August birthdays. They are the ones who got to plan parties anywhere in the world because everything is open and everyone is off and able to attend.

The best I could hope for was maybe it would fall on Thanksgiving and we'd get together with family.

Once I grew up and had children of my own, I ended up having two children with both of them having November birthdays.

Having fall children and remembering what it was like for me growing up, it made me more determined to be creative about their birthday parties. I wanted them to have a blast in spite of the limited options available compared to the envied summer kids.

I'm going to give you a few fall birthday ideas that I have used over the years. I'm going to gear this hub towards teens, but you can adapt these party ideas to any age, from kids to adults.

• Visit a Corn Maze-click on the link to the left to check out my list of Corn Maze locations all over the United States. I bet one is near you. I have links included in my hub to the directory that gives you tons more information about Corn Mazes. Kids of all ages love mazes.
• Have a Scavenger Hunt. I have had several Scavenger Hunts and everyone loves them. You can do them so that you stay in a refined area, or you can do them where adults actually drive the kids around town. Make sure the adults are responsible and it doesn't hurt to give them some gas money for helping out. Some have restricted their hunt within a mall.
• Have a Riddles and Clues Hunt. This is a little more difficult to create, but I've written a hub about an actual party we did two years ago and the kids had a blast. Click here to read more about the Riddles & Clues party idea.
• Because the weather can sometimes be unpredictable in the fall, you can plan an indoor themed party. I have a hub dedicated to party themes. Click here to read more. Western themes are particularly popular in the fall with fall being the time we hold our county fair and rodeo here in Central Texas. You could have a bonfire (check your local regulations on that as well as dry or windy conditions).
• Visit a local museum. Almost every town has a museum of some sort. Many places give discounts for groups of 10 or more. Plan ahead to make sure you take advantage of matinee prices or group discounts.
• Have a bowling party. Almost everyone loves to wear those silly shoes and throw a few gutter balls.
• Rent an inflatable. Many inflatable companies offer discounts in the fall. Make sure you know their policy on bad weather. The fall is a great time for kids to bounce outside because they don't get overheated. You will be amazed at the variety of inflatables you can rent. There are all kinds of obstacle courses, jousting, bungee running, hoop shooting, etc.
• Have a movie party. More and more people have large screen TVs. For a twist, have the guests bring their favorite movie and they have to dress up like someone in the movie. You could even have fake awards for Best Actor, Best Actress, etc. Most party supply stores carry lots of supplies for this type of movie award party.
• Girls in particular love to Karaoke. Many people have their own karaoke machine, but they are relatively inexpensive to rent and some DJs are still around that host karaoke parties. Shop around early for good prices. In the months leading up to Christmas all DJs don't mind a little extra cash.
• Indoor Rock Climbing - This is what we're chosing to do this year. My daughter and her friends are quite athletic and we're hauling a couple of carloads of 16-17 yr old girls to an indoor rock-climbing facility just over an hour away. Should be fun!
• Guitar Hero for the boys and Dance Dance Revolution for the girls. If you have some popular video games, kids love to gather to play them together. Again, for an added twist, have the guests dress like their favorite rock star or dancer.
• America's Best Dance Crew Party-with the popular MTV show in it's fourth season, most teenagers are familiar with America's Best Dance Crew (I have 11 hubs spotlighting ABDC). You can have a mini competition where two groups compete against each other. You can make this elaborate by handing out music assignments with their party invitations or you can keep it simple and give them a piece of music at the party.
• Football Party for Teenage Boys. Having all the guys over for a Sunday afternoon football game. Be sure to have lots of finger foods like chips, pretzels and drinks.
• Weiner Roast over an open fire. Make sure their is adequate supervision and the weather conditions are right for this one.
• Poker Party for older teen boys (and sometimes girls). All you need is a deck of cards. Poker chips are optional but make it a lot of fun. Poker chips can be found rather inexpensively almost anywhere.
• Slumber Party or Pajama Party for girls. Girls love staying up late and gossiping.
• Dancing Boogie Heads-If you can afford it, this looks like a lot of fun.

Obviously, the closer your party is to Halloween, you can utilize spookier themes to your decorating ideas. Skeletons, Bats, witches, Jack-o-lantersn, and ghosts make good decorations. The closer you get to Thanksgiving, the more you can utilize fall leaves, pumpkins, ornamental corn, ghords and scarecrows.

Food for the party could include:

• Rice Krispy Treats-you can make variations with orange and black sprinkles or adding peanut butter to the recipe.
• Cupcakes-the toppings and colors are endless
• Dirtcake-made with crushed Oreos that resembles dirt. You can add little tombstones or worms.
• Caramel apples
• Candied apples
• Popcorn balls