How To Get Football Families To Rake Leaves

Getting Together for Apple Cider, A Game, and Leaf Raking

Oct 16, 2008 BarbaraAnne Helberg

Leaf raking and football schedules usually collide. Combine the two. Throw a leaf raking party on game day, or include a "raking" scrimmage on an off-game day.

Getting together for apple cider, donuts, a scrimmage, and some storytelling on football game day is a good way to involve football families and friends in the ritual of leaf raking before, or after the real cheering starts.

For football die-hards on a non-game day, an organized leaf raking get together that includes a scrimmage can provide healthy exercise and companionable entertainment.

Leaf Raking Party Ingredients

• Clear plastic sandwich, or a bit larger, bags
• Rakes
• Drawing paper
• Napkins and paper cups
• Crayons, or colored pencils, or colorful markers
• Apple Cider
• A large picnic table(s), or fold-out table, or card tables
• Lemonade, or Kool-Aid, if preferred
• All family members
• Several hardy, large and very heavy books
• Football stories
• Friends and neighbors, if desired, depending on the size of the yards to be raked,
• A football
• Fallen leaves on the ground

Invitations to a Football Leaf Raking Party

Use imagination. Invite family members to a football leaf raking party by individual invitation. Individual attention is always flattering and serves to arouse more interest. Individual friends who may enjoy the outing should also get an invitaton. When other families are invited, a single invitation will do, but the individual method is certainly an option there, too. Have fun with the invitation part of the party!

Sample invitation:

Mr. and Mrs. (whatever applies here) request your presence at A Football and Leaf Raking Party to be held (morning, or late afternoon to form a wedge around the day's televised football schedule if it's a Saturday, or a Sunday) at our residence, (fill in address for clarity).

The Party Menu will include:

• Apple Cider and Donuts
• And/or a non-alcohol drink of your choice which you bring, please
• One football
• (Napkins, necessary utensils, and paper cups will be provided)

Please bring your best football game, or tailgating story and all available family rakes, and/or brooms which may substitute as rakes.

Each child should bring a plastic bag (sandwich size, or larger).

(Add whatever other imaginative information is necessary, but peak curiosity by not discussing what the bags are to be used for.)

Implementing the Leaf Raking Ingredients

1. Have arrival yard conversation
2. Organize the party participants into raking groups
3. Divide the yard(s) into raking sections
4. Coordinate groups to sections and begin raking
5. Break for drinks and donuts
6. Resume raking
7. Break -- grab the football and have a scrimmage, during which non-participating children can be instructed on the ancient art of leaf pressing, using the bags to hold chosen leaves and pressing them inside the heavy books, as well as outline drawing, using chosen leaves to draw around, and designing the drawings
8. Finish raking
9. Final break and refreshments
10. Bag and deliver leaves to appropriate area

Before goodbyes are said, the next party host should be designated.

Every family, upon returning home, should think about buying more rakes, so to be better prepared for next week's party.

The copyright of the article How To Get Football Families To Rake Leaves in Landscaping is owned by BarbaraAnne Helberg. Permission to republish How To Get Football Families To Rake Leaves in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.