Fall is finally here and pumpkin patch season has begun! A pumpkin patch or local farm is a great way to get your kids outside away from screens and enjoy the outdoors. But it can also have benefits for you. The pumpkin patch is a great way for a busy mom to secretly workout and burn calories while having fun with your kids. Check out these activities you and your kids can enjoy while staying active and burning off the calories from the cider and baked sweets you will be getting after.

These three simple busy mom “workouts” can help you burn calories while having fun with your family.

Corn mazes are a lot of fun for the kids to try and navigate all the twists and turns. Corn mazes can be quite elaborate with different designs and lengths. Like a Curious George maze featured in Reader’s Digest. They are a great way to get your steps in and spend time working through the maze with your kids. Walking through the maze for 30 minutes to an hour can burn around 150-200 calories (give or take depending on your weight and other factors) and give you an extra 3,000 steps for the day.

If your nearby farm has an apple orchard I strongly suggest going apple picking. You kids will love being able to pick apples right off the tree. The owners and workers of the apple orchards are usually very knowledgeable about apples and farming—it can be a great learning experience for your kids. The motion of picking apples is a great exercise. Changing from reaching high to low, you can incorporate squats into your apple picking. The more apples you pick, the longer the exercise, burning calories at a rate of around 150-200 for 30 minutes of walking and squats burn around 100 calories for 30 minutes. I always end up getting a ton of apples and giving them away to family and friends. After making a few of my favorite apple desserts of course.

If you are a busy mom trying to workout, you have to get creative on how you get in a 15-minute exercise. You don’t have to go to the gym to get your weight time in. Try using a pumpkin! Pumpkins can vary in weight so make sure you are comfortable carrying around the pumpkin before trying this tip. Instead of rushing back to your car to put your pumpkin away, try carrying it around with you for the rest of the trip. Again this might not be best suited if you have multiple kids to chase or younger kids you need to keep your eye on. Adding a little weight for when you walk can help burn around 250 calories for 30 minutes.

All the calories burn estimates vary from person to person depending on your weight, intensity, how fast you walk and other factors. Every few minutes of exercise counts so try not to just focus on the calories burned, but getting the right amount of exercise your body needs.

Raising kids takes a lot of energy. Put that energy to good use and find ways to get in the extra few minutes of workout time by doing activities your whole family will enjoy.

Your kids will be able to stay active with you and not be stuck in front of the TV all day.

HealthMetric offers features in our all-in-one health and fitness for busy people like you. Our voice assistant allows you to log all your workouts and food at one time. Simply push the microphone and say “one cup of apple cider and one apple” or for workouts “30 minutes of walking”. Check out how HealthMetric might benefit you.