Family Fun Halloween Activities – Ideas for Halloween
We do love some wonderful Halloween Crafts this time of year… but also thought it would be fun to share some fabulous Family Fun Halloween Activities! Crafting is most definitely key for us.. but there are lots of other great activities to take part in, in the run up to Halloween!
I have put together a list of super fun Halloween Activities, that don’t actually involve Trick or Treating, but that still allows for candy and community spirit! So if you are looking for alternatives to “just” Trick or Treating.. read on and be inspired. We are super excited by these activities and will make many of these an annual event for our family.
Have a Window/ Wreath/ Porch Decorating Competition
Needless to say, this is an “obvious” one to do for any Halloween Activity planning…. In the US, most of you will already be decorating the front of your houses.
Here in the UK, it is still becoming more of a “thing”. But this year, could be the year to go all out and see who can come up with the most elaborate decor.
OR, if space is limited, or you don’t own a front garden, why not have a Wreath decorating or Door Decorating Competition?
- Check out our simple Paper Halloween Wreath
- More Wreath decorating ideas via Good Housekeeping
- My friend Amy from Living Locurto has some Halloween Door Decorating ideas!
Go on a Halloween Decoration Spotting Drive – perfect for colder days
Linked to the above – but not necessarily “joined”… you can simply pack up the kids and go for a nice drive in the neighbourhood to see all the different decorations. That way, you are nice and warm and cozy and you can see all sorts a lot more! Maybe do the drive night before Halloween itself, so the roads are not so busy and you can really enjoy all the decor!
Love this idea from Family Handy Man – can you guess what the cages are made from?! Or check out this Halloween Fairy Garden. So many things to discover and enjoy!
FREE Trick or Treating Signs to help manage expectations
Though I love the old rule of “porch lights on” – come and trick or treat… some people still like putting up signs to say “We are Trick or Treating” or “Sorry, No Trick or Treat”.
Grab your FREE Trick or Treating Signs here.
Organise a Halloween Window Letter Hunt (with prizes!)
I am super excited about this one, as it is a great way to involve the kids AND the local community. We did similar at Easter and it was so simple to organise and yet the kids loved it.
Create a “word scramble”, by assigning letters to different neighbours. They decorate these letters, and put one in each of their windows to spell out a word.. the kids need to find the letters and unscramble the word.
Find out more about our Halloween Window Letter Hunt here, as well as top tips for organising one and a copy of your letters to print and use!
Play Halloween Bingo/ Scavenger Hunt in the car or on a walk
Similar to the Halloween Decorations “drive by”, you can go on a Scavenger Hunt or Play Halloween Bingo. Go for a drive and see how many of “one kind” you can spot. Then take any of these Halloween Bingo Cards or Scavenger Hunt Printable (or try these or these) and tick the what you see off the list. Prizes can be awarded for each item found… as well as for completing the list first!
Free Halloween Cootie Catchers – Activity Game for Kids
Those with little one’s stuck indoors with bad weather or if you have kids you are that bit too young to go trick or treating.. I am super excited to share these Halloween Cootie Catchers – it comes with “tokens” so you can cut those out hide them around the house and have an indoor Scavenger Treats Hunt. Hope it is of help! (Free download) – there is also a quiz version.
These Halloween Cootie Catchers would also be super fun for a play date or a Halloween Classroom Party!
Organise a Halloween Treasure Hunt
Similarly, you can have lots of fun with a spooky Halloween Treasure Hunt! Write your own or make use of the plenty of the online resources available – such as these cards by Party Delights – which focusses your treasure hunt around the home. You can also organise one in the neighbourhood and involve your neighbours!
Make your own Halloween Pinata
Let’s be honest.. the point of ANY Trick Or Treating event is all about the sweets and candy! Right? My kids LIVE for the opportunity to be allowed to have lots of sweets… so whatever your Halloween activities involve, maybe include a Halloween Pinata.
We have this super fun and easy Post It Note Monster Pinata, some Mini Bat Pinatas and Mini Ghost Pinatas or you may want to have a go at making a traditional Papier Mache Pinata! We need to give this ago again, have great papier macher recipe and papier mache techniques for you here – perfect for making our sugar skull pinata! Or maybe make giant eyeballs!
Have a Spooky Story Telling session
This one you can organise in person (e.g. via a library story time) or online. Spooky stories are great as part of a sleepover party.. or if you have family and friends that live further afield, why not go back to the old Zoom! If recent years have shown us one thing… zooming is a great way to connect! And Zoom is great for Halloween celebrations too.
The great thing about zoom, is that the kids can still dress up and show off their costumes… and talk to their friends. Why not have a Halloween Bingo Session (as per the above) and follow it up with a Spooky Story Telling session? Make the stories as scary or non scary as you like – so long as they are age appropriate!!
Halloween Escape Room Session
Another of great Halloween Ideas for friends and family that are apart – Escape Rooms. Halloween Escape Room experiences, are great for older kids.
There are many great DIY Halloween Escape room out there and it allows the tweens and teens to get together for Halloween fun. . Or if you want something from the comfort of your own home, have a go at an online Escape Room or check out one the printable escape room kits available. Or try these Free Escape Room Puzzles.
Here is a great list of Online Escape Rooms being offered online put together by The Independent – which can be accessed all over the world. Here is agreat Harry Potter Escape Room available in a NUMBER of languages, would would make a great Halloween Themed Escape Room! Or have a look at what is available locally in your town for an in person Escape Room experience.
On the other hand, if you’re looking to host a truly memorable Halloween party, you’ll want to take a look at a printable escape room game instead. These DIY escape room kits transform your home into a real-life escape room experience. They’re perfect for the ‘main event’ of your Halloween party, as any number of guests can play, and you can customize any part of the game you like. You get all the fun of an escape room, right there in your living room
Haunted House Drive-Thru Halloween Activity
Do check out what is going on locally! You may be lucky enough to have a local “Haunted House Drive-Thru” or Haunted Road Drive-Thru – some of these are springing up across America (wish we had one here in Blighty). What a fun idea. Here is an example of such an event! What a fun idea!
Join a Trunk or Treat Event
What is a Trunk or Treat Event?
“Originally started by church groups with the aim of providing a safer environment for trick-or-treaters on Halloween, trunk or treat involves a community coming together in a parking lot, either on the 31st or shortly before, so that children can trick-or-treat out of the decorated trunks of their cars.” Source: Huffington Post.
The great thing about a trunk and treat event, is that you don’t have to go knocking on lots of doors, but you can have fun viewing people’s drunks.
- Trunk or Treat Ideas by Good Housekeeping
Have a Pumpkin Carving Party
We love to get together with family and friends and have a pumpkin carving day. It involves making pumpkin soup (the kids can now cook this) and pumpkin risotto. We have also made some yummy pumpkin spice cake (like a carrot cake but simply substitute the grated carrots with grated pumpkins).
In our digital world right now, you can also do this by zoom, is that we can now “see” friends who are currently overseas and who we would have loved to do this with again this year.
BOO Your Neighbours
Princess Pinky Girl explains all about this lovely Community Tradition of boo-ing your neighbours. It is a super sweet way to share the candy around and have fun with your neighbours. You can either do it as a complete surprise, or organise it amongst a group of parents (don’t let the kids know, that you know… so there is still an element of surprise)… or organise it like a secret santa. I love this idea! Lots of boo your neighbours ideas and details at Princess Pinky Girl. Hop over now and read more! Our Mini Bat Pinatas or Mini Pumpkin Treat Boxes would also be a fun way to boo your neighbours!
LOTS more Boo Your Neighbor Ideas and Printables here:
Halloween Tea Party
Have yourself a Halloween Tea Party with this super delicious Halloween Party Food! This post shares what you can “bake ahead” a few days earlier, to make on the day preparations as minimal as possible. Combine your tea party with a Movie night (see below).
Also, you don’t have to make ALL of these treats (I agree, we went a little mad!) maybe pick one or two and make them for a Halloween Playdate after school!
Host a Halloween Movie Night
And finally, if you still need one last idea.. why not host a Family Movie Night/ Halloween Sleepover as per the let’s mingle blog!! You can get the kids sewing cute cat cuddle cushions ahead of time and make some Halloween Pop Corn and candy treats trays.. afterall, Halloween is about over indulging on candy, right?
This year we are sending home some of our mini Pumpkin Party Favours with our Movie night guests. Can’t wait!
For grown ups – Zoom Cider Tasting
Finally, one for the grown ups. As mentioned before.. what we have learnt in recent years, that Zoom is actually a fun way to connect with friends and family that don’t live nearby. A friend once organised a Zoom Wine Tasting Session for us and it was so fun! They got hold of 4 miniature wine bottles, covered the labels and delivered them to our doors! Then a few nights later, we had an online wine tasting and wine quiz. So fun. You could do a similar session with Cider Tasting – making it a more autumnal event!
These days – there are a number of companies out there that will organise a zoom session like this for you. They will even host and compere for you. So all you have to do is log in and enjoy! Have a google to see what is available in your area.
Have yourself a Halloween Science Afternoon
Or how about some fun science… it won’t feel like learning if you have a go at some of these fabulous Halloween Science ideas from Science Sparks!
Halloween Play Dough Activities for Toddlers
The fabulous Rainy Day Mum really is the queen of Toddler Activities… and this also also applies to Halloween Fun! So, if you have a little one in your care, why not give some of these super cute and spookily fun Playdough Activities and Mats a go? Bring Halloween indoors and make it fun fun fun!
I hope you find some alternative ideas to Trick or Treating here today, and wish you all very Happy and Safe Halloween!!
Now ready for some Halloween Crafting? Check these out:
