Between the candy, costumes, and spooky atmosphere it’s no wonder Halloween is a childhood favorite! Of course, trick or treating is the most popular activity. But some parents feel hesitant to let their children take candy from strangers, or only want to trick or treat at houses of people they know. Whether you allow your child to trick or treat or not, there’s plenty more other fun to be had on Halloween.
Try these ideas for a full day of fun:
1. Face Painting. Kids love to paint their own faces. Buy a set of face paints, set the kids in front of a mirror, and let their artistic talents shine!
2. Movie Night. Younger children might love “It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown” or “Hotel Transylvania”. Older kids might want something scarier! Whether you host a watch party with friends or cozy up together as a family, a spooky movie will put you in the Halloween mood.
3. Hold a Pumpkin Carving Party. Gather up the safety knives and patterns and carve pumpkins together! Cleanup is a breeze when pumpkins are carved outside and of course, younger children could paint theirs instead.
4. Make Caramel Apples or Halloween Themed Treats. If your cooking skill levels are low, there are kits available at many grocery stores around Halloween to help you make traditional caramel apples. A graveyard “dirt cake” made from Oreos is a lot of fun and can be embellished with Nabisco Nutter Butter cookies for ghosts and Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies for gravestones. Or use a donut hole, a Life Saver gummy candy and a chocolate chip to make edible eyeballs.
5. Host a Virtual Costume Contest. Even if trick or treating or a Halloween party is off the table, kids will want to share their costumes. Get together using FaceTime, Zoom, or other video calling methods. Why not have a prize for scariest, funniest, or most original? If you gather on apps such as Houseparty, you can even include virtual games.
6. Tell Ghost Stories or Read Scary Library Books. Family members can take turns telling scary stories. Alternatively, check out some Halloween themed books from the library like, “The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything” by Linda Williams. Older kids might enjoy starting the Bunnicula chapter book series by James Howe or the My Undead Life series by Emma T. Graves.
7. Play Halloween Games. In the spooky game “And Then the Boiler Burst”, players take turns telling a scary story, either making it up or using a familiar story. A close-by object serves as “base.” At the spookiest part of the story, the storyteller shouts out, “And then the boiler burst!” The first player tagged before reaching base tells the next story.
“Pin the Hat on the Witch” or “Pin the Tail on the Black Cat would also be a fun Halloween game. Or play “The Ghost Says” instead of “Simon Says.”
8. Make a Haunted House. Setting up pretend spider webs, skeletons and even old dolls and fake blood can make your front yard into a haunted house for neighbors or friends to enjoy.
9. Make a Halloween Ginger Bread House. Trader Joe’s sells a Halloween gingerbread house around this time of year. If you can’t get one before they sell out, you can get black and orange icing, candy eyeballs or candy corn to make a traditional gingerbread house kit extra spooky.
10. Bob for Apples. You can use a wading pool, large bucket or tub filled with apples and a bandana to cover the eyes for this healthy and fun family activity.
11. Play With Slime or Pumpkin Playdough. Make your own or buy some. Add plastic spiders for a creepy effect. For pumpkin playdough add pumpkin pie spice to store bought or homemade play dough.
12. Candy Scavenger Hunt. Hide candy around the yard or house for little ones to find.
13. Make a Spooky Obstacle Course. Kids will love stepping through masking tape spider webs or hopping over pumpkins. Try timing them and seeing if they can beat their own score.
Teacher and writer Jill Morgenstern has a Master’s Degree in teaching reading. She is a mother to four.
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