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Halloween is just around the corner! Here’s a list of fun Halloween activities you can enjoy with your family.
Inside Activities
Carve pumpkins
Using an ice-cream scoop makes it easier to remove the gooey insides from a pumpkin. Flameless tea lights are safe alternatives to using real candles.
Let your kids decorate their bedrooms with all things Halloween
Kids love decorating their own space. Let them decide which decorations they want and, if they’re old enough, let them do all of the decorating themselves.
Make spooky sugar cookies
Sugar cookies aren’t just for Christmas! Discount stores and some grocery stores have lots of fun Halloween-shaped cookie cutters.
Make a gingerbread haunted house
Use lots of purple, orange, and black decorations to bring your haunted house to life!
Watch a scary movie together
Here’s a fun list of movies that are great for all age groups.
Play pin-the-nose on a jack-o-lantern
Either make or print, a large picture of a jack-o-lantern (make extra copies of his nose) and hang him on the wall or on a door. Grab a blindfold and take turns trying to tape a nose on him!
Make spooky slime
Here are twenty different slime recipes that were collected from all over the internet by I Heart Arts n Crafts.
Play ping-pong-pumpkin
Grab a plastic trick-or-treating pumpkin bucket and some ping pong balls. See who can bounce the balls into the pumpkins.
Make cinnamon salt dough ornaments
Here’s a recipe for cinnamon salt dough ornaments. To make these for Halloween, you can use any shape of cookie cutters. Pumpkins, ghosts, and cats would be perfect!
Make a dancing ghost
This tutorial from Science Bob shows you how to make a ghost dance in front of your eyes!
Make a pumpkin volcano
Combining science and Halloween is always a treat! Here are instructions on how to make “lava” ooze out of a pumpkin.
Make Play-Doh monsters
Not all monsters are scary! Grab some wiggly eyes, pipe cleaners, and some Play-Doh to create fun monsters. This would be a great activity to do after watching Monsters, Inc.
Build a spooky town or haunted house out of blocks
Pull out the bins of Legos and start creating!
Play hide and seek pumpkins
Instead of looking for Easter eggs, find pumpkins! Get some mini pumpkins from the grocery store and take turns hiding them around the house or yard. Who can find the most?
Read a Halloween story together
Check out Halloween books from your local library to read together. The library near me offers family story-time where families can go to the library (usually in the evening) in pajamas, listen to a story, and share snacks afterward.
Outside Activities
Visit a pumpkin patch
If your family has never walked around a field, looking for the perfect pumpkin, you have to experience it! Check online to see if any pumpkin patches are nearby.
Decorate your porch with spooky decorations
Skeletons, jack-o-lanterns, and gravestones will give your porch just the right touch of Halloween for trick-or-treaters.
Have a costume parade around the neighborhood
You can make it even more fun by inviting families from around the neighborhood to join in.
Visit a corn maze
Can you find your way out of a maze? Some farms offer different options like easy mazes for families with young children and more difficult ones for people looking for a challenge. Some even have haunted corn mazes!
Visit a haunted house
Every year a group of homeschooling families in my area get together to make a haunted house for the community. Instead of charging an admission fee, they accept donations of either money or canned food for the local food pantry. All money donated goes towards making the next year’s haunted house even better! Check online to see if there are any haunted houses in your area.
Go on a hayride
Hayrides and autumn go hand-in-hand. Look online to see if any nearby farms offer hayrides. Some farms even offer haunted hayrides!
Attend a “pumpkin chunkin” event
Have you ever seen pumpkins flying through the air? Each year our town hosts an event to see whose pumpkins can be launched the farthest. Catapults and slingshots are just some of the homemade devices used to launch the pumpkins. Check online to see if there are any pumpkin chunkin events happening near you!
What are your favorite Halloween activities?