Halloween is one of the best holidays to get creative and spend quality time with family. Whether you prefer staying cozy at home or engaging in fun activities that bring out your spooky spirit, there are plenty of ways to celebrate the holiday beyond traditional trick-or-treating. Here are some fun, family-friendly ideas to make your Halloween memorable, no matter where you are.
Fun Ways to Spend a Family Halloween
Bake Spooky Halloween Treats
There’s nothing like spending time in the kitchen whipping up some delicious Halloween-themed treats. Get the family together to bake cookies shaped like ghosts, pumpkins, bats, and witches’ hats. You can use colored icing, sprinkles, and edible decorations to let everyone customize their spooky creations.
Some fun treat ideas include:
- Monster Cupcakes: Use candy eyeballs, colorful frosting, and gummy worms to make “monster faces” on top of your cupcakes.
- Mummy Dogs: Wrap hot dogs in strips of crescent roll dough and bake them to create cute (and tasty!) mummies.
- Spider Cookies: Decorate chocolate cookies with candy eyes and pretzel stick “legs” to create edible spiders.
Baking together isn’t just fun—it’s a great way to teach kids how to be creative in the kitchen while making delicious memories!
Get Crafty with DIY Halloween Decorations
Halloween isn’t complete without decorating your home! Instead of buying decorations, spend an afternoon crafting your own spooky decor. From homemade paper bats and ghosts to jack-o-lantern garlands, DIY decorations can really set the Halloween mood.
Some craft ideas include:
- Paper Plate Ghosts: Grab some paper plates, cotton balls, and markers, and have the kids create their own silly or spooky ghost faces.
- Pumpkin Painting: If you want to skip the mess of carving pumpkins, painting them is a fun and safe alternative. You can use glow-in-the-dark paints or glitter to make them stand out.
- Spider Web Yarn Art: Create “spider webs” by wrapping white yarn around a paper or cardboard frame. Add some plastic spiders for a creepy effect.
Decorating together lets everyone pitch in and transforms your home into a festive haunted house, perfect for Halloween night.
Watch a Family-Friendly Halloween Movie Marathon
One of the simplest yet coziest fun ways to spend a family Halloween is by hosting a movie marathon featuring family-friendly Halloween classics. Get some popcorn, snuggle under blankets, and line up movies that the whole family can enjoy. You can even theme your snacks around the movies for an extra spooky touch!
Some great movie options include:
- Hocus Pocus
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Casper
- Hotel Transylvania
- It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
For older kids who might want something a little scarier, you could include movies like Goosebumps or Coraline. After the movie marathon, talk about your favorite scenes and maybe even recreate them with props or costumes.
Go to a Trunk-or-Treat Event
Looking for Fun Ways to Spend a Family Halloween? Trunk-or-Treat events are a fun, safe alternative to traditional trick-or-treating, often held at local churches, schools, or community centers. Participants decorate the trunks of their cars in Halloween themes and hand out candy to kids as they walk from car to car. It’s an easy way to gather a lot of treats while enjoying creative trunk decorations.
As a family, you can brainstorm ideas to decorate your own car trunk! Some fun themes include:
- Haunted house
- Pirate ship
- Superhero lair
- Jungle safari
Many Trunk-or-Treat events also have costume contests, games, and other activities to keep the Halloween spirit alive.
Pumpkin Carving and Painting Party
Pumpkin carving is a Halloween staple, and it’s even more fun when you turn it into a family event. Set up a pumpkin carving station with tools, stencils, and markers, and let everyone create their own unique jack-o-lantern. For younger kids, pumpkin painting can be a safer alternative—let them paint silly or spooky faces without the need for sharp tools.
Once everyone’s creations are finished, place them around the house or in your yard for a fun, festive display. At night, you can light up the carved pumpkins with candles or LED lights to see the designs glow.
Finding Fun Ways to Spend a Family Halloween Together
Whether you’re baking spooky treats, making costumes, or having a movie marathon, Halloween is the perfect time to come together as a family and create lasting memories. The best part? You don’t need to go anywhere special to have an amazing holiday—just a bit of creativity and a lot of fun!
Another great way to enjoy the autumn months is visiting National Parks to see the leaves change. The blazing orange, reds and yellows of the changing seasons is one of the biggest draws this time of year. Check out our guides to Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Acadia National Park to help plan your Fall family getaway. Our believable guides make for unbelievable vacations.
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