My kids LOVE Halloween. I mean, what’s not to love when you are a kid. Candy, dressing up, and when they are really young they often get to stay out past their bedtime! But not Halloween looks the same and maybe some years you just don’t want to take the kids trick or treating. That’s when you need some fun things to do on Halloween at home.
Every year since my kids were very young we’ve taken them out trick or treating. But last year we were exhausted, it was raining and cold, and we just didn’t want to go out. So, full out confession here: we bribed my kids with candy and movies to stay home.
And I gotta be honest, now I feel kinda bad about that because this year they won’t be going out again either. With the state of what is going on in the world no one seems to know if Halloween is cancelled or not. I’m not sure if they can cancel Halloween, but I’m not sure if they can’t either. Not everyone is comfortable trick or treating, and not everyone is comfortable handing out candy right now.
And so to avoid the chaos we’ve decided just to come up with some staying home Halloween ideas. The kids are really understanding about it and my youngest is still counting down the days till we celebrate.
Personally we aren’t a family who does the whole “creepy” side to Halloween. We like to keep it lighthearted. Dress up as fun things and eat treats. The best part about planning your own Halloween at home is you get total control over how you want it to look like, or how cute or scary you want it to be. That’s why today I’m going to share with you some cute things to do at home on Halloween but you can also tweak it to turn it into scary things to do at home on Halloween instead if that’s your thing.
And for adults who love Halloween just as much as kids, you can easily create your own Halloween fun at home and no one is going to tell you that you are too old for it. Sounds like a win-win to me. So let’s talk about some fun things to do at home instead of trick or treating this Halloween.
FUN THINGS TO DO ON HALLOWEEN AT HOME
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Play some minute-to-win-it games-Halloween themed
Minute-to-win-it games are fun for all ages. And if you don’t enjoy it the good news is that they are only minutes long and so it will be over soon. 🙂 But, they are so fun I don’t think you’ll want the games to end. Check out these Hallloween themed minute-to-win-it games!
Watch Halloween movies
Now, when I say Halloween movies in my house it’s all about the light-hearted Halloween movies like Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin. But if you like something a little more “spooky,” Halloween is a perfect time to watch some of those movies.
Make some Crafts
If you have kids they’ll love doing some Halloween crafts. If you are feeling extra brave you can take out the glitter. (I’m not that brave, but maybe you are. 😉 ) Check out these cute monster pumpkins that you could make with the kids.
Do some Halloween baking – and then eat it!
There are some super cute pumpkin baking ideas out there. Many times we don’t make treats at Halloween because kids get a LOT of candy already. Staying home is a perfect time to bake some cute cupcakes or cookies for the holiday. I could really go for some of these peanut butter pumpkin treats.
Deliver treat bags to friends.
Make treat bags and leave them on the doorstep of your friends’ homes. Leave a note with it encouraging them in their life in some way.
Listen to some Halloween music
I mean, there’s once a year when we all like to listen to the “Monster Mash,” am I right? Create a Halloween playlist and then dance it up in your kitchen while cranking the music. (FYI, you are NEVER too old to dance in your kitchen.)
Pull out the face paint.
It doesn’t matter the age, face paint is fun! Check out some tutorials online on how to paint some cool designs on your face or your child’s face. Take some fun pictures while you are at it. Grab a face paint kit here.
Make and eat some spider pizza.
Everyone loves pizza but making pizza with spiders on it makes Halloween even more…well…Halloween-ish. Check out this cool spider pizza you can make yourself.
Decorate your home with Halloween decorations.
Parties at home are way more fun when there are decorations. The best part is, you can find a ton of super cheap decorations at the dollar store. I like Dollar Tree and Dollarama for this kind of thing.
Have a bonfire.
I mean, bonfires are great any night of the year, but Halloween is a really good night to enjoy some hot beverages around the fire while eating Halloween snacks. You could even share some spooky stories if you are up for it (again, something I run from because I’m a big scaredy-cat.)
Make some fun Halloween punch.
Clearly, judging by the list you can probably come to the conclusion that I like food. Look, everything is better with food. And with all those snacks you are going to need something to drink, so why not some fun Halloween punch like this one.
Make a Halloween photo booth and take pictures.
Get creative and make a photo booth with some fun props. Take adorable Halloween pictures that will create memories that last a lifetime. Check out these tips on creating your own photobooth.
Eat some candy.
You don’t have to go trick or treating to eat candy on Halloween. Buy some of your own candy and enjoy to your heart’s content on the one day of the year that it is okay to eat a bunch of candy.
Play some board games – extra points for Halloween themed games.
Okay, here’s another confession that I should probably not admit but here it goes- we aren’t a board game. Actually, correction – my children love board games, but my husband and I are not board game people. We’ve had friends seriously consider their friendship to us over it (okay, that’s a joke….kind of….) Anyways, we’re trying to change that because our kids love when we play board games so we are working on it (shh, don’t tell them but I bought a board game for Christmas that we can play together. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is.
But all that aside, many, many people are board game people and you can even get some Halloween themed board games like Halloween Charades, or this escape room in a box.
A CHANGED HOLIDAY CAN STILL BE AMAZING
a year ago we had some really tough holidays. On one particular holiday after looking around at my children who were clearly also carrying the burden of stress at that time. I had this sudden fear that they would have negative memories for every holiday. I made a decision that day – that NO MATTER what our holidays looked like, we would have fun and we would create good memories.
And so that’s what we’ve done since. That means this Halloween, even though it doesn’t look like Halloweens we’ve celebrated in the past doesn’t mean it has to be any less fun. It just requires some creative and maybe a few resources to find some fun things to do at home on Halloween.
I’m curious, are you celebrating Halloween at home this year or going trick or treating.
