Scary costumes and trick-or-treating is fun, sure. But Halloween can be truly EPIC if you open yourself up to new and fun ideas!
There are lots of other ways to enjoy Halloween with the whole family than overloading on candy. From throwing an eyeball race, visiting an escape room, or having a pet costume contest, Halloween 2020 can be one for the books!
Best of all, you can enjoy doing them before or after you go on your candy run around the neighborhood, so make sure to add these to your Fall bucket list!
1. VISIT A PUMPKIN PATCH
You’re going to need a pumpkin to make your annual Jack-O-Lantern this Halloween season. So why not visit a local pumpkin patch? It’s way more fun than buying a pumpkin at a supermarket and there’s more variety in shape and sizes at a patch. So, after the whole family picks a few pumpkins together, you can get lost in a corn maze, pet a few animals at the pumpkin patch’s zoo, go on a hay ride, or play human foosball. Finish off the visit with a tasty dessert! Visiting a pumpkin patch can easily become a Halloween tradition for your family.
2. HAVE AN EYEBALL RACE
It’s basically the beloved egg-and-spoon race we used to play as kids but with a creepy twist. Buy a couple of eyeball ping pong balls or paint one on regular ping pong balls. Remember, they need to look bloodshot with lots of red veins. Once your eyeball is ready, have participants place one on a spoon and then race towards the designated finish line without dropping it.
Start off by marking the starting line and finish line about 50 feet apart. If you can do this in the front yard, even better! Give everyone an eyeball and a spoon and have them race. It might sound simple but it’s a lot harder than you think. A steady hand and quick feet are required to complete the race. And in case it wasn’t obvious, anyone who touches the ball loses.
3. THROW A FAMILY HALLOWEEN PARTY
It’s not really Halloween unless you throw a family party, now is it? Obviously, you’ll all want to pick costumes. Then you’ll need to decorate the house. Add a Jack-O-Lantern to your centerpiece and add dry ice fog to wow the kiddos. Then make some crochet spiders and place them around the house in webs made out of cotton.
Once you’ve set the decorations, move on to the food. Use some milkshake drizzled with chocolate syrup for webbing or red syrup for blood. You can also make some cupcakes with orange icing and witchy hats or ghost candies on top. But don’t forget to play some spooky music to create a ghoulish atmosphere like the Monster Mash. Everyone can dance to that and burn some calories.
4. HOST A SCARY MOVIE NIGHT
Grab the family and some snacks and cuddle up on the couch so you can enjoy a mini-thon of scary movies. Here are a few film suggestions:
- Monster House
- Hocus Pocus
- Coraline
- Dear Dracula
- Spookley the Square Pumpkin
- Labyrinth
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Beetlejuice
- Toy Story of Terror!
- Goosebumps
- Super Monsters Save Halloween
- Teen Witch
- Scared Shrekless
- Frankenweenie
- Hotel Transylvania
- Corpse Bride
- Ghostbusters (Any of them)
- The Dog Who Saved Halloween
- Casper
If you’re looking for fun ideas for Halloween snacks, then here are a few suggestions for those, too:
- Scary Pumpkin Spice Hot Chocolate
- Spooky Green Eyeball Soup
- A Halloween themed orange cake
- Ghost S’Mores Dip
- Dracula Dentures
- Jack Skellington Candy Apples
- Spooky Ghost Cookies
- Chocolate Pumpkin Witch Cupcakes
5. MUMMY-WRAPPING RACE
Add a ghoulish twist to a regular racing game this Halloween by adding some mummy wrapping. Use strong, double-ply toilet paper and wrap it around the kids’ bodies so they look like a mummy from head to toe but don’t obstruct the eyes, nose or mouth areas. Make sure everyone’s comfortable before you start the race.
The instructions are simple. Get into teams of two. One family member will do the mummy wrapping, while the others will race. The sooner the person finishes the wrapping, the sooner the mummy can begin racing. Whoever gets to the finish line first, wins.
6. FIND YOUR WAY OUT OF A SPOOKY CORN MAZE
Go online and look for the nearest corn maze in your town. A lot of them throw Halloween-themed events that are fun for the whole family. But the real kick of corn mazes is that you can all go in and get lost while weaving through rows of fresh corn. It’s also a great way to gets kids to exercise their problem-solving skills. Let them lead the group once in a while to exercise those leadership skills, too. And if you’re looking for a challenge, visit a corn maze at night.
7. COOK A GHOULISH DISH TOGETHER
Making creepy dishes for Halloween doesn’t necessarily mean spending extra time in the kitchen. You just need to get creative. Sausages can look like fingers if you create a dent at the tip and coat it with ketchup to create a fake nail.
Green jello can easily become spooky if you add some edible spiders or eyeballs. You can even make some witch finger breadsticks complete with fingernails made of almonds by following recipes like this one:
8. TELL SCARY STORIES BY CANDLELIGHT
Light a bunch of candles around the living room and take turns making up a spooky story of your own. You can also choose a Halloween-themed book to read from. There are tons of kid-friendly titles out there. Here are some suggestions:
- How to Catch a Monster
- Runaway Pumpkins
- When the Clock Strikes on Halloween
- The Spooky Wheels on the Bus
9. DO AN ESCAPE ROOM
Go online and see if you can find an Escape Room in your area. If you found one in a neighboring city, then take a trip!
How do escape rooms work? Easy! You and your family will assemble in a Halloween-themed escape room and will have an hour to complete the mission. This will require you to find the hidden clues and solve challenging puzzles around the room. To make this happen, you’ll have to come up with a puzzle that will require decoding. Doing so will lead players to the second puzzle and so on.
The escape room allows the whole family to spend quality time bonding without leaving the house or using smartphones.
10. HAVE A PET COSTUME CONTEST
Costumes aren’t just for humans anymore! It’s Halloween, so everyone in the family gets to participate, including your pets. Ask your friends, neighbors, and family members to join in the fun and include their pets too. That way, you’ll get to judge way more costumes.
If your loved ones are living on the other side of town, another state, or country, then use Skype or Zoom to show off those great pet costumes. You can have a prize for the cutest costume, one for the scariest one, and one for the most creative one.
11. DO A GHOST TOUR IN A SCARY TOWN
If you live in an old town, chances are they’re going to have a ghost tour on Halloween. Places like Sleepy Hollow, New York, and Salem, Massachusetts, are great Halloween destinations for ghost tours. Don’t forget to check out Airbnb Experiences in your area, too. And if your town doesn’t offer any ghost tours, that’s okay. Grab a few flashlights, and visit a local cemetery. Is there anything spookier?
In Conclusion
Halloween is a great time to spend with the family. You get to bond, have fun, and create lasting memories. And these 11 activities will help you do just that! So put on your costume, grab some candy, and have a happy Halloween!
