Fun Halloween Activities to Do with Your Kids
There is more to Halloween than just Trick-or-Treating, if you want there to be! While classic activities like picking out costumes and going to Halloween parties (or planning your own) are great, there are many additional fun activities you can do with your kids that amp up the spook factor and make memories that you all will cherish. Some we suggest here are themed around ghosts and zombies, but let’s not forget that Halloween lands smack-dab in the middle of fall, one of the most beautiful times of year, and that should be celebrated as well. With that said, we present our roundup of fun ideas for you and your kids to enjoy the holiday (and the season) with!
Get in the Car and Go
Whether you head to a pumpkin patch, a haunted house, or the movies for some Halloween-themed fun, be sure to include a drive through the countryside to see the leaves changing. Try playing a Halloween-themed ‘I Spy’ game while driving, and award points to those who find holiday themed objects and animals, such as a scarecrow, a flying bat, a creepy old barn, an owl, orange leaves, a black cat, etc. Winner’s prizes can be anything you choose!
Kitchen Tricks and Treats
Kid-friendly Halloween recipes come in abundance on Pinterest and Google. Pick a few that your children are capable of doing, and get in the kitchen to get it done! In the process, try and slip in a few ‘tricks’ that you know will make your kids giggle. Whether you surprise them with a bit of frosting on their nose, hide their ‘special spoon’ or bowl of cupcake decorations, or put a bit of salt in their water, introduce mild and harmless tricks for a bit of silly fun. It gets even more fun if your young children have another adult ally to "get you back" with!
Silly Pumpkin Decorating Contest
Let the silliest pumpkin win! Lighten up on the horror and challenge your kids to a goofy pumpkin contest. Pumpkin carving can be a tough task for young kids, so we highly encourage you to try decorating your pumpkins with paint, markers, and anything you can glue on. The list is endless – fabrics, glitter, "googley-eyes", paper maché, and pipe cleaners add silly elements to a pumpkin. Prizes can include placing their pumpkin in a prominent place in the home, to choosing Dad’s Halloween costume. Just one rule: have fun!
A Craft Buffet
Once again, Halloween-themed crafts for kids live in abundance on the internet, and many of them are easy to put together. However, have you ever served a craft up buffet-style? Find two or three crafts that include many of the same supplies to make, and make sure they match your kids’ ages and capabilities. Dedicate a room to this activity, creating numbered stations where your kids can go to for supplies. Create a menu for the different crafts they have to choose from, taping the pictures of the crafts to the wall with a list of the supplies they’ll need to make it, and let your children choose which one they want to make. Walk them through the stations the first time, gathering the supplies they’ll need. Since there are different crafts to choose from, let them go back to the "buffet bar" and make them all!
Trick-or-Treat Bingo
When the big night finally arrives, amplify the fun by adding some competition! Many homes purchase and pass out candy bag mixes, which means that everyone’s "haul" will look a little different according to the candy that each home distributes, and what happens to fall in your kids’ baskets. This game is even more fun when you split your family into teams, such as Team Mom or Team Big Brother, and go trick-or-treating in different neighborhoods. To start the game, make a bingo card with different types or brands of candy in each square. The team (or person) who makes Bingo first, wins! Consider letting the prize be the stash of leftover candy at your own house post-Halloween, or their favorite baked treat. What are some of your favorite kid-friendly Halloween activities? Share with us on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram!
Original publish date: 10/18/2016
