Are you looking to start some new Halloween traditions this year? These are the most fun Halloween activities you will want to do each year with your family.
Holidays come once a year, and if you’re like me you want to enjoy them as a family creating memories that you will look back on long after your kids are grown and out of the house. Traditions are a great way to look forward to and enjoy the holidays. As a mom to three young kids, i’m giving you the top Halloween traditions to start with your family.
You are going to learn about the best Halloween traditions from Halloween movies and games to booing your neighbors and more!
After learning about these fun Halloween activities, you are going to be so prepared to make this holiday one to remember.
This post is all about the best Halloween traditions every family will want to try.
Best Halloween Traditions
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1. Halloween Decorations
Hang up some spooky decorations to put everyone in the Halloween mood. My kids love when I haul the Halloween bins up from the basement on the 1st of October.
2. Halloween Movie Night
Halloween movie night is such a fun Halloween tradition. Get into some Halloween pajamas, make some popcorn and watch one of these family-friendly Halloween movies:
- Casper the Friendly Ghost
- Halloweentown
- Twitches
- Coco
- The Haunted Mansion
- It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
- Toy Story of Terror
- Hocus Pocus
- The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Monsters Inc.
- Hotel Transylvania
Halloween Family Pajamas
{RELATED POST: 7 Insanely Fun Family Movie Night Ideas Your Kids Will Love}
3. Pumpkin Carving
Head to your local pumpkin patch and spend the day as a family together. Before you leave let everyone pick out their own pumpkin to bring home for carving.
Wait to carve the pumpkins until a couple days before Halloween. This way the pumpkins won’t be rotten by the time Halloween arrives.
To prepare for carving you will want to lay out newspaper or parchment paper to make the clean up process so much easier. Then, pull out all the pumpkin carving supplies. Carving tools like these are very helpful but you can also just use a kitchen knife.
If you have children who may be too young for the traditional carving there are plenty of options to let them participate with the family. You could let them draw on the face and then you can cut it out for them.
Another option would be to get a stencil and hammer kit like this. These work by using the cookie cutter shapes and hammering them into the pumpkin to make a jack-o-lantern face.
Otherwise, just have them paint and decorate their pumpkin with stickers. This is sure to be a Halloween tradition everyone will enjoy.
Pumpkin Carving Tools
4. Halloween Music
Make a playlist with all your spooky Halloween favorites and listen to it the weeks leading up to Halloween.
I love having the music channel on TV as background noise during the day so starting October 1st, I switch it to the Halloween music channel. It gets everyone in the holiday mood and excited for Halloween.
Here are a few of our family’s favorite Halloween songs
- Ghostbusters
- Monster Mash
- This is Halloween
- Somebody’s Watching Me
5. Halloween Games
Turn your family game night into a Halloween themed game night during the month of October. Here are a list of some fun games to play during the month.
- Pin the spider on the web
- This is the Halloween version of pin the tail on the donkey. Using a large poster board, draw on a spider web and hang it on the wall. Get some small spiders like these and place tape on the backside. Now blindfold each player and see who can get their spider the closest to the center of the web.
- Halloween Bingo
- Bingo is a fun game for all ages so play a Halloween version like this to get everyone excited for the holiday.
- Halloween Tic Tac Toe
- First, draw a normal tic-tac-toe board. Then, instead of using x’s and o’s use colored plastic spiders like these. Each player gets to pick one color and the first to get three in a row wins!
Small Plastic Spiders
6. Boo Your Neighbors
Booing your friends and neighbors can be so much. Put together some baskets of goodies.
You can include things like baked goods, candles, drinks, candy and if they have kids play-doh, puzzles, pencils, crayons, and stickers. Then leave the baskets on their front porch with a note that says “You’ve been BOOed.”
7. Halloween Food
Make it a tradition to eat Halloween-themed food on October 31st. Mummy dogs are a favorite in our house and they are not hard to make! Here are some other Halloween food ideas to try.
- Mummy dogs
- Stuffed jack-o-lantern peppers
- Spiderweb or candy corn pizza
- Peanut butter and jelly sandwich spiders
- Pumpkin quesadilla
- Pumpkin veggie tray
- Rice krispie treat pumpkins
- Hocus Pocus cookies
8. Halloween Costumes
My kids get so excited choosing their Halloween costume to wear. Each year we let them decide if they want to do a family themed costume or not. Some years they go as their own and other years we have done The Incredibles and Pokemon.
If you are looking for family costume ideas, here are some good family themes you can base your costumes on.
- The Incredibles
- Pokemon
- Frozen
- Toy Story
- Monsters, Inc.
- A League of their Own
- Aladin
- The Wizard of Oz
- Star Wars
- Zoo
- Scooby Doo
- Superheroes
- Willy Wonka
- Harry Potter
- Jurassic Park
- Baby Shark
- Cat in the Hat
Don’t forget to take a picture of everyone’s costumes to save and look back on.
9. Trick-or-Treating
Go trick-or-treating as a family. If your kids are older and they no longer want to trick-or-treat then hand out candy at your house. It is fun to see the different costumes everyone wears.
10. Halloween Party
Add an annual Halloween party to your family’s Halloween traditions. This can be a fun way to spend the holiday especially if your kids are older and no longer trick-or-treat. Let everyone invite some friends to the party.
Send out some Halloween invitations, make some Halloween food, hang some decorations, and plan some party games. Your whole family is sure to look forward to this yearly tradition.
11. Halloween Jokes
In the week or two leading up to Halloween, give your kids a laugh by telling Halloween jokes.
You can get a Halloween joke book like this or feel free to download my Halloween joke printable below.
Cut them out and put one in their lunch box the week before Halloween. It is sure to make them smile when you’re not with them.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS FREE PRINTABLE
Halloween Joke Book for Kids
12. Leftover Halloween Candy Recipes
After Halloween there is always SO much leftover candy. A fun way to use some of it is in a recipe. Make candy bar cookies or brownies using whatever leftover candy you have.
Your kids will love getting to decide which candy to add and how much. Don’t forget to write down what you included because who knows, it may just be the best dessert you’ve ever had!
13. Halloween Science
There are so many cool Halloween science ideas. Not only does it get your kids excited for Halloween but it makes learning so much fun. Here are some of our family’s favorite science activities to do during Halloween.
- Make a pumpkin erupt using baking soda and vinegar.
- Pumpkin tower STEM challenge using toothpicks and candy corn pumpkins.
- Dissolving pumpkins using candy corn pumpkins and various liquids (oil, milk, water, vinegar).
- Dancing Frankenworms using gummy worms, baking soda, and vinegar.
{RELATED POST: 6 Insanely Fun and Simple Science Activities You And Your Kids Will Love}
14. Halloween Books
Pull out any Halloween books you may have or check some out from your local library. Reading Halloween books in the weeks leading up to the holiday gets everyone in the Halloween spirit.
In our house when the decorations come out so do the books. When I first pull out the holiday books, my kids could sit for hours looking at the “new” books they haven’t seen all year.
Our kids love the 5-Minute Halloween Stories book. These Disney stories are so cute and they make the perfect bedtime story.
{RELATED POST: 19 Best Halloween Children’s Books You Must Read Aloud This Year}
5 Minute Halloween Stories
15. Halloween Scavenger Hunt
Go for a walk as a family and try to complete a Halloween scavenger hunt. You can download my free scavenger hunt printable below.
Either break into teams and see who can finish first or try to complete it all together. This is a great way to enjoy the neighborhood decorations, spend time as a family and get some fresh air and exercise. Your family is sure to love this Halloween tradition.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THIS FREE PRINTABLE
This Post Was All About The Best Halloween Traditions You’ll Want To Start This Year.
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