Each year Halloween is a much anticipated holiday filled with fun and spooky activities. There is everything from creative pumpkin carving, unique costume designing, and crafting cute Halloween decorations. However, we can't forget the equally anticipated spine-chilling excitement of visiting a haunted house or taking a walk through a corn maze of terror. These along with many other Halloween traditions are great experiences for the whole family. Whether your idea of Halloween is all out ghoulish and frightening or you prefer something more kid friendly and happy, there are plenty of fun activities for everyone! We've put together a list of our top 10 Halloween activities that are loved by all different ages. Keep reading below!
1. Tour a Haunted House
Visiting a haunted house is an activity for those not faint of heart. If you plan on going to one, you may want to research the scare factor of each location in your area. Some may be geared towards certain ages more than others. A haunted house is probably more suitable for older kids and adults that like a little fear in their life!
2. Have a Halloween Costume Party
Costume parties are very popular among both kids and adults. It's a lot of fun coming up with a unique costume that will leave guests wowed and impressed by your creativity. Although there are a lot of great choices when it comes to buying a costume, it is also a lot of fun to tap into your creative side and make your own costume.
3. Visit a Pumpkin Patch
Instead of purchasing a pumpkin from a grocery store, it's always a fun tradition to visit a pumpkin patch to pick out your favorite pumpkin. A pumpkin patch can be a whole experience that combines a hayride through the patch and serves donuts and ciders at the end. It's perfect for a photo-op, too!
4. Carve a Pumpkin
Carving a pumpkin is probably at the top of your list when you think of Halloween activities! Kids love it, and now there are tons of pumpkin carving kits out there that make the messy process even easier. Get as creative and detailed as you want, or keep your design super simple. Your pumpkins always look amazing when they're brought to life with the glow of a candle.
5. Host a Murder Mystery Event
Celebrate Halloween this year with an enthralling murder mystery event! Your guests arrive adorned in eccentric and frightful costumes. They're greeted with a delicious cocktail and frightful hors d'oeuvres. Spooky music and laughter swirl above the heads of ghouls, ghosts, vampires, and beasts alike—the warm flicker of lit jack o'lantern entrance welcomes the All Hallows Eve festivities.
Suddenly, a blood-curdling scream deafens the room. Everyone rushes to the ear-splitting shrills, only to freeze with terror. A murder! A theft! And now, all partygoers are suspects, but all are now detectives.
Murder Mystery Parties are interactive themed events that involve guests solving a crime, fictitious murder, or theft. These parties typically involve six or more guests, and the objective of the partygoers is to figure out the perpetrator or murderer. Murder mystery games also include intriguing character subplots, like thievery, secret affairs, money trouble, and hidden agendas. Your murder mystery event is sure to be the highlight of the month!
6. Watch Halloween Movies
Whether your style of movie is something like Charlie Brown's Great Pumpkin or something more terrorizing, it's fun to make a Halloween tradition! Host a "drive in" Halloween movie event like this one that is complete with costumes and customized "cars" and your favorite movie snacks to munch on from your "parking space." How cute is this?!
7. Start a "You've Been Ghosted" Neighborhood Game
For this game, you have to be as sneaky as a ghost! It's a surprise treat game that passes through the whole neighborhood. Here's how to start the game in your neighborhood.
Fill a paper lunch bag with a few Halloween treats. Include a drawing of a ghost and these instructions for the game with the headline, "You've Been Ghosted!"
Sneak up to a neighbor's house and put the bag on their porch.
Ring the doorbell and run!
Whoever receives the surprise treat will need to put the drawing of the ghost on their door so everyone in the neighborhood will know they have already been ghosted.
The ghosted person will then repeat the same thing for another neighborhood.
It's so cute to see all of the ghost drawings start to appear on doors!
8. Drink Apple Cider and Eat Donuts
One of the greatest Halloween traditions involves delicious treats that aren't even candy... drinking apple cider and eating donuts! You can make it a group outing, or serve these throughout the entire fall season at home to make the constant presence of cider and donuts a warm memory for your kids year after year.
9. Make (and Eat) Caramel Apples
One awesome family activity around Halloween is to make your own caramel apples. They are easy to make and be further decorated with sprinkles, nuts, chocolate chips, crushed oreos, or any of your favorite toppings!
Here's how to make them:
Wash apples and insert a wooden stick or skewer into the center of each apple.
Melt about 15 oz. of caramels with 3 tablespoons of heavy cream in the microwave. This amount should be good for about 6 apples.
Dip the apples in the caramel sauce and then roll in toppings.
Place the apples on a parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.
Let the apples set in the refrigerator for about a half hour.
10. Go Trick or Treating
Trick or treating is probably one of the most popular traditions of Halloween and it is fun for the entire family. Kids love to dress up in creative costumes and run around the neighborhood collecting candy from as many houses as possible. It can be especially fun when adults also get into the spirit of things. Yards that are decorated in fun or spooky ways create the right environment while scary music coming from houses sets the tone. It's sure to be a night to remember!
What are some of your favorite Halloween traditions? Are they mentioned above, or did we leave out one of your all time family favorites? Let us know which Halloween activities you have planned this year and how you'll be celebrating in the comments below!
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