5 Fun Activities for Your Family This Halloween

So you’ve bought the costumes, carved a few pumpkins, and prepped some spooky snacks. But what else should you be doing to make this Halloween the most memorable for your family? With so many activities focusing on reaping the benefits of fall during October, it can be tricky to find something new to do as a family. Luckily, there are plenty of fun things you can all take part in that won’t involve donning a scary outfit or eating sweets until you feel like exploding. Here are some of our favorite family-friendly activities around Halloween:

Visit a pumpkin patch

If you love everything about fall and Halloween, then a pumpkin patch is an excellent place to start. The weather will be cool enough to wear a jacket but not so cold that you have to bundle up, and you can enjoy exploring the patch without wearing a costume. And not only will you be able to pick out the perfect pumpkin, but you can also enjoy some other great fall activities while you’re there. Try picking some apples from the orchard or going on a hayride to collect corn. You can also spend some time decorating your pumpkins with your kids or taking photos to capture the experience. If you have little ones who would love to get their hands on the pumpkins, make sure to pick up some cheap ones for kids to paint.

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Go on a haunted hayride

If you prefer the excitement of Halloween to its fall-themed counterpart, then a hayride is the perfect activity for you. You don’t need to pick out a pumpkin or spend time decorating it; you can just throw the pumpkin in the car and be done with it. And while it may be dark when you visit the patch, you can go on the hayride whenever you like. With so many farmers hosting hayrides around this time of year, you’re bound to find something that suits your family’s interests. Whether you’re searching for something silly or scary, there’s probably a hayride out there for you. And with so many different hayrides to choose from, you’re bound to find one that’s within a reasonable driving distance. You could even arrange a group trip or host a party and charter a bus or a large van for the journey.

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Watch a spooky movie

If you love the excitement of Halloween but aren’t so keen on the autumnal themes, watching a spooky movie is a great alternative. While you can watch a movie just about any day of the year, you can only watch it on Halloween if it’s suitably spooky. And Halloween is a great time to watch a movie with your kids, as it gives you a reason to enjoy the spooky elements without having to explain the reasons behind them. You can watch a scary movie, or you can choose something with a Halloween theme that isn’t as intense. There are tons of options out there, but you can start with classics like “Hocus Pocus” or “The Nightmare Before Christmas.” If you want to find something more recent, you can head to the nearest video store or go online and search for Halloween movies on sites like Netflix or Amazon Prime.

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Decorate cookies and crackers for Halloween

If you’re hosting a Halloween party or taking your kids trick-or-treating, you’ll no doubt be buying lots of sweets and cheap decorations. You could save some cash by picking up some patterns or stencils to decorate your own cookies and crackers. You can choose to decorate them with scary or spooky designs or create themed cookies that look great as decorations or gifts. It’s a fun way to spend time with your children and a great way to make your home more festive for Halloween. You can even turn your creations into a gift for your next party or host a cookie decorating session with friends and family.

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Have an indoor game night

If you’re sick of trick-or-treaters or have young children who aren’t old enough to go door-to-door, an indoor game night is one of the best ways to celebrate Halloween. You can play as many creepy or spooky board games as you like, or you can make it a general game night. You can even make it seasonal with a game such as Scary Scavenger Hunt or Pumpkin Bowling. And if you have younger children, you can also play many family-friendly games that are more kid-appropriate. You can play anything from card games to word games, puzzles to trivia. There are hundreds of games available, so there’s sure to be something for everyone. You can even play simple childhood games such as Twister or Scattergories.

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Organize your photos from the past year

If you’ve been documenting your family’s adventures for some time, then you’re likely to have a good number of photos stored on your computer. You may also have printed off some photos from the year to put in a scrapbook, or you may have printed them to give to friends and family as gifts. But there’s another way to celebrate your past year that doesn’t involve heaving boxes of photos from one side of the house to the other: you can organize your photos. Organizing your photos allows you to look back at the year you’ve just had, and it’s a great way to discover photos you may have forgotten about or never printed off in the first place. You can create a slideshow of your photos or print off a selection and create a photo book. You can even use some of your photos to create gift tags or cards for friends and family.