7 Ways to Spend Halloween with the Family!

Can you believe it’s October already, and not only that - Halloween is just around the corner! The spookiest night of nights from across the year…(and what a year it’s been!)

This Halloween should feel even more special, given where the world was last Halloween time.  This year, celebrate Halloween all gun’s a blazing, in style, with the family, and here are 7 fun ways to spend Halloween with the ones you love. 

1. Spooky Movie Night

Watching “Halloween” or “Friday 13th” on Halloween (depending on how old your kids are!) is a given on Halloween, but why not REALLY make it a spooky movie night.  First, a marathon is always a winner. Everyone in the family gets to choose their favourite movie (so it’s fair!), and start from the youngest choice’s first. Make it even more fun - pick a character from these movies, and wear fancy dress to the occasion. You may be in your living room, but you’ll be there in style and very Insta-Tastic!  To really put the zombie icing on the cake, spook each other during the night! Play tricks! Who turned that light on in the kitchen? What was that bang from upstairs? Be creative, and see who will scream the loudest - and it won’t be over the movies!

Our favourite Halloween movie picks for all ages:

Para Norman

Mama Coco

Hotel Transylvania 

Casper

Monster House

The Addams Family

Nightmare Before Christmas

Hocus Pocus

The Witches

Ghostbusters

Gremlins

Beetlejuice 

Corpse Bride

Scream

I Know What You Did Last Summer

Psycho

Poltrgeist

Exorcist

Carrie

Halloween

 

2. Monster Mash Dance!

Not only does the perfect Monster Mash dance need the coolest, spookiest and most creative costumes, but it also needs THE ultimate spooky playlist! Make it a kitchen frenzy with snacks at your fingertips, or a living room spook fest with cobwebs hanging from the ceiling and white noise on the TV.

Don’t forget to include some very cool lighting effects, there are some great disco style lights that are just easy plug ins to really make your monster mash extra mash-tastic!

Some of our spooky playlist favourites include:

Ghostbusters Theme - Ray Parker Jr

Monster Mash - Bobby Pickett

Addams Family Theme

Spirit in the Sky - Norman Greenbaum

Thriller - Michael Jackson

This Is Halloween - Danny Elfman

I Put A Spell On You - Screamin’ Jay Hawkins

Pet Cemetery - The Ramones

Halloween - The Misfits

Red Right Hand - Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

People Are Strange - Echo and the Bunnymen

 

3. Have your own Spooky Bake Off!

Devilled eggs, mummy marshmallows, gingerbread ghouls….what’s fun about having your own creepy creature cookout is that you can make the things you love and make all year round - from cupcakes to cookies and biscuits - and let the kids put their own spin on them! Grab a load of fun items from the supermarket - icing, green food colouring, teeth and eyeball candy, licorice, and a host of other decorations and see what creatures you can make! 

It’s a bake off after all, so it’s not just about the taste, it’s about the look as well! Don’t forget to dress up too and make sure you have a prize for the winner!

Some fun food ideas to get creative with: 

Ghoul cheese pizza (grab that mozzarella, shape it into ghouls, add some olives for eyes…BOO!)

Mummy pigs in blankets (with yellow mustard drops for eyes)

Frankfurts that look like intestines

Dip with headstone crackers

 

4. Spooky Neighbourhood Bingo

We LOVE a great game at Family Days Out, so any excuse to create a Halloween themed special.  Especially if you live in a safe, quiet neighbourhood (and this can be done from the car if not), take the kids on a neighbourhood “bingo” game of the local decorations.  On a piece of paper for each child - and these shouldn’t be identical - write a list of 9 potential decorations and things you might see out and about.  Then, as you wander the streets admiring the webs and the spiders and the skeletons roaming in the neighbours gardens, kids can tick off on their bingo card as they come across the items!

It wouldn’t be Halloween without a little competition, after all!

Bingo ideas:

Black Cat

Giant Skeleton

Spider and cobwebs

Red Eyes

Witch

Green Lights

Garden Gravestones

Zombie

Mummy

 

5. Neighbourhood Park Party

Who says Halloween has to JUST be about the immediate family? If you’re lucky enough to live near a park, then why not organise a park party! It’s a great way to introduce new neighbours to the area, catch up with old friends and get to know folk you didn’t before.  Do a simple door knock to introduce yourselves (or say hi!), explain your idea, and then ask them to bring some food. Kids will be able to make new friends, and if you’re lucky your local park will have a playset too (a great way to work of all that sugar!)

Make sure you take a battery / solar operated way to play music! Speakers connected to a phone is always a great idea. Also it’s best to check out the park at night ahead of time, to see how much lighting there is and plan accordingly so everyone is safe and has a great time! Don’t forget the decorations, and maybe some ideas to bring in a few scares too!

6. Spooky Slumber Party: Fright Night!

You’ve mastered the family movie night, mastered the ghoulish bake off, and mastered those costumes AND got yourself a great playlist - why not combine them to host the coolest Spooky Slumber Party your kids friends have ever seen!

Movies, music, costumes, games, food (and candy)….it would be the night to remember! Why not dress up as the zombie host to greet your little guests at the door? There are some great games you can play too. One of our favourites is “Guess the body part!”.  Put different food items on plates and hide them. Then, each guest has to wear a blindfold and hear the chilling story of the doctor that went rogue, and collected body parts.  His collection has just been found!

You could have sausage for intestines, spaghetti for brains, baked beans for …well, that’s where your imagination comes in!

So rally those troupes,  get those sleeping bags ready and prepare for Fright Night!

 

7. Trick or Treating - with an extra “treat"

Of course a fun thing to do with Halloween list wouldn’t be complete without Trick or Treating. It’s a classic! Grab those coolest costumes, and head on over to the neighbours to see what treats are in store.  But why not try and make your Trick or Treating slightly different this year. It’s been a rough 18 months for the entire planet.  Why not “treat” those who treat you.  Chat to your family about what causes they are passionate about - wildlife, conservation, maybe it’s helping children in need.   Then, decide on an amount - perhaps its 1c per candy piece. Maybe it’s 10c per piece. Maybe it’s $1!

Print off some little messages on small pieces of paper, that read something like “Thank you for the delicious candy! To pay it forward this year after a challenging year, our family are donating X amount per piece of candy received to so-and-so charity”.  How great will everyone feel? Maybe they could even take round a charity bucket to raise even more money for the charity at the same time - a trick or treat collection. 

The kids will love the feeling of knowing they have helped others, whilst they still get to enjoy those delicious treats!

Happy Halloween everyone!