31 Fun and Memorable Halloween Activities for Families!

Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, and fall is hands down my favorite season. There’s just something about the crisp air, the changing leaves, and all things spooky that make this time of year feel extra magical. Now that I have stepkids, celebrating Halloween has become even more fun. Whether we’re crafting creepy decorations, baking delicious treats, carving pumpkins, or planning our costumes, it’s all about spending time together and making memories. And for us (okay, mostly me) Halloween isn’t just one single day, we celebrate the entire months of September and October. That means we need lots of Fall and Halloween activities that everyone in the family will love. The following list of 31 Halloween activities for families includes some of my favorites.

I hope they inspire some fun, bonding, and memory-building ways to celebrate the season with your family this spooky season!

Why Celebrate Halloween for More Than One Day?

Halloween might officially be on October 31st, but for many families, the fun of Halloween begins long before the last day of the month. When you expand your celebration to include the whole season, you get more opportunities to bond as a family, develop traditions, and embrace the creative and imaginative side of the holiday. Life gets busy, with school, work, sports, playdates, and other obligations constantly pulling us in different directions. But focusing on making holidays like Halloween magical for your children provides a chance to slow down and create memories they’ll cherish forever.

In a world where everything seems to move so fast, embracing seasonal traditions helps ground your family in meaningful experiences. When it comes to Halloween, there are so many ways to get creative, from crafting to storytelling to decorating. Let’s break down some of the best activities by theme so you can pick what works best for your family, depending on their ages and interests.

Pumpkin Everything: Creative Approaches for All Ages

No Halloween celebration is complete without pumpkins, and there are endless ways to use them to entertain the entire family.

• Pumpkin Patch Visit – Spend a day picking out pumpkins to carve or decorate.
• Pumpkin Carving or Painting – Get creative with carving spooky or silly faces. Painting is great for little hands that can’t yet carve!
• Pumpkin Bowling – Set up pins (use empty bottles) and use a small pumpkin as the bowling ball.

DIY Haunted Spaces: Crafting Family-Friendly Spooky Area

One of the most exciting parts of Halloween is transforming your home into a spooky haven. Creating a Halloween-themed environment is a great way to get the whole family involved.

• Create a Haunted House – Turn a room or the yard into a mini haunted house for the kids to explore. Add spooky lighting, cobwebs, and eerie sound effects to enhance the atmosphere. If you want to go all out, you can invite friends over for a “haunted tour,” complete with interactive elements like hidden “ghosts” or surprise candy stops.
• Trick-or-Treat Indoors – Set up candy stations in different rooms for a trick-or-treating experience at home. This works especially well for younger children or if the weather isn’t ideal for outdoor trick-or-treating. Create different “candy stations” in various rooms of your house, with each station offering a different treat. Not only does this keep the fun inside, but it also allows you to control the candy haul and make the experience feel more personal.
• Decorate the House – Create some spooky decor with the ideas below or use your store-bought items, but decorate together for some family fun. I love to put on Halloween music while we decorate.

Seasonal Crafts: Halloween DIY Projects

Halloween is the perfect time to get creative, especially when it comes to costumes and crafts. Why not try making your own instead of buying costumes from a store? Not only is it a more budget-friendly option, but it also allows for a level of personalization and creativity that store-bought costumes can’t offer. The whole family can participate in brainstorming costume ideas, gathering materials, and putting them together.

If crafting is more your family’s speed, there are endless Halloween crafts for kids to try out. From creating DIY trick-or-treat bags to making Halloween masks out of paper, felt, or fabric, the options are limitless. Crafting these items together encourages teamwork and lets each family member express their own creativity. Here are a few ideas to get you started!

• Creating Halloween-themed sensory activities– great for little kids try putting little Halloween toys in kinetic sand. Or add food coloring to water and let them pour and mix the colors.
• DIY Halloween Costumes and Masks– Make homemade costumes together.
• Make Your Own Halloween Sock or Finger Puppets– Get creative with old socks, pipe cleaners, string, paper, and hot glue.
• DIY Trick-or-Treat Bags – Decorate canvas bags or pillowcases for trick-or-treating.
• Make Halloween Garlands– cut out little ghosts, witches, bats or spiders and string them together to make spooky garlands.
• Spooky Jewelry DIY– Go to your local craft store and get some Halloween beads- maybe an eyeball or ghost- and make your own bracelets and necklaces.
• Halloween Chalk Art – Use sidewalk chalk to create spooky or silly Halloween scenes on your driveway.
• Making Halloween Tee Shirts– Tie-dye shirts and use puffy paint to draw something spooky
• Make Halloween Slime – Create spooky, gooey slime in Halloween colors.
• Air-dry Clay Ghosts and other Spooky Creations: Air-dry ghosts are a great craft for all ages. Air-dry clay is inexpensive and requires no special equipment or baking. See this post here for the full air-dry clay ghost tutorial!

Halloween-themed Family Game Night Activities

Halloween doesn’t have to be all about candy. Themed games are one of the best Halloween activities for families. They are an excellent way to promote teamwork and bonding within the family, all while having a little spooky fun!

• Puppet Show– create a show with your sock puppets! You can then stage a family puppet show, with everyone contributing to the storyline and characters. It’s a great way to stimulate creativity while keeping the whole family entertained.
• Halloween Scavenger Hunt– leave treats and toys around the house to be found through a series of clues.
• Family Halloween Costume Fashion Show– – Have everyone dress up and walk the runway to Halloween Music. Then for a walk around your neighborhood or a park to show off costumes!
• Halloween Bingo – Play a Halloween-themed bingo game with spooky icons.
• Halloween Charades – Act out spooky characters like witches, ghosts, or zombies.

Festive Treats and Snacks

No Halloween celebration is complete without festive snacks and meals. Involving the whole family in baking Halloween treats is a fantastic way to bond and indulge your sweet tooth. Try baking ghost-shaped cookies, pumpkin cupcakes, or monster brownies. Let the kids take charge of decorating with candy eyes, icing, and sprinkles. The result may not be bakery-perfect, but the process is all about having fun together.

• Bake Halloween Treats – Make ghost cookies, pumpkin cupcakes, or monster brownies. Let the kids go crazy decorating cupcakes with candy eyes, spiders, and ghosts.
• Spooky Meals and Snacks– Spaghetti and eyeballs (meatballs with a bell pepper for the iris, a black olive for the pupil, and a little white cheese for the dot of light reflection). Try apple and peanut butter spiders with pretzel legs for a snack!
• Pumpkin Pancakes: add chocolate chips for extra fun!

Halloween Entertainment Activities for Families

When the sugar rush from trick-or-treating or treats begins to subside, gathering for a spooky movie night or storytelling session is the perfect way to relax. Classic family-friendly Halloween movies like Hocus Pocus or The Nightmare Before Christmas create the right amount of thrills without being too scary for young children.

For something more interactive, sit around the fire (if you have a fireplace or a backyard fire pit) and share ghost stories. Keep the stories kid-friendly, focusing on fun, whimsical spooks rather than anything too scary. Reading Halloween-themed books before bed is another way to engage with the holiday while winding down after a busy day of activities.

• Halloween Movie Night – Watch family-friendly classics like Hocus Pocus or The Nightmare Before Christmas.
• Ghost Story Time – Share spooky (but kid-friendly) ghost stories. Do this around a fire outside if possible!
• Read Halloween Books – Pick out fun and spooky Halloween stories to read before bed.
• Take a Family of Ghosts Photo– Everybody grabs a sheet and some accessories like sunglasses, hats, whatever you like! Then print and frame your family ghost portrait as part of your Halloween decor. If want to go all out, set up a spooky photo booth. Set up a Halloween-themed backdrop, and take silly family photos.
• Glow In The Dark Body, Face Paint or Glow Stick Games, or Dance Party – Turn off the lights, crack some glow sticks, and dance to Halloween tunes or play Hide and Seek!
• Halloween Science Experiments – Try “witch’s potion” with baking soda and vinegar with food coloring. Create themed areas for crafts or meals like potion making in a Witches’ Kitchen, or wild experiments in a Mad Scientist’s lab.
• Virtual Costume Party: Have a little Halloween fun with friends and family who live far away.

Halloween Activities for Families That Will Delight

Halloween offers numerous opportunities for families to come together and create meaningful experiences. The Halloween activities for families suggested here emphasize creativity, teamwork, and shared enjoyment, moving beyond the commercial aspects of the holiday.

By focusing on interactive and imaginative pursuits, families can forge stronger bonds and establish new traditions. Whether you’re crafting unique decorations, transforming your living space, or preparing festive treats, these shared moments contribute to a rich tapestry of family memories.

As you plan your Halloween celebrations, consider which activities best suit your family’s interests and dynamics, ensuring a holiday that’s both fun and meaningful for everyone involved.

Halloween is more than just one spooky night—it’s a whole season of fun to enjoy with your family. Whether you’re getting creative with DIY costumes, cooking up Halloween treats, or just watching a classic Halloween movie together, there are endless ways to make the most of this season. For me, it’s all about those moments spent with my stepkids, creating memories that they’ll look back on fondly.

So embrace the fun, try out a few of these activities, and make this Halloween one your family will always remember!