It’s nearly Halloween, and this post will give you all the spooky, scary (and fun) things to do for kids this Halloween. And if you’re wondering what day Halloween is in 2023, it’s the same as every year. Halloween 2023 falls on October 31st, and my girls are already full of ideas about what to do for Halloween this year.
Decisions, Decisions … do we go trick or treating, do we have a Halloween party? Should we go out for a Halloween experience? And of course, the most important question – what costume do we get for Halloween 2023? Well, I’ve got you sorted – here is the ultimate list of ideas for Halloween in 2023.
Below is an updated post I wrote for Halloween in Lockdown. It was a really popular post, so I’ve updated it with a few more fun ideas of how to enjoy Halloween this year. Whether you’re doing Halloween at home, or maybe you’re isolating, or maybe you just don’t want to go trick or treating in the rain this year (me, that’s me), here are some spooktacular ideas of things to do for Halloween at home.
However you like to enjoy Halloween, this ultimate list of Ideas for Halloween will have something for you!
The girls are already pestering me about what we are going to do for Halloween this year. To be fair, they have come up with some great ideas for Halloween themselves. So with a little help from Google, Pinterest and my girls here is a list of 20 ideas for Halloween! Forget trick or treating; these fantastically frightful Halloween ideas are great fun for the whole family … I think!
Have a Halloween Movie Night!
This could have been a blog post on its own, but here are some awesome Halloween Movies for kids. Instead of going out Trick Or Treating, why not plan a scary movie night in, full of Halloween treats? Disney Plus has a great selection of Halloween movies to choose from, as do Netflix and the others; which of these do you fancy watching … in the dark, obviously!
15 Halloween Movies For Kids!
- Disney Frankenweenie
- Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas
- Maleficent
- Hocus Pocus (A classic in my opinion!)
- Edward Scissorhands
- Into The Woods (musical)
- Descendents (1, 2 and 3 – we love them all!)
- Zombies (1 & 2)
- The Adams Family
- Hotel Transylvania 1, 2, 3 and 4 – make it a Halloween Movie Marathon!
- Goosebumps
- Room On The Broom
- Paranorman
- Corpse Bride
- Casper (another classic)
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Halloween Food Ideas for Halloween!
You could create a full-on buffet or just a plate of snacks per family member. There are so many different ways of putting together Halloween-themed food and snacks for a Halloween Party At Home.
We all know you can search the internet for some awesome Halloween-themed treats to bake or cook for an epic Halloween Feast to enjoy. I’ve saved you the hassle and created a Pinterest board full of awesome Halloween Food ideas!
The Perfect Halloween Costume
I think we can all agree Halloween costumes are one of the most important aspects of Halloween. Whether you decide to spend a fortune and go all out or pick up a costume at the supermarket, or maybe even DIY a Halloween costume, do it! Even though we’re having Halloween in lockdown, get your kids a Halloween costume!! The best part about a Halloween costume is that they don’t have to be perfect – think perfectly imperfect!! You could even dress up a standard outfit with some antique jewellery to create a uniquely different Halloween outfit.
Take Halloween Outdoors
Whilst we might not be able to do the traditional Trick Or Treating like we did pre-pandemic, there are loads of local outdoor attractions that are open. I’ve found the best way to search for local Halloween-themed events is on Facebook. Most attractions will have created a specific Facebook Event for their Halloween experience. These range from pumpkin picking, carving pumpkins, or even just a “scary” Halloween walk at your local nature reserve. So get on to Facebook and search for local Halloween events near you. You’ll be amazed at what’s available right on your doorstep.
Then once you’ve found the perfect Halloween day out, get the kids (and yourself) all dressed up and head off out. The kids love to show off their Halloween outfits and to see everyone else’s too.
Halloween Games and Activities To Play At Home
There are hundreds of games you can play at home, as we all know by now! All you have to do is add a Halloween element to them and the kids will love it. The one my girls are super excited to play is the Halloween Scavenger Hunt. Here are a few other ideas for Halloween in Lockdown:
- Download and print off some Halloween activities
- Wordsearches and colouring printables for Halloween
- Unwrap the mummy … basically pass the parcel; you just wrap the parcel and sweets in toilet paper and keep adding to it until it looks like a mummy face.
- Free Printable Halloween decor such as paper chains, wall decor and Halloween bunting.
- The Spiders Web Obstacle Course – use streamers to create a web-like obstacle course in your passage/hallway, add a few (fake) spiders on the walls for dramatic effect, and get the kids to make their way from one end to the other without breaking the web.
- Tin Can Bowling – paint some tin cans with various Halloween-themed faces (think a ghost, Frankenstein, a black cat, a witch etc), and then stack the cans on top of each other and using a tennis ball (or any ball of that size) bowl the cans over.
- Do a Halloween Scavenger Hunt at home.
How To do a Halloween Scavenger Hunt
- Decorate the house inside just as much as you would have done outside in previous years. I’m thinking of Spider webs on the walls, candles (the fake ones obvs), spooky lighting, laser lights, bats hanging from the ceilings, etc.
- Get the kids out of the house for about 30 minutes.
- Hide sweets all around the house. You can either make up clues directing the kids from one room to another or just let them run wild. This will depend on how old they are really.
- Let them dress up if they aren’t already.
- Get them armed with a flashlight and a bag/basket in preparation for their haul.
- Explain the rules, or hand them the map/route if you did one. If they are older kids, at this stage you could even set a timer.
- Switch off all the lights and set them off on their Halloween scavenger hunt.
- Listen for the spooky squeals of delight as they hunt the house in the dark for all their Halloween sweets.
Have A Halloween Disco At Home
One of my personal favourite ideas for Halloween is to have a fun family disco at home with the kids but put on some Halloween music and just dance it out! The kids will love it, and it’ll help them burn off the excitement and excessive sugar they will most likely have consumed. Here is the best Halloween Playlist for kids. There are some old classics, as well as some of newer music.
I hope that’s given you some inspiration for what to do for Halloween 2022. I’m quite excited not to be spending Halloween trying to keep track of my girls on a dark, cold and probably wet evening on what is always a FREEZING cold day in Yorkshire!
Some lovely ideas here! I particularly like the food ideas and the movies- you can’t beat a scary movie!
Thanks Melanie. Food + Movies is always a winner.
Great ideas here and I love the movie list!
Thanks Emma, my kids made it so I know it’s child approved!
I’m loving all these scary movie ideas. And you’ve reminded me I need to get a move on with Thomas’ school party costume. He wants a werewolf. So clearly I’m NOT making it…
haha … good luck with that!
I for one cannot wait to watch Hocus Pocus!! You’ve given me some inspiration for other cool Halloween activities too though so thank you
Hocus Pocus is a great Halloween movie! Good luck with the planning.
Great ideas!
We used to love picking pumpkins at the local farm but now they are teens they are very disinterested!
So hot chocolate, Hocus Pocus and popcorn for one!
I can’t wait to introduce my kids to Hocus Pocus, especially now that #2 is out. But, I’ll watch that one alone on my own first – haha!