Family activities for Halloween by our regular contributor, Sarah-Jane Ellis
Halloween just isn’t Halloween without cupcakes, pumpkins, and homemade decorations. Halloween also isn’t just for the little ones; it’s a time of year the whole family can enjoy. Check out our list of the most fun and budget-friendly Halloween activities that’ll have your family smiling this October.
Spooky Treats at Teatime
Children love nasty things. Don’t tell me you haven’t caught your toddler trying to eat a worm? Yuck! Get them excited and grossed out at once during dinner time with your own disgusting dinner platter. Why not try hot “finger” dogs, spaghetti and eyeballs, mummy sausage rolls, pumpkin-shaped pies, ghost cookies, or a chocolate pudding graveyard?

Ghost Stories at Camp
What sounds more fun than ghost stories and s’mores over a campfire in the back garden? Although you want to spook the little ones, keep the horrifyingly scary stories for the adults! Even better, if you’ve got a tent, you could camp out in your back garden for some extra Halloween fun?
Haunt Your Home with Your Own Spooky Decorations
One of my favourite childhood memories is creating homemade Halloween decorations with my brother. It wasn’t about how great they looked, but the fun we had.
Some epic homemade Halloween decorations include:
- Spooky drawings
- Mummy candle jars
- Toilet roll monsters
- Painted scary stones
- Homemade spooky banners
- Halloween colouring book cut-outs
- Paper plate pumpkins and monsters
Create a Halloween Scavenger Hunt
Whether indoors, outdoors, in a classroom or at the park, the kids will love this activity. Pair it with enough funny clues to make the kids giggle and plenty of chocolates and sweets as the treasure, and you’ll have happy little ones.
Make a Sweet Wreath
With Covid still being on many people’s minds, you may not feel comfortable sending the children out trick or treating. Creating a candy wreath is a perfect way to take away the disappointment of no trick or treating. Once you have your wreath base, a glue gun, and your favourite treats, you’re good to get creative. But don’t forget an adult will need to handle the glue gun.
Don’t Forget the Face Paint

The children won’t care if you’re staying inside or going outside, as long as you’re painting their faces to match their favourite Halloween monster. Face paints are cheap and in abundance at this time of year, so pick up a pack and get creative. Kids often love it if you let them paint their own faces too.
Pumpkin Carving Competitions
Sometimes the oldies are the goodies. Finding the best-carved pumpkin is an activity the whole family can enjoy, especially if you add prizes. Let’s see how many dads get a little competitive. Not only will this keep the kids away from the TV for a while, but it’s a great way to add in some family bonding time.
Creepy Cupcakes
Adults and children alike love cupcakes. Tell me I’m wrong! Let your children help you when making the spookiest Halloween cupcakes you can think of, and they’ll taste even better. Oreos are a great tool to make spooky cupcakes, just add icing and come little extras to make a bat, spider, and witch hat cupcakes. Spoookkyyy!
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