5 Ideas for an at-home Halloween celebration

This Halloween is going to be pretty different than in years past. With cases of COVID on the rise, it’s hard to imagine crowding onto local streets for traditional trick-or-treating. Still, we think a home-based Halloween experience can be both fun and memorable for the whole family. Here are five ideas to inspire your own planning.

Family costume party

Everyone get dressed up! Yes, even the parents. Go all out, if you want to. Then put together a playlist of Halloween hits (Spotify has lots of them) and dance the night away.

Stuffed animal trick-or-treating

Collect your kids’ favorite stuffed animal friends. Give each one a small bag filled with candy and place them all around the house. Then get dressed up and visit each one, yelling “Trick or Treat” and taking some candy at each stop.

Candy hide and seek

Hide candy around the house. Put the kids in costumes and start them out with a clue, play “hot and cold”, or just let them go seek.  

Halloween-themed dinner and desserts

Get the kids into the kitchen and cook up some ghoulish dishes for dinner and/or dessert. We found some great ideas on Delish, including these Rice Krispie Treat Mummies, these Creepy Shirley Temples, and this Toxic Waste Mac n’ Cheese (bonus - the secret ingredient is spinach!). Dress up for a festive meal (or don’t wear costumes - wear pajamas instead!).

Virtual Halloween party with friends or family

Get into costume and hop on Zoom. Invite some people you miss seeing in person. Download some spooky Zoom backgrounds and play some virtual-friendly games, like Charades, Show & Tell, Freeze Dance, or Name that Tune.