Movies, Monsters, and Munchies, Oh My! Your Guide to a Frighteningly Fun Kid-friendly Halloween
Halloween’s going to be a little different this year, but instead of worrying about all the things you can’t do during the pandemic, you can put a special twist on the holiday with safe, festive activities. From pumpkin carving to indoor DIY crafts and movies, here’s a list of fun, kid-friendly Halloween activities that will keep your little ones entertained from sun up to sun down.
Fun Halloween crafts for the whole family
Take your pick of these Halloween crafts your family can do from the comfort of your own home, starting with your costumes! You might even be able to connect these crafts with your child’s at-home learning curriculum, encouraging them to use skills like measuring and math to successfully bring their creations to life.
DIY kid’s Halloween costumes
It used to be that homemade Halloween costumes were the norm—and it’s a great tradition to bring back this year. You might have all you need at home, but if not, Michael’s, A.C. Moore, and even Wal-Mart have a plethora of materials that can be creatively used in DIY Halloween costumes. With a bit of hot glue, cardboard, fabric, pipe cleaners, and the like, you and your loved ones can dress up as princesses and witches, dinosaurs, chickens, and so much more. Oh, and don’t forget the pet costumes!
Pumpkin carving and pumpkin seed baking
For all of its messiness, pumpkin carving is the ultimate Halloween activity. Not only do little ones love designing their jack-o-lanterns, but they also love nibbling the seeds afterwards!
Tips for safely carving a pumpkin with your kiddos
Find pumpkins that are on the smaller and lighter side, as these will be the easiest to carve.
The most dangerous part about pumpkin carving are the big knives people tend to use. It’s much safer to instead find a serrated knife that’s just big enough to cut all the way through your pumpkin—or purchase smaller, kid-friendly pumpkin carving knives, like these.
Before you start carving, spread a bunch of newspaper over your kitchen table or an open floor space; it will make cleaning up the leftover slippery pumpkin guts easy.
Cut pumpkins at a slightly inward angle, keeping the knife handle towards you and rotating the pumpkin as needed. (Cutting at an angle will also prevent the top of your pumpkin from falling inside when you put it back on later.)
Battery-powered tea lights are a safe option for lighting up your completed creation.
Ready to bake those seeds? Check out this deliciously simple recipe.
Glowing eyeballs
These glowing eyeballs are one of the easiest (and fun) DIY Halloween decorations. All you need is some black construction paper, glowsticks, a pencil, scotch tape, and scissors.
Fold your construction paper into thirds.
On the middle section, draw a pair of spooky eyes, then cut them out.
Fold your paper into a triangular tube and tape the ends closed. This creates a base for your eyes to sit on.
Put a glow stick inside your tube, turn the lights off, and watch how your spooky eyes come to life!
These can be set up anywhere there’s a flat surface in your house.
Spooky door decorations
Although you may not have trick-or-treaters knocking on your front door this year, it’s still nice to add a festive touch with an easy Halloween door design—you’ll provide neighbors, delivery people, and other passers-by with a fun surprise. All you will need is a variety pack of construction paper, scissors, a pencil, and scotch tape for this craft.
Before you start, show your kiddos some of these great Halloween door designs for inspiration. Help your little ones draw these objects on various pieces of construction paper, cut them out, and stick them to your front door with scotch tape.
Halloween terrarium
Kids absolutely love this project—and you will too because it’s inexpensive and keeps them entertained for at least an hour. You’ll need to find or buy some large glass jars, cotton balls, and plastic spiders or other bugs, but everything else can be scavenged. Give each of your kids a jar and head out to the yard. You’ll want to find some small rocks, moss, dried leaves, and sticks, layering them in that order. You can add other items to the jar, but remember, the more you add, the less visible your plastic spiders and bugs will be.
Once you’ve layered your terrariums with natural debris, head inside and grab some cotton balls. Pull these apart to get a nice, stretched, spider-web look, and have your kids place them in their jars. Now for the fun part: let your kids add the finishing touches with the plastic spiders and bugs!
Tip: If you really want to add an extra frightful touch to these terrariums, place a tea light or some string lights inside.
Bake some tasty treats with your little monsters
Baking these festive Halloween treats is a family-friendly activity that produces some delicious snacks. The best part about making these baked goodies is that they use many of the same ingredients. Dig in!
Pumpkin Spice Muddy Buddies
It’s the season for enjoying fun, delicious treats, so mix up a batch of pumpkin spice “puppy chow”. It’s easy to vary the recipe, you can find the ingredients at just about any supermarket, and your kids will love both the making and the eating!
Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats
Butter, Rice Krispies, marshmallows, pumpkin, chocolate, and spices—these treats don’t require much! The pumpkin puree adds some extra ooey-gooeyness (and nutrition) to this kid-favorite dessert.
Ghostly Cupcakes
Kids can’t get enough of these yummy cupcakes. Hint: add some pumpkin puree to the mix to give them a little extra fiber and moisture.
Family-friendly Halloween movies streaming now
Not all Halloween movies have to be scary; some are wholesome, while others are just plain silly. Here are some fun kid-friendly Halloween movies streaming now:
The Spiderwick Chronicles. Ages 8+. A haunted mansion, a crazy uncle, and a creepy, magical dimension. This movie is fun for the whole family. Stream it on Netflix.
The Addams Family (animated). Ages 7+. This animated remake follows the beloved storyline, but adds a few unique twists. Expect a few scares, but this movie is mostly on the silly side. Stream it on Hulu.
It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! Ages 4+. Who doesn’t love this timeless flick? Watch Charlie, Linus, Snoopy, and the gang get into their usual shenanigans, Halloween style. Stream it on Amazon Prime.
Don’t forget the games!
While it will be tempting to binge-watch movies without all the usual Halloween social activities, try to mix in some of these family-friendly Halloween-themed games. Your kids will thank you later when they remember their COVID Halloween as being very special. These games, including a Halloween Trivia Quiz, Emoji Pictionary game, Bingo, and Tic-Tac-Toe are all ready to print and play, but you can also let your kids use them as a starting point for making their own Halloween game designs.
This holiday is also a great opportunity to break out a dusty old board game like Clue or hold a house-wide game of hide-and-seek. To make hide-and-seek especially spooky, turn all the lights out in the house (except for the tea lights in the decorations you made!) and have the seeker use a flashlight to find the hiders.
Looking for more DIY Halloween ideas?
Looking for more kid-friendly at-home Halloween ideas? Pinterest is a mom’s best friend when it comes to all things DIY. You can also see what local Richmond, VA moms are doing to celebrate any given season on the Richmond Mom Facebook group. Happy Halloween!
Speaking of Mom’s best friend…
COVID-19 has been a stressful time for all of us, and our minds and bodies often show the effects of that stress. If social distancing has given you the rare opportunity to put some obligations on hold (goodbye carpool!), work in some “me-time” this season. Whether it’s an hour of yoga, a walk in the woods, or a rejuvenating treatment with a medical provider, you’ll feel more able to cope with these unusual times if you also take care of yourself.
If you’ve long wanted a mommy makeover or other plastic surgery procedure, I encourage you to book a consultation to start the conversation. We’ll meet in depth and discover which procedures and treatments are best suited to addressing your personal concerns.