25 Simple & Fun Halloween Activities for Families

From active Halloween games to free printables, here are a variety of Halloween ideas to make the holiday a blast for our kids! Many of these are also great Halloween class party ideas. So, whether you’re celebrating at home or throwing a Halloween party, these 25 Halloween activities for families are spooktacular memory makers.

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I treasure my memories of dressing up with my siblings and cousins and running around the neighborhood on Halloween. Halloween carries so much festivity, and we can find many ways to enjoy the holiday as a family.

Who knows, maybe we’ll even discover new traditions we want to keep year after year!

So get your costumes on, decorate the house, and have some family Halloween fun!

Here are 25 Halloween activities for families to get your ideas flowing.

25 Halloween Activities for Families

This wide variety of entertaining activities are great for a range of ages to celebrate Halloween.

1. Mummy Obstacle Course

Obstacle courses are such a fun way to get kids moving! For a Mummy obstacle course, have each player wrap themselves in a roll of toilet paper and then go through the different obstacles such as spinning in three circles, climbing over chairs, balancing on one leg, doing a hula hoop, or anything you can come up with! Kids can try to beat their own time if you want to do several rounds.

2. Ghost in the Graveyard

This is a classic outside game we played growing up. This game is best played when it’s starting to get dark. Determine a home base that everyone can touch at once, such as a specific tree trunk or patio stair. Choose one player to be the ghost. The ghost hides while everyone else closes their eyes and counts at base.

After counting, the players spread out and look for the ghost. If a player sees the ghost, the player yells, “Ghost in the graveyard!” The ghost tries to tag any player while everyone races back to home base. Whoever the ghost tags (or the last player to home base) becomes the next ghost.

The fun really amps up when the ghost is able to jump out of his or her hiding place before being seen and scare the players along with a tag!

3. Learn the Thriller Dance Together

While you might not look like professional dancers when you’re done, learning part of the Thriller dance together is a unique way to interact. This is a great simple version of a Thriller dance that’s set-up as a line dance that can just be repeated throughout the song. Young kids through to grandparents can learn this version.

If your kids are older and up for a challenge, you could watch a full tutorial video and then try to dance along with the official Thriller music video. (Be sure to preview the music video before as it will be too scary for some children.)

4. Have a Dance Party

Whether or not you start with Thriller, a dance party is a lively way to spend part of Halloween. With classics like Ghostbusters, Monster Mash, and (yes!) Thriller, Kids Dance Party: Halloween Jams is a great CD for this.

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5. Halloween Bingo

A Halloween version of Bingo would be a great addition to your Halloween family activities. You can make your own boards and cards, or have the game sent to your inbox with the Free Halloween Printables Game Pack.

6. Read Halloween Stories

Snuggle up, and read a Halloween story together.

Here are some of our favorite Halloween stories for younger kids.

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Fisher-Price Little People: Halloween is Here! is a lift-the-flap board book with different things to find on each page.

Room on the Broom is a rhyming story with a friendly witch who makes new animal friends before they encounter a dragon.

In Little Witch’s Big Night, Little Witch has been far too good this year, so she must stay home. But when Trick-or-Treaters come by, Little Witch gets a new kind of adventure.

While Mama Bear says Miz McGrizz is a kind neighbor, the cubs are pretty sure she is a real witch. Brother and Sister Bear learn how things aren’t always what they look like in The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat.

Here are a few of our favorite Halloween chapter books for older kids.

The Witches is a classic story by Roald Dahl in which a boy meets the Grand High Witch.

The Bailey School Kids funny and entertaining adventures begin in Vampires Don’t Wear Polka Dots.

While they are not strictly a Halloween books, a good mystery series like Rick Riordan’s 39 Clues (beginning with The Maze of Bones) is a fun read for the season.

7. Candy Hunt

I can’t remember now where I read this idea, but I thought it was a fun one! You can replace Trick-or-Treating or add to the fun by hiding candy around the house like an Easter egg hunt.

8. Make a Halloween-Themed Treat

There are so many spooky snack ideas! The fun would be in making the treats together, rather than just eating them. Try pumpkin Rice Krispies treats, mini mummy pizzas, or these chocolate mini donut spiders.

Mini Donut Spiders: use a mini chocolate donut for the spider’s body. Add the curves of pretzels for the legs, and use frosting to “glue” two Reese’s Pieces as eyes.

9. Spider Race

Speaking of spiders, Spider Race is a Minute To Win It style game that’s a perfect Halloween activity for families. Players use a straw to blow their plastic spider in a race. The first spider to cross the finish line wins!

10. Halloween Charades

Charades is always a hit at our house. You can split into teams to act out the words or just take turns acting without making it competitive. Brainstorm your own Halloween-themed words, or have the game sent to your inbox with the Free Halloween Printables Game Pack.

11. Sing Halloween Songs

Younger family members will love singing and moving or doing hand gestures to Halloween songs like Five Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate, Skin and Bones, and The Skeleton Dance.

12. Jack-O-Lantern Bean Bag Toss

Paint a box to look like a jack-o-lantern, and play bean bag toss.

13. Pumpkin Golf

Using a pumpkin with a low carved mouth as the hole, play pumpkin golf. Use one pumpkin and see how far you can hit the ball in from, or make several pumpkin holes and have a full Halloween mini golf course at home!

This awesome idea came from A Girl and A Glue Gun! Check out her post for more details.

To play pumpkin golf you’ll need golf clubs (here are some golf clubs for kids), golf balls (foam practice golf balls might be better for indoor or safer use), and your carved pumpkin. (Use a real pumpkin or check the dollar store for a craft pumpkin to carve that could be reused.)

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14. Graveyard Dig

Get several plastic Halloween items from the dollar store like spiders, bats, pumpkins, eyeballs, etc. Put these items in a deep plate with chocolate pudding. Family members have to get the items out of the pudding without using their hands.

Make several sets and play the game as a race.

15. Candy Toss

Mark bowls or cups with various points. (Larger bowls should be worth less and smaller bowls or cups worth more.) Each family member has a different kind of candy. Sit in a circle with the cups or various bowls in the middle. Start a timer and whoever scores the most by throwing their candies into the bowls wins.

Alternately, mark plastic cups with various points. See who can get the most points by tossing candy corn into the cups.

16. Create Paper Plate Masks or Decorations

Paper plate crafts are a super budget-friendly Halloween activity. All you need are paper plates, craft sticks, coloring crayons or markers, optional googly eyes, and any other desired craft supplies like paper, stickers, or glue. This craft also allows kids to be creative. Try making Frankenstein, ghosts, bats, jack-o-lanterns, or any type of mask. Frankenstein’s my favorite!

17. Pin the Nose on the Witch

Blindfold each player one at a time. The player spins three times, and then tries to place their nose on the witch’s face. Make your own witch or have the game sent to your inbox with the Free Halloween Printables Game Pack.

18. Bob for Apples or Donut On a String

These classic party games require players to awkwardly get something in their mouth without using hands. Bobbing for apples, of course, is getting an apple out of bowl of water. Donut On a String is just what it sounds like too! Tie a donut on a string for each player and hang them from the ceiling. Race to see who can eat the donut first.

Fair warning, both of these games are pretty messy. 😉

19. Don’t Eat Jack

Place one candy on each jack-o-lantern. Choose one person to leave the room. The other people decide which jack-o-lantern will be “Jack” this round. The person comes back in the room and starts eating (or just taking) the candies one at a time. When the person takes the candy on Jack, everyone yells, “Don’t eat Jack!” and that person’s turn is over.

You can draw your own “Don’t Eat Jack” game board, or have one sent to your inbox with the Free Halloween Printables Game Pack.

20. Make Milk Jug Skeletons

Save up eight plastic gallon milk jugs for this craft project. You’ll also need scissors, string or fishing wire, hot glue, and a pen or marker.

This picture is from The Sits Girls, where you can also find a tutorial for these milk jug skeletons.

21. Pumpkin Bowling

Using water bottles for pins and small pumpkins for balls, go pumpkin bowling! A scorecard is included in the Free Halloween Printables Game Pack.

22. Cookie Face

Make Halloween themed sugar cookies for this game, or use Oreos or any other kind of cookie. Each person puts a cookie on their forehead and then tries to eat it without using hands. Minute To Win games like this make great Halloween activities for families.

23. Vampire Race

This is another Minute to Win It game. Each person will need a bowl with marshmallows, an empty bowl, and a set of plastic vampire teeth. Line up the marshmallow bowls on one side of the room and the empty bowls on the other.

The race is to see who can move all their marshmallows into the other bowl first, using only mouths with vampire teeth!

This game is another messy one, but it was a big hit when we had a bunch of boys over for a Halloween party!

24. Share Halloween Memories

Take some time over dinner, before bed, or during a down moment to share Halloween memories. Can your kids remember all their costumes? Which was their favorite? Do they remember who they spent the holiday with in the past?

Share your own stories from growing up as well.

25. Popcorn Bar and Movie Night

End the night on a high note with a popcorn bar and Halloween movie!

For the popcorn bar, offer different toppings or fixings like cinnamon, melted chocolate to drizzle, Reese’s Pieces, crushed cookie, or other candies. You could also try a flavored popcorn like Oreo popcorn or one of these 30 varieties of popcorn.

Some of our favorite family-friendly Halloween movies include Halloweentown, Casper, Hotel Transylvania, Ghostbusters, Goosebumps, and the classic, It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown.

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Lasting Memories with Halloween Activities for Families

I hope these 25 Halloween activities for families bring your family and friends together in fun ways this Halloween.

Grab your free Halloween Printable Pack Here, and have a happy Halloween!

What are some of your favorite Halloween activities for families? What are your favorite Halloween party ideas? Please share in the comments!

I’m sharing this post at some of these Link Parties I Love! Thank you hosts!

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