Our DIY Halloween Cookie Haunted House Kit.

October is the true beginning of the fall season and the entire month is filled with festive Halloween events. With every passing week of the month, the children’s anticipation builds up for October 31st. For most families Halloween night is synonymous with the time-honored tradition of trick-or-treating. Many children celebrate Halloween by dressing up in costumes and visiting neighbors in your neighborhood in search of candy.

So why would you decide against celebrating Halloween with trick-or-treating? There are several reasons to possibly avoid taking to the streets on Halloween. Some neighborhoods are not suitable for walking door-to-door, they may be too spacious and rural. Other places may just be unsafe and not very child-friendly. Extreme weather can hinder trick-or-treating or maybe your tweens are just getting too old.

No matter what your reasons, my guide is filled with many fun and festive Halloween alternatives to trick-or-treating. My suggestions are great for children of all ages (and for adults too!). Your friends and family won’t be disappointed with the spooky fun you’ll be serving up!

Halloween Advent Calendar

Similar to the long wait for Christmas in December, the 31 day countdown to Halloween can seem like an eternity for kids. Give them a fun way to count the days with a Halloween advent calendar. With each day that passes they’ll get a special treat and the anticipation will build up for Halloween night. Once the last day of October has arrived it’s party time!

Monster Mash Halloween Costume Party

Just because you aren’t trick-or-treating doesn’t mean you have to bypass wearing a costume. A Halloween party is the perfect excuse to show off your creative costume and take fun memorable photos with friends and family. Halloween parties are great for children of all ages, especially older kids and adults.

Decorate your house with twinkle lights, put out a sweet and savory charcuterie board and crank up the party music. Don’t forget to include the classic songs in your playlist including Monster Mash and Ghostbusters.

Halloween piñata

Take your party to the next level with a Halloween piñata. If the children aren’t able to collect candy trick-or-treating, this is another fun way to earn some sweets. Etsy has the best selection of festive Halloween piñata designs including pumpkins, ghosts, sugar skulls and more.

When it comes to stuffing your piñata, in addition to candy you can insert Halloween temporary tattoos, bubbles with wands and stickers.

Not-So-Scary Halloween Movie Night

If you’re planning your Halloween night with little ones, you probably want to avoid scary horror movies. Most streaming services offer kid-friendly Halloween movies to enjoy for a movie marathon.

My favorite family-friendly Halloween movies are:

Hocus Pocus - streaming on Disney Plus
Nightmare Before Christmas - streaming on Disney Plus
Beetlejuice - streaming on Peacock
Adam’s Family - streaming on Paramount Plus
Edward Scissorhands - streaming on Hulu
Coraline - available to rent on Amazon
Ghostbusters - streaming on FXNOW
Hubie Halloween - streaming on Netflix
Casper (original from 1995 with Christina Ricci) - rent on Prime

Make Halloween streaming night extra fun with a movie night snack tray. Bring out the popcorn, Halloween candy, salty snacks and bubbly drinks.

Decorate Halloween Themed Cookies & Cupcakes

Celebrate Halloween by getting creative with some sugar cookies, frosting and sprinkles. You can opt to use pre-made Halloween cookies or bake your own with cookie cutters. This also works for cupcakes too! On Etsy you can find really cool Halloween baking supplies such as:

Make a Haunted Gingerbread House

We ordered our Halloween Haunted House Cookie Kit from Target because they have a ton of really cute options. This was our first time building a gingerbread house and we made a rookie mistake - we started building the house before decorating. I advise that you decorate all your pieces before the assembly process begins. It can be difficult to add the icing and sprinkles on a standing cookie house.

Another pro tip is to build your house on a wooden board so that it’s easy to transport around your home. You can also make a whimsical scene on the board with candies and props. I had adorable little candy pumpkins and I made a walkway leading up to the house.

Halloween Hot Chocolate Bar

October evenings and hot chocolate are a match made in heaven. Make your hot chocolate extra fancy with toppings such as marshmallows, sprinkles, whipped cream, chocolate sauce, caramel, toffee bits, mini chocolate chips, chocolate straws and more.

For our hot chocolates we used Halloween Peep marshmallows including pumpkins, Frankenstein monsters and sugar skulls. Target sells the best selection of Halloween Peeps!

You can also make some sweet spiced apple cider for your family and guests. I have an easy recipe for homemade spiced apple cider on my blog here!

Halloween Scavenger Hunt

Depending on your location and weather permitting, you can either have an indoor or outdoor Halloween themed scavenger hunt. You can also do the hunt from inside a car driving around neighborhoods if walking is not an option.

Etsy has a lot of really cute pre-made scavenger hunt templates and cards for your kids to fill out. Some of them go the extra mile with themed riddles, games and clues.

Pumpkin Carving and Painting

Last year we painted our Halloween pumpkins because my toddler was a bit too young to handle sharp carving tools. This year we plan on doing both!

If you’re feeling ambitious and want to get really detailed and intricate with your pumpkin designs, on Etsy you can find pumpkin carving stencils that make it easy to create your masterpiece.

Pro tip - If you are painting pumpkins on Halloween night, I suggest painting tiny mini pumpkins with fall themed colors and sparkles. Then you can use them as decor and table setting props for Thanksgiving! I’m all about getting more life and use out of our pumpkins and fall decorations before the holiday season begins.

Halloween Story Time with Books

While my toddler loves a good movie, she actually often prefers a good animated story time with picture books. Halloween themed books are especially fun to read with voices and spooky sounds. Our favorite Halloween books are:

Boo Baskets and a glow in the Dark Egg Hunt

Similar to an Easter basket, a Boo Basket is filled with all kinds of Halloween themed gifts and sweets. If your kids aren’t able to trick-or-treat for candy, this is a great alternative. They can also go on a hunt for Halloween eggs and surprises.

Take your egg hunt to the next level with glow-in-the-dark eggs. All you have to do in put glow sticks and candy into plastic Easter eggs and turn off all the lights indoors and voila - you have a glow in the dark Halloween egg hunt!

There’s also pre-made glow-in-the-dark plastic eggs available to buy on Wayfair or Walmart.

Halloween Game Night

Take it old school with classic games with a Halloween twist. Keeping in mind the ages and interests of your friends and family, some fun ideas for Halloween games could be:

Giving Out Candy to Trick-or-Treaters

If staying inside the warm comforts of your house are more your speed on Halloween night, that doesn’t mean that you can’t still have fun with the trick-or-treating tradition. Giving away candy can be just as fun as receiving it! Your child will still get to see all the fun costumes and interact with all the visiting kids.

You can even go a step further and give your home some Halloween curb appeal with outdoor decorations. Maybe play some spooky sound effects and music while porch lights are sparkling. Put the carved pumpkins out on display with candles inside. Let the trick-or-treaters know you’re open for business!

Get Creative with Halloween Crafts

When I was a kid, the arts and crafts activities were always my favorite. A quick search on Pinterest will yield a plethora of Halloween themed craft ideas. Some of my favorite Halloween crafts are:

Trick-or-Treat at the Mall or with Small Businesses on Main Street

If the concept of trick-or-treating still sounds really fun but your neighborhood just doesn’t work logistically, many malls and downtown shopping areas will host a trick-or-treating event. I used to work in a boutique shop and we would pass out candy to children in costumes around 4pm on Halloween. Check your local community for public trick-or-treat happenings.

Partake in a Local Trunk-or-Treat Event

Trunk-or-Treat get-togethers have become increasingly more popular because they are a very safe and child-friendly way to participate in trick-or-treating traditions. The concept behind a Trunk-or-Treat is that cars are parked in a parking lot and their trunks are open and adorned with Halloween decorations. Then children walk with their parents from car to car collecting candy. Trunk-or-Treats are often organized by churches and community organizations.

Plan for an Amusement Park Halloween Event

I’m just gonna throw this out there - Disneyland is AMAZING during the Halloween season! But it doesn’t just have to be a Disney themed park for fun Halloween times in an amusement park. Here locally in California we have Knott’s Berry Farms, Great America, Universal Studios, Six Flags Magic Mountain and more. At these parks there’s often a big hoopla for Halloween with haunted houses, pumpkin patches and carnival games.

Halloween Happenings at the Zoo

Many local zoos will put on a Halloween themed event for families. Here in Sacramento there’s Boo at the Zoo with a costume party, candy stations, pumpkin bowling, mystery boxes and of course the animals. Check your local zoo for Halloween events!

Visit the Halloween Block Party

We live in East Sacramento and every year the Fab 40 neighborhood throws a huge Halloween block party. There’s lights, music playing, amazing opportunities to people watch folks in their Halloween costumes and more Halloween activities. Many other cities have similar areas where it’s fun to gather on Halloween night.

Halloween Bonfire and S’mores

And finally you can end the night on a high note with a backyard bonfire and making s’mores. We use our Halloween themed Peep marshmallows to put together adorable s’more kits with graham crackers and chocolate.

Don’t forget to take lots of pictures and capture these special moments! Happy Halloween everyone!