Halloween Family Traditions You Should Try This Year

Traditional & non-traditional family activities for the ultimate family-friendly spooky season with your kids.

From candies to costumes, parties and an altogether spooky vibe, what isn’t to love about Halloween? Halloween is a great time of year to carry on family traditions while celebrating the season with fun anticipation. Below are some fun Halloween traditions you and your family may like to try this year.

Country Living has some adorable DIY Halloween decoration ideas including precious jar pumpkins.

Deck the Haunted House

One of the most exciting parts about Halloween season is not only seeing how everyone else spooks out their house but decorating your own house! Get the kiddos involved. Decorate little paper pumpkins, or throw some glitter on construction paper bats. Of course, if you are not into spooky, you can always decorate your house in fun fall décor while engaging the whole family in the spirit of the season - string some felt leaves on string for a garland. Need some inspiration? Here are some fun Halloween craft ideas from Country Living.

Get Cozy and Watch the Classics

Have an annual Halloween movie extravaganza with your family. Get your cozy clothes on, grab a blanket, a hot drink and a fun treat like popcorn or Jack Skellington Cupcakes and sit back and watch a movie, like The Nightmare Before Christmas. If your kids are a little younger or you are not a fan of the eerie vibe, watch It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown – or just watch both! We do - even thought the boys are now teenagers, we still hunker down with popcorn for a family night of Hocus Pocus!

Go get your Boo printable from Melissa over at Bless This Mess

“Boo” Your Neighbors (Nicely)

This is another fun Halloween tradition. Make a Halloween goodie bag for a neighbor and leave it on their porch with a poem or sign, telling them they have been “Boo’d.” Don’t forget to ring the doorbell before you run! Kids enjoy ringing the doorbell and running. The recipient is supposed to reciprocate and “Boo” another neighbor. Here are some Halloween Boo Signs and Poems for inspiration!

Carve Pumpkins with a Party

We've been doing this one for years! A pumpkin carving party is way more fun with friends. We pick up a dozen pumpkins, throw down a giant tarp & let the all kids have at it. Choose a theme and provide decorating materials and carving tools. Now that the boys are all so huge (goodness) we pull out the drill along with the traditional pumpkin carving tools. Don’t forget to have some spooky Halloween snacks available for your pumpkin carving party! Throw on a pot of chili and consider playing a spooky, Halloween-themed playlist too!

Day of the Dead Dinner

Now, this isn't actually Halloween - it's the next day, but what a fun way to add more celebration into our families. Traditional to Mexico, the Day of the Dead (or Dia de los Muertos) is a day that falls on the day after Halloween. Set up an area in your home where you put up pictures of the pets and people you want to remember and eat a meal together. Choose a meal one of your lost loved ones enjoyed while sharing memories of those who have passed on. This is a great way to change things up during this fall season and to keep memories alive. We all loved the movie, Coco - which is a lovely story of holding onto family memories. You may want to add that in this year, too.

Schedule a Visit from the Pumpkin Fairy

Each year, kids get loads of candy after trick-or-treating. Each year, parents fight against the forces to keep their children from falling ill from sugar overload (or from eating all of the good candy before parents have a chance to get to it!). Combat these issues by scheduling a visit from the Pumpkin Fairy. The Pumpkin Fairy is a delightful little fair who trades fun toys and trinkets for candy from your kids’ Halloween candy stash. Read more about the Pumpkin Fairy tradition at The Magic Onions.