Halloween is always a highlight of the Fall for my kids so quarantine is putting a damper on our celebration for sure. No judgement from me with how you plan on celebrating; we all have different risk tolerance and live in locales with different infection rates. BUT if you plan on having a more socially distant Halloween this year I have some ideas to have a safe, spooky good time at home!

Paint Pumpkins

Painting pumpkins is one of my kids’ favorite fall activities! In fact, they love it so much we usually end up doing it more than once. Kwikstix are the best things EVER and make pumpkin painting a breeze. These are my all time favorite craft supply and what we use for our pumpkins.

Spooky Movie Night

Movie nights are a classic but can be a bit tricky with little kids. If you have older kids any horror movie will do, but little kids need spooky without being too scary. If a movie night is on the agenda here are some good ones for littles:

• The Nightmare Before Christmas (use your discretion- my 4 year old loves it but it scares my 6 year old) On Disney +
• It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown
• Curious George A Halloween Boo Fest
• Hotel Transylvania
• Monsters Inc On Disney +
• Coco On Disney +
• Toy Story of Terror
• Super Monsters Save Halloween On Netflix
• Double, Double Toil and Trouble
• Pooh’s Hefalump Halloween
• Spookley The Square Pumpkin on Netflix

Halloween PJ Party

If you want to keep the fun going all night you can opt for Halloween PJs after (or instead of) costumes. We are doing some cute ones from Hanna Andersson. There are actual Halloween options along with some cute costume accessories  to go with character or themed ones. My oldest opted for these shark ones.

Hanna Halloween PJs: https://bit.ly/34iQHDL

Carters Halloween PJs: https://brandcycle.shop/ca9y

Trick or Treat  at Home

This idea came from my friend Danielle. Decorate all the different doors inside your house and let them trick or treat inside! I promise the candy will be just as good. If door decorating isn’t your jam you can buy these easy-peasy ones to hang up.

Carve Pumpkins

Pumpkin carving is a classic Halloween activity and a MUST DO! I usually do ours the night before Halloween but might move them to actual Halloween since we won’t be trick or treating outside. We also roast the pumpkin seeds which is my favorite part.

Decorate Halloween Cookies or a Haunted Gingerbread House

My kids love baking cookies but I’m thinking of buying a kit from the grocery store to decorate on Halloween. Our Publix also has cute Halloween Haunted Gingerbread house to build and decorate.

Creepy Crafts

My kids love crafts and pretty much anything I throw at them is a hit. If you need some help here are a few we’ve done and loved:

• Fall Lef Painting
• Pumpkin Dot Marker Page
• Fall Bubble Wrap Tree Painting
• BOO Handprint Craft

Read Halloween Books

My kids LOVE seasonal books and I keep a collection that I rotate through each holiday. Here are a few suggestions:

Play Minute to Win It Games

Minute to Win It Games are SO fun. Here are a few ideas to plan your own game night for hilarious family bonding.

• Cookie Face- place an Oreo on your forehead and try to get it in your mouth without using your hands. You can also do this with a piece of halloween candy
• Sticky Note Race- how many sticky notes can you get to stick to someone in a minute
• Cereal box puzzle- cut up a cereal box and try to put it together in under a minute
• M&M Straw Transfer- use a straw to suck and transfer as many M&Ms to another bowl in a minute. You can also do this one with chopsticks.
• Mummy Wrap- Wrap a person up with toilet paper– fastest to finish the roll wins
• Bobbing for apples and apple stack- 2 games! Classic bobbing for apples and see how many apples you can stack.