Ten {Not Spooky} Ideas for Halloween Family Fun

Around our house, Halloween is not about scary or spooky but more about family fun. We’ve started several special traditions as a family and hope to add to the holiday each year. Today I’m sharing 10 ideas for Halloween family fun from our home and other great bloggers so you can find new traditions to start at your house.

1) Dress up in themed Halloween costumes as a family. We do this every year and LOVE it. Here is a list of ten fabulous themed family Halloween costume ideas to get you started.

2) Attend a fall festival or neighborhood gathering as a family, maybe even in costume. We are going to a community block party at our church, and a neighborhood Halloween parade. This our 3rd year going to the Halloween parade in a friend’s neighborhood, and it is the most fun. They’ve been doing it for 30+ years and it is very similar to a neighborhood 4th of July or other holiday parade, just in costume. So much fun.

3) Serve an easy Halloween themed meal. This year we will be making delicious brisket BBQ sweet potato sliders (dressed up as jack o lanterns) using Farm Rich Smokehouse meats. Here’s a $1 off coupon to grab some #SmokehouseBBQ goodness for your Halloween meal. I’ll be sharing the full recipe soon. Here are cute ideas for a monster themed meal from Chicken Babies. This pumpkin pizza from East Coast Mommy is super cute and would be a total kid pleaser.

4) Watch Halloween themed movies for family movie night. Here’s how we do family movie night with preschool kids. We never watch anything scary, even when it is just adults. There are tons of Halloween and fall themed movies that are fun for the whole family. Our current favorite is Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest. It is sweet, fun, and totally un-scary. Here’s a great list of 10 family friendly Halloween movies from The Jenny Evolution.

5) Visit a pumpkin patch. We LOVE this tradition and use the opportunity to pick out a few pumpkins and take fun photos of the kids. Here is our pumpkin patch visit from last year, and the tips for a visit from Adventures of Adam. Here is one of our pumpkin patch photo opps from the past.

6) Paint pumpkins together. This one can be done with even the youngest kids and can be a blast for the whole family. Here are my tips for painting pumpkins with toddlers and preschoolers.

7) Carve pumpkins together. Keep it classic or get crazy with a funky design, but have fun with it and get the kids involved. Here are some great pumpkin carving traditions from Life at the Zoo to start with your family.

8) Create a Halloween craft and use it to decorate the house. Both kids love getting out our seasonal decorations and making more to get our house ready for holidays. We don’t do scary decorations, and keep it more fall themed than Halloween. I made this fall felt leaf garland and fall leaf wreath. We also made this simple pumpkin craft with the kids. Here are 20 more ideas for pumpkin fun with preschoolers.

9) Have a Halloween themed family game night. Read about our costume dance party with Curious George here. Here’s a fun imagination game and a Halloween version of charades from The Joys of Boys.

10) Turn all of your Halloween family fun ideas in to a Halloween countdown. Here are the details from Every Star is Different.

If you aren’t a fan of Halloween, here’s a great list of 10 super fun alternative ideas for Halloween night from The Realistic Mama. What is your favorite tradition for Halloween family fun?

Come back next week for a fun recipe featuring my sponsor, Farm Rich Smokehouse. #SmokehouseBBQ products are available at Walmart and feature all natural meat with no preservatives ready to serve and priced at $6.97. The flavors include Pulled Beef Brisket in a Sweet and Smoky BBQ Sauce, Pulled Pork BBQ, Double Rubbed Dry Smoked Pork, and Double Rubbed Dry Smoked Chicken.

This post is sponsored by Farm Rich Smokehouse products. All opinions are my own.