I stinking LOVE celebrating and holidays! There can be so much build up for just one night that I like to do little things to celebrate the season and make it last longer.
Halloween Traditions that are family friendly
I have passed on my love of celebrating to my kids so they look forward to these things every year!
paint or carve pumpkins
We went through several years where carving pumpkins grossed our kids out. So we painted them with craft paint. Now that they are older, we're back to carving. My kids like chasing each other around the kitchen with pumpkin guts!make and decorate sugar cookies
I'm not going to lie, I don't love making sugar cookies from scratch. It's a ton of effort (dude, it takes some serious arm muscles to stir 4 cups of flour into the dough) and makes a huge mess. But once a year, I usually talk myself into making them. They are SUPER tasty and my kids love to decorate them.movie nights with decorations
It takes very little effort to hang up a strand of lights and make movie watching fun and spooky!We aren't fans of scary or gory movies, so we keep it pretty much PG rated. Some of our favorite family friendly Halloween movies are:
- Hocus Pocus
- Harry Potter, any of them. Of course I'm a total HP nerd, so I think these movies are perfect any time of year!
- Halloween Town
- Goosebumps
- Spooky Buddies
- Hotel Transylvania
visit the pumpkin patch
Even though my kids are older, we still visit the pumpkin patch every year. I cannot let a year go by without this holiday staple. Of course, we usually don't buy our pumpkins there (unfortunately they are quite pricey) and opt for grocery store pumpkins.decorate a haunted cookie house
You can buy a kit at the store (like this one at Trader Joe's) or just use graham crackers like I do at Christmas time. With a little bit of frosting and a bunch of candy, this would be a super fun activity to do with family members.cut sandwiches in Halloween shapes
For school, my kids have always taken lunch from home. At this time of year, I like to jazz up their PB&J by cutting them into shapes with cookie cutters. My youngest is in middle school now so I'm sure it's super embarrassing, but whatever! A crafty mom has to do what a crafty mom has to do!drink out of pumpkin cups
I found a package of 4 jack-o-lantern cups at Walmart for $1. How fun is it to use them for our every day drinking cups in October?have candle lit dinners
This one costs no money. You can set a spooky scene and make regular dinners a little more special simply by lighting candles and eating by candle light.countdown calendar
I made this perpetual calendar several years ago from scrapbook paper and embellishments. We have so much fun sticking these magnets on our fridge every day!
Celebrating the little things in life are what make it more fun! These Family Friendly Halloween Traditions make the spooky holiday even more special!
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