The Best Indoor Halloween Activities

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Halloween will be here before we know it, but we may need to plan for it differently compared to years past. Finding the best indoor Halloween activities is at the top of my to-do list this Summer. As we all know, this year is shaping up to one the likes of which we have never seen. Halloween is far from canceled but there’s a huge chance it will look a lot different from what we are used too and many events that are normally outside filled with lots of people will more than likely be postponed. Although we have months to plan for a fun Halloween, I decided to get a jumpstart by figuring out all the best indoor Halloween activities. 

The Best Indoor Halloween Activities

 

Indoor Halloween Activity #1 – Create A Halloween Bucket List

Each year my family and I sit down to create a Halloween bucket list filled with all the activities we want to do before the spookiest day is set to arrive. Normally we include some activities such as pumpkin picking, going to a fall festival, costume parade and more fun outdoor activities. Since many of our favorite outdoor Halloween activities are already canceled for the year we started talking about all of the fun indoor Halloween activities for this year’s list. Including your children in the creation of a holiday bucket list is a wonderful way to build the excitement and anticipation for any holiday, especially Halloween. 

Indoor Halloween Activity #2 – Bake A Delicious Halloween Dessert

What’s better than baking something festive when you are stuck inside during the best season of the year? Not much! Christmas appears to the baking holiday of the year, but I’m here to tell you that Halloween desserts are so underappreciated. One of the best holiday traditions you can start with your family is baking. Making memories in the kitchen is easily one of kids favorite things to do together which is why baking a Halloween dessert is so high on this list. When we sit to make our Halloween bucket list each year we also sit and make a list of all the Halloween treat ideas we want to try. This year lists include some Halloween staples like monster cookies, vampire doughnuts and graveyard cupcakes and some things we are dying to try like candy bark, mummy Rice Krispy and spider cookies.

Indoor Halloween Activity #3: Halloween Themed Movie Nights

Easily one of the best indoor activities to do as a family is a fun themed movie night. Holiday movie nights are on all of our holiday bucket lists every year. A Halloween themed movie is so easy to throw together yet is something your kids will remember for the rest of their life. There are four Fridays in October and four people in our family so we write out favorite Halloween themed movies (Hocus Pocus for T, It’s A Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown for S, Halloweentown for Mom and Nightmare Before Christmas for Dad)on popsicle sticks then when Friday rolls around we take a stick out of the jar to see what we are watching. Using this method not only avoids fighting but also adds an additional layer of fun to an already entertaining  Halloween tradition. 

Indoor Halloween Activity #4: Carve or Paint Pumpkins

Thankfully, in our area, farms are considered essential now so we will still be able to pick up our normal pumpkin haul. Pick your own may not be available so the act of picking pumpkins might not happen but we are thrilled to know we can still get pumpkins to decorate. Even if you don’t have a local farm almost every grocery store has pumpkins to purchase in the Fall since many people cook using fresh pumpkin. If you are painting instead of carving I highly recommend using craft pumpkins. They are easy to work with and have a much smoother canvas for you to use. Painting pumpkins is a wonderful indoor Halloween activity to try this year. There are so many fun and unique ways to paint a pumpkin. One way to take this idea even further is to create a theme everyone needs to stick to when working on their pumpkin. When my kids were at the height of their Pixar phase we did a Monster’s Inc. theme which included Mike, my husband’s version of Sully and I made Roz complete with a faux hawk and glasses – oh how I wish I had a picture. She was fabulous! If you need more non-carve pumpkin inspo this Halloween be sure to check out fabulous ideas

Carving pumpkins – if you are more into carving like my husband then fresh pumpkins are the way to go. We have this pumpkin carving set that we love and used for years until my husband experimented carving with his Dremel drill. Once he tried carving a pumpkin with the Dremel his entire life changed – ha! The first year we personalize mini pumpkins for the kid’s rooms and they were the sweetest thing. Now those adorable personalized pumpkins are both a yearly tradition and a must-have Fall decor piece for our home. 

Indoor Halloween Activity #5 – Make a Fun Themed Craft

One of the easiest indoor activities you can do this Halloween is a fun themed craft. There are so many fun Halloween craft ideas on Pinterest or you can purchase Halloween themed craft kits from Amazon. Whatever you decide, crafting is a great indoor activity to do this Halloween.

Indoor Halloween Activity #6 – Indoor Trick or Treating

Indoor Trick or Treating?!? YES! Halloween 2020 is going to be one we may never forget. Halloween events all around our city are already canceled. My kids LOVE Halloween and they are so bummed to see things being canceled already. Instead of feeling sad, we decided to start planning for an indoor trick or treating. It’s so simple. Each room of our house is going to be set up as a different candy or treat station. They will still be able to knock on doors, say Trick or Treat and receive a treat. It might not be as exciting as typical Trick or Treating but it’ll be fun none the less. My kids can’t wait and that’s all that matters. Halloween is whatever you want it to be.