How to Celebrate Halloween at Home with Kids in 2024

Fun, Kid-Friendly “Halloween at Home” Party Ideas

Wondering how to celebrate Halloween at home with your kids this year? I have no doubt that this Halloween will be a little different than usual if you normally go out for Halloween.

But the good news is that, with a little planning, you can still have a fun time at home!

It doesn’t take much to please younger children, and even the bigger kids will enjoy dressing up, playing some fun games, and eating yummy treats. 

This article is going to cover all the best “Halloween at Home” ideas so you and your family can have a fa-boo-lous time (without leaving the house!).

We’ll cover some ideas for fun Halloween treats, games, decorations, and costumes to start out. Then I’ll share a list of additional ways to celebrate Halloween at home with the family.

How to Celebrate Halloween at Home with the Family

There are a few essential elements of any party, and they are: food, games, and decor. And for a Halloween party, you’ll want to add in some costumes, of course!

Let’s get started.

Serve Halloween Candy

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that candy is probably the most exciting part of Halloween. So you definitely don’t want to miss this one!

Grab a Halloween candy bowl like this one and fill it with an assortment of Halloween candy. Some kid-friendly favorites include:

• Gummi Bears
• Skittles
• Swedish Fish
• Sour Patch Kids
• Twizzlers

(Or just grab this convenient bag of bulk assorted candy from Amazon.)

Another idea is to hide the Halloween candy around the house and have a “Halloween candy hunt” (similar to an Easter egg hunt).

Make Healthier Snacks, Too

Of course, you’ll want to provide some spook-tacular snacks that aren’t candy, or your kiddos might end up with upset tummies!

1. Ghost cheese. Draw a spooky face on individually wrapped sticks of mozzarella string cheese.
2. Frozen “boo”nanas. Freeze banana halves on popsicle sticks, then dip them in melted white chocolate and add two mini chocolate chips for eyes. Return to the freezer. (Full recipe here.)
3. Tangerine pumpkins. Peel tangerines or mandarin oranges and poke a small piece of celery into the center.
4. Apple dentures. Sandwich some marshmallows between two apple slices, adhered with a smear of peanut butter.
5. “Poison” candy apples. Try an eerie twist on the traditional candy apple for a delicious Halloween treat. (Full recipe here.)

Play Halloween Games

There are lots of fun games that the kids will love to play at a Halloween party, from the traditional apple bobbing contest to a tricky treasure hunt. 

Or, let them compete for the best jack-o-lantern (or a decorated pumpkin for a safer alternative).

A few more party game ideas:

• “bobbing” for donuts
• toilet paper mummy
• pumpkin toss
• pin the spider on the web
• candy corn pick up

Get the instructions and even more fun Halloween game ideas here.

Award Halloween-Inspired Prizes to the Kiddos

Of course, you can’t forget the prizes! It might be a good idea to make sure there’s enough so each kid gets a grab bag of goodies.

Here are some Halloween inspired trinkets that they’ll love:

• Halloween stickers
• Stretchy skeletons
• Sticky hands

The dollar store is a good place to hit up. However, if you’re not leaving the house as much these days, it might be preferable to order them online.

You can also get Halloween goody bag stuffers in bulk, like these fun little trinkets I found on Amazon.

Buy or Make Halloween Decorations

I’m guessing you’ll want to decorate with items that are not too scary for little kids. (But if your kiddos are older and love being spooked, by all means!)

Balloons and streamers are always a good choice, particularly in black and orange, if you want to keep it simple.

Decorative pumpkins make great Halloween decor that you can use all autumn, and a banner like this one is just plain cute — not at all spooky!

A few more Halloween decoration ideas:

• Cut bats out of black construction paper and decorate the doors with them.
• Hang a plastic skeleton or a spider web in the front window.
• Wrap gauze around a planter or beverage tub to “mummify” it (and add a couple eyes peeking out, of course).
• Decorate pumpkins to turn them into a black cat, witch, monster, or something similarly Halloween-y.
• Use yellow, orange, and white construction paper to design a pennant-style banner.
• Keep it relevant all Autumn long with non-spooky, cozy fall decor.

Dress Up in Halloween Costumes

I saved the most important thing — the costumes — for last.

If your children are old enough, encourage them to put their own costumes together. Or, consider coming up with a family “theme” for this year’s costumes:

• Storybook characters
• Superheroes
• Star Wars
• Disney characters
• Sweet Treats

Take it up a notch, and hold a costume contest. Take pictures, post them on social media, and let everyone vote on their favorite costume!

More “Halloween at Home” Ideas

So far, we’ve covered the basics: food, games, costumes, and decor. But what else can you do at home on Halloween with the kids? Perhaps one of these things will spark an idea.

1. Watch a Halloween movie (age-appropriate, of course).
2. Carve a jack-o-lantern — or decorate pumpkins with anything you have around the house.
3. Create a Halloween playlist and/or have a dance party.
4. Tell ghost stories in the dark.
5. Make a “haunted house” or “haunted fort”.
6. Set up a face painting station and take turns painting each other’s faces.
7. Have a Halloween craft party.
8. Build a haunted gingerbread house.
9. Build a backyard bonfire (if you have a backyard).
10. Taste test all the season’s new Halloween candies.
11. Prepare an all-Halloween-inspired dinner.
12. Host a virtual Halloween party.
13. Hand out candy to trick-or-treaters.
14. “Boo” your neighbors (by leaving Halloween goodies on their doorstep).
15. Do a tarot card reading.
16. Mix up a spooky, kid-friendly “potion” (in other words, Halloween punch).

And there you have it! Some fun, kid-friendly “Halloween at Home” party ideas for the whole family. How do you plan to celebrate Halloween at home with your kids?

More Halloween content from The Writer Mom:

Spooktacular Ways to Use Name Bubbles Labels on Halloween

3 Easy DIY Halloween Mask Ideas for Kids

Getting Ready for Halloween: 17 Spooktacular Ways to Celebrate With Kids