15 Halloween Activities to Get into the Spooky Season Mood

If you wait all year long for spooky season to begin, now’s the time to start planning your Halloween activities. (Trust me, it’s never too early.) So grab your pumpkin spice latte, wrap yourself up in flannel, and kick up your feet — it’s time to explore some at-home ideas for Halloween fun.

Halloween decorations don’t need to cost a ton of money. You can usually make some yourself with things you’ve got lying around the house. One of the most fun Halloween crafts involves taking an old painting you don’t really care much about (or pick some up for cheap at the thrift store), grab some paints, and decorate the painting with your own Halloween artwork. Add a ghost here, a spiderweb there — it’s one of the more fun and creative Halloween activities out there.

Grab two contrasting colors of nail polish — black and white work great for this — and settle down to give yourself a spooky manicure. Put a darker color on as the base, and then paint little ghosts with the other color on top. Or, take the easier route and alternate black and orange nails.

Victorian-era folks were all about spooky fun, and one game that’s perfect for Halloween  comes right from that time. To play Wink Murder, everyone sits in a circle with their heads down, like Heads Up, Seven Up, except one person. That person goes around the circle and taps one person on the head once to have them play as the murderer, and taps one person on the head twice to have them play as the detective. Everyone then stands in a circle around the detective. 

The murderer must covertly wink at others to kill them, and they must die in a very dramatic fashion. The detective gets three chances to determine who the murderer is. The game ends in two ways — either the murderer successfully kills everyone, or the detective successfully guesses the murderer.

This Halloween activity is especially fun for families with kids. Pick a room in the house and have your children transform it into a haunted house, complete with props and jump scares. Then have them lead you through the “haunted house” to see how much they can scare you.

Who needs a Halloween store? See what costumes you can make from items around your home. Do some DIY costuming then go out trick-or-treating in the neighborhood — no age limits!

A Halloween staple! Head to the pumpkin patch (or store, or your own garden) to get some pumpkins — then carve them up to your heart’s desire. You can also paint them instead of carve them, and try other squashes or hard root veggies like turnips. And don’t forget to roast those pumpkin seeds.

Put that Halloween candy to good use — dump it in some large bowls and pick two scary movies to watch. Then have a double feature fueled by candy treats.

This game gets your whole neighborhood involved. Tape a paper ghost onto a bag, and fill the bag with candy. Sneakily leave it at a neighbor’s door. They should tape the ghost to their door so everyone knows they already got “ghosted.” Then they continue the game by ghosting someone else!

You don’t technically need a bonfire for this Halloween activity, but it will make it much better. If you don’t have an outdoor space, just gather around some candles. Appoint one person to be the “medium.” Have everyone hold hands, and the medium should lead everyone in a guided meditation to try and speak to someone who has passed on. The results of this one can be pretty spooky, so be prepared!

This is a Halloween activities classic. Make food that feels like everything gross you can think of — like peeled grapes for eyes, cooked spaghetti for worms, uncooked rice for rat or mouse droppings, and sliced almonds for fingernails. Put them in separate boxes or bowls and cover them up, but leave just enough space for someone to slip their hand in. Whoever can guess the most nasties wins.

Just like the campfires of yore. Grab a flashlight, turn out all the lights, and shine a spooky light on your face as you tell the scariest story you can imagine. 

Bring back that middle school party fun with a mummy dress-up game. Break your friends and family into teams of two, provide a ton of rolls of toilet paper, and see who wraps their partner into the best mummy. For extra fun, have the mummies do a fashion show once the wrapping is complete.

This Halloween activity is best if you have a big yard or an empty field by your house. Essentially, it’s shot-put but with pumpkins. Gather your buddies and see who can sling their pumpkin the farthest. Winner gets the best candy.

Remember Bozo Buckets? This is a pared-down version. Make a row of five cups, one behind the other, and try to toss candy corn into each cup. Assign points for each one based on the distance away the cup is. It’s a great tabletop game (and something to do with candy corn if you can’t stand eating it).

Get your baking pans and gingerbread recipe out! With this Halloween activity, you make a gingerbread house — but theme it for Halloween. Consider adding icing spiderwebs, or a little gingerbread graveyard. Use your imagination!