Halloween is a fun time for many kids, but not every child is able to enjoy it in the traditional sense. Whether it’s religious beliefs that cause you to to be anti-Halloween and stray away from the occasion, or the scary image it represents, or maybe that you feel your kids are too young to go trick-or-treating. Either way, you don’t have to celebrate Halloween to have a good time with your kids!
The primary complaint about Halloween might be “but everyone else is doing it!” Show them that is not true by doing other fun things with them that many others kids are doing, too.
This doesn’t mean just sitting home while many other kids go out to get candy. There’s actually quite a few anti-halloween ideas for kids that will enable them to still enjoy themselves and not feel left out! It’s up to you to form new annual Halloween traditions to enjoy with your family outside of the usual dressing up and trick-or-treating.
How to Celebrate Without Celebrating
Here’s some anti-Halloween ideas for kids to enjoy:
Fall Festival: Enjoy a day or night of corn mazes, hay rides, campfires, and many festivities related to fall. Many festivals have petting zoos and huge pumpkin patches that you won’t want to miss!
Monsters Inc Movie/Game Night: You don’t need Halloween to enjoy Monsters Inc! Make it a movie theme night by watching the movie, of course, dressing up like your favorite characters, and playing themed games! Play 2319: You must clear the room of the socks all over the place without touching them with your hands, which means you can use kitchen utensils. They must be placed in a bin outside of the room ASAP!
Apple Picking: Spend the day at an apple orchard picking baskets of apples, then enjoy some homemade apple pie and cider!
Caramel Apples: Now that you’ve come home with a bunch of apples, why not make some scrumptious caramel apples! The perfect treat to celebrate fall, caramel apples are delicious and you can add nuts or anything you like! Chocolate chip bits and mini M&Ms are good examples!
Trunk-or-Treat: Many churches offer alternative Halloween ideas for kids, including trunk-or-treat which is where you trick-or-treat on church grounds from the trunks of cars. This is often followed by a church service and a festival put on by the good people of the church looking for alternative ideas just like you!
Church Lock-in: Your church might host a lock-in for the kids in the congregation on Halloween,
Hand out Candy with a Message: Spread the word of God while promoting the safety of trick-or-treaters on the streets. Hand out candy attached with messages like “Here I am! I stand at the door and knock…” Revelations 3:20, along with glow sticks bracelets or necklaces to trick-or-treaters and church pamphlets to parents or older kids.
Camping: If you don’t want to be bugged with people ringing your doorbell, get away for the day and night and go camping with the kids! Make s’mores, tell scary stories, and sing songs around the campfire!
Indoor Camping: If you don’t want to participate in festivities like trick-or-treating or handing out candy, it’s a good idea to keep your front lights off for the night to let others know not to stop at your door. Some people take it a step further by keeping the lights off throughout the entire house. Why not make your black-out more fun by setting up a tent or making a fort right there in the living room! Don’t forget the s’mores and hot chocolate!
Sleepover: Do your kids have friends who will also be skipping typical Halloween traditions? Why not invite them over for some a good ‘ol fashioned sleepover! Movies, games, and of course, lots of candy, will keep the kids entertained all night long!
Family Field Day: Planning a family field day is a great way to enjoy some time together in the great outdoors. Take your brood out back for some hula-hooping contests, three-legged races, and relay races.
Pumpkin Bake off: Spend the day baking treats! From pumpkin pies to cookies from scratch, you should have a lot of delicious goodies to eat while enjoying Monsters Inc later! Use this also to make gift baskets for any birthdays that may be coming up, or for your neighbors for no reason at all!
Pumpkin Seeds: Making a pumpkin pie? Well, don’t forget to bake the seeds! Pumpkin seeds are a healthy, tasty fall treat!
For anti-Halloween ideas for kids, you should be focused on finding ways to celebrate Autumn rather than finding ways to be anti-Halloween. It’s more positive to look at it this way and you are bound to come up with more fun ideas! Happy fall!