Last year things were cancelled all together – this year things are a bit different to be safe. People are having to come up with alternate ways to celebrate Halloween and enjoy some Halloween treats! That doesn’t mean Halloween is dead, just different. So uncancel the celebrations and just try these fun Halloween activities instead of typical Halloween games instead!
2021 Halloween Ideas
Here are 25 different fun ways to celebrate Halloween this year including things you can do at home, things you can do virtually, and things you can do safely distanced from one another!
Virtual Halloween Ideas
Avoid crowded haunted houses and go virtual this Halloween instead.
1 – Have a Costume Contest
Just because you’re not together doesn’t mean you can’t have a costume contest. Give people categories and see who can come up with the best costume that you share with each other on a virtual call. Let everyone vote on their favorites and give out prizes to the winner! Another alternative is to play this fun Halloween dress up game where players have to come up with their best version of a costume on the fly, in just minutes. Creativity counts!
2 – Play a Game
There are so many different Halloween games you can play virtually, here are just a few to get you started! Click on the game name to get full instructions for each of the games!
Ghoulish Recall – Players get shown nostalgic Halloween images and have to see how many things they can remember about them! Halloween pictionary game – this Halloween drawing game is kind of like Pictionary but with a twist. Super fun for all ages and very interactive! Halloween bingo – send out bingo cards to everyone beforehand and play all together on a virtual call! If you need a game that’s a bit easier for younger kids, this monster mash version is perfect!Halloween charades – your typical charades game but on a virtual call where everyone guesses on screen!Halloween name that tune – Use the songs from this Halloween name that tune game to play to everyone. Rather than yelling out the song when they know it, they must write it down and put it up on the screen!
3 – Play Would You Rather
Get everyone on a call and ask these fun Halloween would you rather questions then talk about them as a group. It can be hilarious to see how differently people think about certain topics!
4 – Play Truth or Scare
Use these fun (and kid-friendly) Halloween truth or dare questions for a fun round of Halloween truth or scare. Even if you’re not all together doesn’t mean you can’t do the silly scare challenges like doing the thriller dance or cackle like an evil witch into the camera. Honestly, they’ll probably be even funnier seeing someone do them on your screen than they are in person!
5 – Have a Virtual Movie Night
Many streaming services now allow you to watch movies online with your friends at the same time. Have a Halloween watch party with a Halloween dessert board and treats at your own house but watching all together, virtually.
6 – Do a Group Text Scavenger Hunt
Get a group of friends together on a group chat and try out this fun group text scavenger hunt where the host sends a word and people have to send back photos of the Halloween items throughout the day! It’s a super fun and interactive way to get everyone involved and enjoying the Halloween season from apart.
Neighborhood Halloween Ideas
If you still want to get out and maybe even celebrate with close neighbors, here are fun and safe ways to do that!
7 – Halloween Treasure Hunt
Instead of door to door trick or treating, have families hide Halloween treasure boxes full of individually packaged treats in their yards. Give out clues and let people search for them throughout the day – not all at once. I’ve got more details on how to do a Halloween treasure hunt here PLUS some other fun options if you want to do this with people other than neighbors at a local park.
8 – Halloween Decorations Hunt
Give everyone this Halloween decorations scavenger hunt and see which family can find all of the decorations listed first or in the shortest amount of time. Start in different places so everyone isn’t at the same house at once!
9 – Neighborhood Costume Parade
Have an outdoor neighborhood costume parade with everyone appropriately socially distanced in the parade. Make sure everyone goes the same direction and stays together with their own families, staying six feet away from others.
10 – Trick or Treat Tree
If you do want to do something similar to trick or treating, try setting up a trick or treat tree like this one with only treats inside the pumpkins. Kids can take one pumpkin off the tree without having to touch everything else. You could do something similar by putting individual bags of candy spread out on a table or any other place where people could grab things individually.
11- Pumpkin Carving Contest
Have everyone setup a pumpkin carving station in their own driveway. Give everyone a theme and have families carve pumpkins in their own driveway as a family. Set a time limit and once everyone is done, have people display their pumpkin with a number. Families can then walk around to check out the pumpkins and vote on their favorites by sending in the number to a group text (so no passing papers).
12 – Outdoor Movie Night
Get a big inflatable screen and blow it up to show a Halloween movie on Halloween night. Families can bring their own popcorn and treats and space themselves out to enjoy the movie together, distanced.
13 – Boo Your Neighbors
Put together Halloween boo buckets with these printable you’ve been booed signs and drop them off at a couple of your neighbor’s doors. Then watch as they boo others and the booing spreads throughout the neighborhood!
Trick or Treating Alternatives
Still want to give your kids candy and goodies? Try one of these alternatives to traditional trick or treating instead!
14 – Halloween Scavenger Hunt
Print Halloween scavenger hunt clues then hide treats and clues for kids (or adults) to find! It’s a great alternative to trick or treating but beware, kids may start asking for scavenger hunts for every holiday! Good thing I’ve got scavenger hunt ideas for every theme and occasion!
15 – Play the Candy Bar Game
Skip the fun size treats and buy a bunch of full size candy bars instead. Use dice and candy bars to play this fun candy bar game instead – it’s my personal favorite!
16 – Do a Pumpkin Hunt
Switch out Easter eggs for plastic pumpkins and do a plastic pumpkin hunt using some of these creative Easter egg hunt ideas. It’s a fun way to still give out treats to your kids without just handing over a bag of candy.
17 – Set Up Your Own Trick or Treat
Instead of buying treats for the entire neighborhood, buy candy and other fun prizes for your kids and set up trick or treat stations throughout your home and outside. At each station, kids can still get a different treat or little favor like these Halloween prizes. And at the very end, have something fun like these pumpkin pizzas and this zombie Halloween punch.
18 – Break Open a Pinata
Get a Halloween pinata and fill it with favorite candies and prizes. Break it open as a family then do the standard post trick or treating candy swapping and sorting! You could also use the candy to play one of our favorite birthday party games using candy!
Fun Halloween Ideas at Home
While many of these Halloween party ideas are out this year, you can still have a blast celebrating Halloween right at home with your own family!
19 – Make Halloween Treats
Get your sweets from Halloween treats rather than candy this year. These witch rice krispy treats and these monster cookie sandwiches are the perfect Halloween treats that kids can help make and customize themselves!
20 – Eat “Gross” Halloween Treats
See who can guess what bat wings and pumpkin teeth are in this fun blind-folded guess the food game! There’s a version for kids and one for teens/adults!
21- Have a Minute to Win It Competition
See who in your family can win the most of these Halloween minute to win it games! They’re inexpensive, quick to play, and fun enough that they’ll keep people’s minds off what they’re missing!
22 – Play Halloween Games
Try out any of these 50+ Halloween games that are great for families to play together at home! Or if you’re looking for more of a printable game, try this roll a jack-o-lantern game for kids or this monster match Halloween game for adults.
23 – Play Family Feud
Invite close family members in your pod over for a rousing game of Halloween family feud! See who can come up with popular Halloween movies, songs, and treats and who can’t come up with anything!
24 – Tell Scary Stories
Turn the lights out and using only flashlights, tell scary stories but with a twist. Instead of one person telling a story, have one person start the story but only tell a line. The person next to them then has to pick up the story and add a line. Then the next person and so on – trying to come up with the scariest story possible. It may actually end up being the funniest story possible, but it’ll be fun one way or another!
25 – Do All of the Above
The past 18 months has taken away so much from everyone, go all out for Halloween and do a bunch of the things on this list. Create countdown envelopes or boxes like I did with these New Year’s Eve party ideas and countdown with activities to the end of the night! Some other activities that work well for this include:
Halloween word searchHalloween monster bingoMaking Halloween balloon decorationsAny of these boredom busters with a Halloween slant
What are you doing for Halloween this year?
