Haunted hay rides, pumpkin picking, and scary movies [1], oh my! As Halloween [2] approaches, the opportunities to plan fun and spooky activities with your kids will be endless, but based on their ages, you may not want to jump straight into a horror movie marathon [3] as a family activity.
Read through for Halloween activities [4] you can plan with your kids based on their age [5].
Ages 2-5
You probably aren't going to want to test the waters with anything too scary just yet if your child is a toddler. Halloween [7] at this age should be about picking a fun costume [8] and decorating the house with pumpkins and friendly ghosts.
These are a few of the fun things you can do with them and as a family:
- Pumpkin picking
- Pumpkin painting [9]
- Trick-or-treating [10]
- Nonhaunted hay rides
- Harvest festivals and carnivals
- Disney's Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party [11]
Ages 6-10
As your child gets a little older and a bit more daring, a few "scary" events might be appealing to them. They can also be trusted with a bit more responsibility, like carving their own pumpkin with parental supervision.
Here are some things they might enjoy, in addition to the previous list:
- Kid-friendly haunted houses
- Pumpkin carving
- Trick-or-treating [12]
- Local Halloween [13] parade in your city
- Scary ghost stories
Ages 11+
In addition to all of the exciting activities listed above, your tween and teen may want to go for the full-on scary Halloween [14] experience. You know what they can handle best, but around this age range, your child will be looking for more autonomy [15] and may even be passionate about scary movies and events during the Halloween season.
Here are some things they may be interested in doing leading up to and on Oct. 31:
- Trick-or-treating alone
- Haunted hay rides
- Scary haunted houses
- Scary movie marathon [16]
- Haunted cornfield maze
- Local zombie walk