Fun Alternatives to Trick-or-Treating Your Kids Will Love


Fun Alternatives to Trick-or-Treating Your Kids Will Love

Halloween: A time for fun, candy, Hocus Pocus, tricking, treating, and more candy!

But what if the whole trick-or-treating thing just doesn’t work for your family?

Maybe you don’t live in or near a kid-friendly neighborhood. Maybe you have religious objectives to the holiday itself. Or maybe you just hate the idea of your children collecting massive quantities of sugar they’ll inevitably want to consume RIGHT NOW.

Well, here’s the good news. 

There are lots of cool, still-in-the-spirit-of-fall activities you can do this month that will be fun for kids and grownups alike.

The best part? You can customize them to make them as spookyโ€”or not!โ€”as you like. 

6 Fun Alternatives to Trick-or-Treating

1. Trunk-or-Treat

If you want to give your kids Halloween fun without the safety concerns of going door-to-door, how about car-to-car?

This is trick-or-treating done in style.

Organize a get-together (at church, a friendโ€™s house, etc.), line up your cars, and decorate the car trunks in full Halloween or autumn fashion, with spooky games and prizes if you want. Different ideas for trunk-or-treat include bean bag tosses, face painting, bobbing for apples, bowling, and pumpkin decorating. Have fun with it!

2. Mini Pumpkin Hunt

Another fun alternative to trick-or-treating is decorating and searching for mini pumpkins.

This is a two-part activity. Get some mini pumpkins, paint (washable, of course!), google-y eyes, glue, and any other art supplies you want. The entire family can get into it!

Once you finish painting, let the pumpkins dry overnight.

Fun Alternatives to Trick-or-Treating Your Kids Will Love

Then comes part two. Take a page out of Easterโ€™s book and hide the pumpkins. If the October chill isnโ€™t too bad, you can hide them outside in the yard. Or if you want to stay inside, hide them around the house.

Finally, set the family loose to find them all! The person who finds the most can win a prizeโ€”the first slice of pumpkin pie, perhaps? 

3. Crafty Night

To complement your mini pumpkins, you can make a bunch of other fun and easy crafts for Halloween.

Blow pops, tissue paper and yarn can be used to make little ghosts.

You could buy some orange and black crepe paper, Mason jars and artificial tea lights to make lanterns.

Create Halloween masks out of paper plates.

Or Jack-oโ€™-lantern garlands.

Or just plain oleโ€™ pumpkin carving.

The possibilities are endless, and the time spent together as a family is always funโ€”even if you’re not particularly crafty. 

4. Bob for Doughnuts

Apples are great, don’t get me wrong, but bobbing for doughnuts sounds so much betterโ€ฆespecially if you do it while wearing costumes!

Use some kitchen twine to string your doughnuts from a clothes line or tree. Now give everyone a turn to try to eat the doughnuts with no hands.

It’s tasty and entertaining. Be sure to have your camera handy for some action shots!

(Want step-by-step instructions for this activity? Check out The Chic Site’s helpful post all about bobbing for doughnuts!)

Bobbing for Doughnuts

5. Halloween Piรฑata

Ah, beating a cardboard character with a stick that results in a shower of candy and treats. Now thatโ€™s a party!

A giant pumpkin or ghost-shaped piรฑata would do nicely. Fill it with candy, tie it up, blind-fold willing participants, and let the fun beginโ€”just watch out for wild stick swinging!

To add an extra layer of fun, you could even have the kids help make the piรฑata.

6. Hallow-themed movie night

Nothing is better than a cozy family night in with a movie and snacks. So why not host a Halloween-themed movie night?

The movies donโ€™t have to be scary. Thank goodness for The Nightmare Before Christmas and Halloweentown!

You can even make a game out of it: Every time the word โ€˜Halloweenโ€™ is said in the movie, eat three pieces of candy corn. Or take a gulp of apple cider. An interactive element only makes movie night that much more fun!


Do you take your kids trick-or-treating? Which of these alternative activities do you think sounds the most fun? 

Here’s another fun (and educational!) Halloween activity for toddlers and preschoolers: A Ghost Counting Game!


3 responses to “Fun Alternatives to Trick-or-Treating Your Kids Will Love”

  1. […] Whether you live in a city where door-to-door trick-or-treating is not an option, or you are simply looking for a safer alternativeโ€”there are always plenty of alternatives. Many schools, churches, and community centers host day of or week before activities and events. Some senior centers host events too as the residentโ€™s love to see the kids all dressed up. You could host or go to a Halloween party. Many major cities also host mall or neighborhood trick-or-treating at local retailers. […]

  2. I’ve tried some of these alternatives, but kids always turn back to trick or treating, I mean, what’s not to love about walking up to stranger’s houses and getting free candy? lol

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