AndiHalloween is one of my favorite holidays, because there are so many fun things to do! I love going all out on holidays and creating fun family traditions. Our Halloween traditions have evolved over the years as my kids have gotten older. Here are 12 Halloween activities that teens will love.
1. Decorate The House
Mine want to go all out every year and create our own haunted house. We’re not there, but slowly working on adding more decorations every year.
Add cobwebs to the fireplace mantle, lamps, mirrors and pictures on the wall. Create a spooky scene in the fireplace or on an entry table. Decorate the dining table with a spooky or festive centerpiece.
Don’t forget outside! Add a themed wreath and welcome mat to the front porch with pumpkins or a skeleton waiting for visitors. Put Halloween props in the front yard. Check out Pinterest for tons of ideas!
Let them join in on the fun and contribute to the decorating.
2. Pumpkin Carving or Painting
This is an awesome Halloween activity that teens will love! Teens are old enough now to carve their own pumpkins and clean up the mess too!
If carving isn’t their thing, try pumpkin painting. This is a great way to show off their artistic talent or humorous side.
Have a family pumpkin carving or painting contest and come up with a fun prize for the winner.
3. Halloween Playlist
Have them create a Halloween playlist of their favorite spooky music. Play it all month long or just on Halloween if it’s too much.
Here are some ideas, but again let them help create it.
- Purple People Eater
- Monster Mash
- Somebody’s Watching Me
- Zombie
- A Nightmare On My Street
- Thriller
- Ghostbusters
4. Ghost or Graveyard Tour
Several older cities will have ghost or graveyard tours, which are so much fun! See if there’s one in your area, so you can check it out.
If not, get creative and come up with your own ghost tour stories, then you can practice hosting a tour.
5. Haunted House
One of the best Halloween activities that teens will love! Attend a local spooky haunted house and enjoy getting scared. Remember that not all haunted houses are created equal. Some of them are fun and ridiculously corny and then some are down right scary!
Know your teen and what they can or can not handle, because you definitely don’t want to traumatize anyone. My oldest is the one that doesn’t want any part of haunted houses, so age may not always be a factor.
6. Haunted Corn Maze
If you’ve been to a corn maze, you know how much fun they are during the day. Some corn mazes have night time access which can be scary in itself with just using a flashlight. But then some up it even more and make them haunted at night!
Again know your family and who can handle this.
7. Halloween Party
I know that this is one of the best Halloween activities that teens will love, because they ask for one almost every year! Parties are so much fun and a great reason to splurge on decorations.
The great thing about having older kids is that they can help with ALL the prep work. Cleaning, decorating, baking, running errands and pretty much anything else.
A party doesn’t have to be a big ordeal, they may only want to invite a few friends over and have a movie marathon sleepover. They may want to invite everyone, so make sure to set limits and expectations if you choose to have a party.
8. Halloween Movie Night
Bust out the comfy pajamas, popcorn and movie snacks for movie night. You can go all out with cute themed movie snacks or just pop popcorn.
Pick a movie that will make everyone happy. Not everyone will be into scary movies, so compromise and find a movie everyone will enjoy.
Movie Ideas:
- ET
- Ghost Busters
- Beetlejuice
- Gremlins
- The Wizard of Oz
- Hocus Pocus
- The Addams Family
- Poltergeist
- Scary Movie
9. Haunted Gingerbread House
Decorate a haunted gingerbread house! Buy lots of black, purple and orange icing and candies. There are prepackaged kits that you can buy or make your own.
This may not appeal to all teens, but mine still like doing this activity.
10. Amusement Park Night
Most amusement parks will have some kind of Halloween event going on during the month of October if they are open.
We have a Six Flags near us that holds Fright Fest every year. It’s a family favorite! A must do Halloween activity that teens will love! Roller coasters and haunted fun all rolled into one event. During the day it’s decorated for Halloween, but nothing scary happens. At night, they have scare zones where characters will try and scare you. Plus there are several haunted houses.
11. Trick or Treat
People have different opinions on this and what age is too old for trick or treating. I personally think that if they still want to go out and trick or treat, let them. As long as they are respectful, why not? There are worse things they can be doing than getting candy from the neighbors.
That being said, mine stopped wanting to trick or treat before it became an issue. Now they help me pass out candy and enjoy doing that too.
12. Celebrate Halloween
If your teens are not trick or treating anymore, don’t forget to actually celebrate the day.
- Have a fun breakfast like pumpkin or ghost pancakes.
- Plan a spooky themed dinner too.
- Dress up to pass out candy.
- Play Halloween music all day.
- Have friends over to help celebrate with fun food and drinks.
- Watch a Halloween movie.
Summary
The best Halloween activities that teens will love are the activities they choose themselves. Let them create their own Halloween bucket list and agree to do some things together as a family.
Is there anything you would add to the list? What’s your favorite Halloween activity?
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