Ultimate Guide to Fun and Easy Ways to Celebrate Halloween at Home

Halloween, a holiday that brings together communities through candy and costumes, is inevitably going to look very different this year.  With social distancing regulations, traditional trick-or-treating is considered a higher-risk activity for spreading  COVID-19, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But that doesn’t mean that all Halloween festivities need to be canceled, we just need to be creative and adapt with the changing times. Create a fun and easy Halloween decorations, homemade treats, trick-or-treating games and non-scary movies.

Simple Halloween DIY Decorations

Halloween decorations, treats, trick-or-treating – these are the keys to a fun celebration! It is great to get your kids involved in the Halloween decorating. They will love making simple, creative decorations that will turn your home into a Halloween haunted house.

Easy Handprint Ghost Decoration

This handprint ghost is a fun and easy decoration that you can hang around your house! All you need is black paper, white paint and a little hand.

Easy DIY Halloween Garland

Homemade Halloween-themed garlands are easy to make using simple shapes, coloured-in and decorated by the kids. These simple outlines of a bat, witch’s hat, jack-o-lantern and ghost can be attached to string to create a colourful Halloween garland that can be hung up around the house.

Easy Shape Witch Halloween Decoration

This a fun way of practising simple shape recognition as well as creating a cute Halloween decoration.

Halloween Movies That Aren’t Scary for Kids

Hotel Transylvania

This is a good introductory “monster movie” for younger kids, aged 3 and over. The monsters are tame, and the story focuses on Dracula and his daughter as she comes of age. There is a sweet relationship between Dracula and his daddy’s girl, Mavis, who is keen to discover the world beyond the hotel. The only scary element that is obvious to younger children is Dracula’s “angry” face – but this is counteracted by his gentle loving relationship with his daughter.

Monsters Inc

This adorable Disney movie is so wholesome and hilarious, I would recommend it for any little ones aged 5 and above. The characters are brightly-coloured and animated, but there are a few scenes which smaller children might find frightening. The film, set in Monstropolis, revolves around Sulley, Mike and other “scarers”. Their job is to make human kids scream, but, by the end of the film, you realise they don’t want to hurt or scare children at all. Far from it. Your little ones are guaranteed to love the characters and feel less scared about monsters. Older children will be able to rationalise the action and understand the message that the movie is trying to communicate.

Coco

The premise for this brilliant movie is based on Dia de los Muertos, or “The Day of the Dead”, but please don’t let that put you off. Much of the film is set in the Land of the Dead, so there are bound to be some scary figures, but the plot is actually heart-warming as it follows Coco in his search for his old family members. The main theme is one of unconditional love and a child’s desire to become a musician against his family’s wishes. Back to the scary figures – skeletons..lots of skeletons. But they’re mostly sweet and very funny as they dance and sing their way through the colourful and creative plot. This movie is a little heavy on dialogue, so it would be more suited to children aged 6 and above, who will be able to understand the cultural references and story line more easily.

Ghoulish Homemade Halloween Treats for Kids

There are plenty of easy Halloween recipes that you and your kids can make together. Kids love to get their hands dirty, so let them get involved in the measuring and mixing process. When cooking with kids for Halloween, the key is to keep your recipes simple and easy with minimal ingredients and straightforward instructions. Halloween treats don’t have to be complicated to look amazing and spooky! Keep reading for my top 3 easy Halloween recipes. Fun to make and sure to please your kids and their friends.

Easy Halloween Ghost Sugar Cookies

Easy Sugar Cookie Recipe

• 2 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 ½ cups white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Step 1 Preheat oven to 190 degrees C/ 375 degrees F. In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking soda, and baking powder. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla. Gradually blend in the dry ingredients. Roll rounded teaspoonfuls of dough into balls, and place onto ungreased cookie sheets.
3. Bake 8 to 10 minutes in the preheated oven, or until golden. Let stand on cookie sheet two minutes before removing to cool on wire racks.

Flood Icing Recipe

• 2 cups powered sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Reese Pieces or M&Ms

1. Beat the egg whites on high speed until foamy.
2. Sift in the powered sugar and gradually add to the egg whites until fully incorporated.
3. Add the vanilla extract and drops of water until the icing has the consistency of a thick, pourable icing. Gently pour over cookies, tipping the cookie gently to allow the icing to spread out.
4. Allow the icing to set for 5 mins before adding the eyes and mouth of the ghost.

Rice Krispies Pumpkin Treats

Rice Krispies are always a hit with kids and dying them orange will amaze little ones. These no-cook pumpkins are a great addition to your Halloween spread. They are tasty and make for great decorations as well!

Ingredients:

• 6 cups Rice Krispies cereal
• 3 tbsp salted butter
• 1 (10 oz) pkg. mini marshmallows
• Orange gel food colouring
• 3 straight pretzels (break off 2 cm of each end piece) 
• Mini M&Ms (green)
• Chocolate icing or melted chocolate
• Non-stick cooking spray

1. Measure out Rice Krispies cereal and pour into a bowl. Melt butter in a  saucepan or pot over medium-low heat.
2.  Add marshmallows and stir and as they begin to melt start adding in drops of the gel food colouring until the appropriate colour is achieved. Stir constantly until marshmallows have melted.
3. Remove from heat and immediately pour in Rice Krispies cereal and gently stir and fold with a spatula until cereal is evenly coated. Let mixture cool slightly (until it’s cool enough to touch with your hands).
4. Spray your hands with non-stick cooking spray then shape the Rice Krispies mixture into balls about the size of a rounded egg.
5. Insert 1 piece of the pretzel end into the top and shape the pumpkin. 
6. Using the green mini M&Ms and the chocolate icing (or melted chocolate), stick the M&Ms next to the the pretzel stem to form the leaves.

Simple Doughnut Pretzel Spiders

I love these super simple spiders! A few easy ingredients, a little assembly and you have cute and delicious decorations for your Halloween table.

Ingredients:

• 6 round chocolate mini-doughnuts (Timbits are the best, if available!)
• Rounded pretzels, breaking off the curved sides of the pretzel
• Reese Pieces or M&Ms
• Melted chocolate (to attach eyes)

1. Cut each doughnut in half.
2. Break off each curved side of the pretzels, 8 for each spider. Carefully press the pretzel curves into the top of the doughnut halves to create legs for the spider.
3. Melt the chocolate and dap a small circle on the back of the Reese Pieces or M&Ms and attach to the spider’s face.

Socially Distanced Trick-or-Treating Ideas

Halloween decorations, treats, trick-or-treating and movies are a great way to celebrate. But when door-to-door trick or treating is not recommended because it can be difficult to properly social distance, what are the alternatives? Current restriction don’t mean you can’t get dressed up and enjoy the spirit of Halloween and still enjoy a bucket full of sweets! Try one of these fun ideas:

Have fun with a Halloween Piñata

Get a Halloween-themed piñata to fill with sweets and surprises and hang it in an area with lots of space. Your kids can get dressed up in their Halloween costumes and take turns hitting the piñata with a broom handle or bat until it breaks apart and the sweets falls out. Or if you are feeling adventurous, make a piñata out of recycled material and art supplies to decorate as a spooky Halloween creation.

Halloween Neighbourhood Decoration Treasure Hunt

Get dressed up, grab a bag of sweets and get out in your neighbourhood to appreciate the Halloween decorations. Every time you spot a house that is decorated for Halloween, the kids can shout, “Trick-or-Treat” and can choose a sweet from the bag you have brought along. This is a fun, safe way of “trick-or-treating” without any risks!

Glow-in-the-Dark Egg Hunt

Don’t let the dark stop you from doing a sweet hunt! Use hollow plastic eggs that break apart. Inside each one, put a sweet and decorate the egg with glow in the dark stickers. Hide the eggs around the garden and enjoy a Halloween egg hunt once it gets dark.

Don’t let COVID ruin your Halloween this year!

There are plenty of fun and easy ways to celebrate at home, with Halloween decorations, treats, trick-or-treating games and movies. It just takes a little preparation and creativity to adapt our old traditions to fit with the changing times of 2020. So this year, let’s make Halloween magical while still keeping pandemic precautions in mind.