15 Fun Trick or Treating Alternatives For Kids This Halloween
Fun ideas for family Halloween activities for 2022
What Else Can You Do On Halloween Instead of Trick or Treating With Your Kids?
If you’ve decided to forgo traditional trick or treating this year, you’re probably looking for other activities to do on Halloween.
There are plenty of fun alternatives to trick or treating you can try with your kids.
The pandemic caused a lot of us to reconsider how we celebrate certain holidays.
Maybe you want to play it safe with your little ones this year due to Covid or other germs.
Maybe you’d rather avoid trick or treating altogether because you don’t want bags of candy in the house.
Or maybe you just want some ideas for family activities to celebrate the weekend before Halloween.
You can still make Halloween fun for your kids even if you’re doing it in a nontraditional way.
You may even enjoy some of these alternatives to trick or treating so much that you’ll want to do them every year on Halloween.
Trick or Treating Alternatives for Halloween in 2022
DISCLOSURE: This post may contain affiliate links to products and services. If you click through these links and make a purchase, I may make a small commission. You can read my Disclaimer Policy for more information.
1. Halloween Candy Hunt
This is one of my favorite ideas and one of the alternatives to trick or treating my family did a few years ago when my daughter was three years old.
Similar to an Easter egg hunt, put candy inside plastic eggs and hide them around the house or the yard. The great thing about this is you don’t have to use candy. You can hide small toys, stickers, and your kids’ favorite snacks.
TIP: Decorate leftover eggs from Easter with Halloween stickers or use Halloween eggs like these ones. Alternatively, put treats inside these Halloween bags and hide them around the house for your kids to find.
2. Costume Party Parade
While some kids might enjoy dressing up just for the chance to pretend to be someone else for a day, others might be disappointed to have no one admire their awesome Halloween costumes.
You could plan a costume party parade with other kids who live nearby. All the kids can dress up and parade down the street or around the neighborhood while parents watch from their yards.
This is an easy way to stay socially distanced as kids can walk 6 feet away from each other but still show off their Halloween costumes.
3. Outdoor Halloween Scavenger Hunt
Make a list of Halloween decorations or things you usually see in the fall. Take a walk around the neighborhood and see how many items on the list your kids can find.
Some things to look for on your Halloween scavenger hunt:
✅ Pumpkins
✅ Decorated pumpkins
✅ Ghost decorations
✅ Black cat
✅ Acorns
✅ A pile of leaves
✅ Happy Halloween sign
✅ Scarecrow
4. Trick or Treat at Home
My daughter loves to play trick or treat even when it’s not Halloween.
This could be a fun idea for younger kids. Let them dress up and trick or treat at their own house.
Parents can answer the door when they ring the bell.
Wear a different disguise each time they come to the door to make it extra fun for them.
Alternatively, invite a few people over. Each adult can stand behind a door in the house (bathroom door, bedroom doors) with a bowl of candy or treats and kids can trick or treat from door to door.
5. Create Your Own Haunted House
I loved making haunted houses in my basement when I was younger. My friends and I would spend hours creating our own spooky haunted house and then make our parents walk through it.
Make your own haunted house either throughout your home or in one room of the house.
Use things such as cobwebs, glow-in-the-dark toys, and creepy music to make it spooky.
Check out some fun DIY haunted house ideas here. I especially love the autopsy room!
6. Decorate Pumpkins
Decorating pumpkins is, of course, a traditional Halloween activity.
There are so many ways to decorate pumpkins.
Younger kids can decorate their own pumpkins with stickers or paint them. Older kids can try carving Jack O Lantern faces or other designs.
This is a great activity to add to your Halloween plans this year.
7. Make a Halloween Craft
Inspire creativity by doing a Halloween craft with your kids. Pinterest has a lot of great ideas.
For toddlers and younger kids, check out this super easy paper plate pumpkin craft.
8. Have a Halloween Themed Dinner
Plan a Halloween-themed dinner for your family to make together.
Check out some of these Halloween dinner ideas.
9. Bake Halloween Treats
If you don’t want to go all out for dinner, bake a Halloween treat with your kids.
My favorite easy and fun tradition for kids is to make sugar cookies and decorate them with frosting and sprinkles.
You can dye white frosting orange and use chocolate sprinkles for an easy Halloween cookie activity.
Here are some more fun and easy Halloween treats you can make with your kids.
10. Drive-By Trick or Treating
Visit grandparents, close family, or friends for trick or treating and to show off your kids’ costumes.
To make this even more fun, have your kids help you decorate your car with Halloween window clings like these ones.
11. Backyard Campfire
I love this idea for older kids. If you have a fire pit, have a fire in your yard and sit around telling ghost stories.
You can also roast marshmallows and make s’mores.
No fire pit? Toast marshmallows inside using this s’more maker.
12. Halloween Dance Off
Have a Halloween dance party with your kids. Create a list of your favorite Halloween or spooky songs and dance around the house.
Some of our favorite Halloween songs:
For younger kids
- Monster Mash by Bobby Pickett
- Monster Boogie by the Laurie Berkner Band
- Five Little Pumpkins by The Kiboomers
For older kids
- Purple People Eater by Sheb Wooley
- This is Halloween from the Nightmare Before Christmas
13. Halloween Family Game Night
Have a family game night this Halloween.
Try a few of these DIY Halloween games if you’re feeling creative.
Not so creative? Or don’t have a lot of time? Try Halloween Charades, Booo-opoly, or Cauldron Quest.
14. Halloween Book Marathon
Do your little ones love reading? Have a Halloween book marathon.
Read all the Halloween-related stories you have to get into the holiday spirit.
Here are some of our favorites:
15. Halloween Pajama Party Movie Night
Get cozy in pajamas and end the night with a scary (or not so scary) Halloween movie.
Need ideas for the best Halloween movies? Here’s a list of mostly kid-friendly Halloween movies.
Alternatives to Trick or Treating Wrap Up
If you’ve decided to skip traditional trick or treating this year, there are still plenty of activities to make Halloween fun for your kids.
Halloween is on a Monday this year, so you can also use any of these activities to celebrate the weekend before.
What fun family activities are you thinking of trying this year?
Related Holiday Posts:
- Easy Paper Plate Pumpkin Craft for Toddlers
- Thanksgiving Traditions To Start With Your Family
- How To Teach Toddlers & Preschoolers To Be Thankful
- 10 Fun Christmas Traditions to Start This Year
Originally published on 9/24/2020
This will be a different Halloween for many kids! Thanks so much for the lists! We will also be participating in non-traditional Halloween activities this year…