11 Ways To Enjoy Halloween At Home

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Is your favorite color Fall too? Is your favorite F word “fall”?

You are probably wondering if you should even buy/make Halloween costumes at all this year at this point in 2020.

Just a little tid-bit from my personal perspective on Halloween… even though trick or treating is the classic, traditional way of having fun that night, I absolutely DESPISE doing it (as a mom of 4, I’d like to think I’m not alone in this). I would much rather stay at home, where it is safe and I am in complete control of our night, not worried about one of my kids disappearing from my side in the race from door to door, not worrying about one of my kids getting scared to death from a super scary house and start crying, or one has to pee and we are blocks from the house, or one gets tired and whiney and wants to go home because they are cold and walked too much for their age already, but the other ones want to keep going. I mean OMG the list goes on.

So NO. I don’t do trick-or -treating whether its 2020 or not.

Here are somethings I do instead. I create memories.

1. Decorate

Get in the attic, shed, whatever you store you decor in, and get that box of Halloween and Fall decor out. Make a day of it and have the kids help. My girls LOVE to help me unpack all the cool decorations we haven’t seen in a year because it’s like they are all brand new again. And while we are unpacking each item, my girls get so excited about how cool everything is and where we should put things. 

Each year I buy a couple of new things after everything goes on sale and wrap it up and stick it in the decor box. I DO NOT use them. That way, the next year, we have a couple of new things to add to the fall collection (and I didn’t pay retail for it). This just makes it more interesting every year, and this is how I build my decor stash. BUY AFTER THE SEASON IS OVER ON SALE! 

One of the easiest fastest, and least expensive ways to decorate for Fall, is to just add THESE INEXPENSIVE pillow covers to your pillows on your couch. Do this one thing and BAM it looks like Fall came over to hang out. Light a fall candle and grab some pumpkins at the store. Easy peasy, DONE. 

OR Go all out with THIS STUFF:

Yard decorations

Household decor

Plug-in, light-up pumpkins

Fall wreaths

Throw pillow fall covers

Nik-Naks (like little glass figurines, votives, garland, wall hangings)

Spiderwebs

Hang twinkle lights on porches and patios

Candles

Get creative and make it feel like fall to last you until Thanksgiving. I usually pack up the more Halloween-ish items the day after Halloween and leave out the basic fall stuff until the day after Thanksgiving.

2. Bake

This memory will last a lifetime with your kids. They will remember most of all mom teaching them how to bake mom’s homemade cookies and pumpkin bread because they will remember how it smells.

Create memories. Having them bake with mom, teaching them, smelling it, and making them feel like they accomplished something so “grown up” when they pull that masterpiece out of the oven. When they get to eat it, they will bask in the delight of joy with you and create a beautiful memory.

Get your kids together for a family baking sesh during a cool, slow evening. Teach them how to bake something super delicious and that smells like fall. 

This is non-negotiable. Grab your own stock pile of homemade recipes or choose from one of mine here on my Fall Baking Pinterest Board.

Fall Baking Ideas:

Pumpkin bread

Decorate cookies

Coffee cake

Pumpkin spice donuts

Apple cinnamon apple fries

Apple cinnamon donuts

3. Smells Like Fall

Nothing is more satisfying than lighting a brand new candle that smells like pumpkin. Smelly goods set the scene for fall. Right now (due to pandemic reasons), it will be much easier to order these and have them shipped to you. I have a list of my favorite candles and smelly goods HERE you can add to cart and have them delivered so you don’t even have to worry about it. 

Fall Scents To Stock Up On:

Candles

Air Fresheners

Plug Ins

Wax Melts

Incesnse

Homemade steamy pot of potpourri 

4. Halloween Music

If you have Amazon Prime, did you know you have access to free music?

Download the Amazon Prime Music app and you can listen to most music for free with your prime membership.

You can even go further and sign up for unlimited music, which gives you access to all music, and you can save 20% off of that unlimited membership if you have Prime. It works out to be around $8 bucks a month. You can create unlimited playlists and add/download unlimited music and ALL music. There are several plans to choose from. This is how I get/listen to all my music. This way I can listen to what I want to and the kids can have their own playlists.

So get your amazon prime music and create a Halloween playlist real quick. There are tons of kid-friendly Halloween songs/music you can search. If you have an Alexa/Echo Dot, you can play your music from there in the house so you can fill the whole house up with the sound of Halloween.

Here is a list of kid-friendly Halloween music. Pick the ones you want and create your list for 2020 Quarantine Halloween.

5. Movie Marathon

Again with Amazon Prime, you get FREE MOVIES if you are a Prime Member. 

Download THIS app (it’s your amazon video that comes free with your membership). And search the movies you want to watch. There are a few you might have to pay for, but they are only a few bucks to rent for 48 hours. However, most are free. Also, if you have a smart TV, add this Prime Video app to your TV, and set up your family classic Halloween Movie Marathon

You can even go all out and set up an outdoor drive in movie scene, pillows, blankets, and hot chocolate. Make it a whole thing.

Here is a list of family-friendly, classic Halloween movies:

The Addams Family

Beetlejuice

Casper

Coraline

Corpse Bride

Nightmare Before Christmas

Edward Scissorhands

Ghostbusters

Goosebumps

Gremlins

Hocus Pocus

It’s The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

Matilda

Monsters Inc

6. Halloween Games/Party w/ Prizes

Come up with 2-4 games to play and gather the supplies needed. Invite a few friends over to play too. Having friends over makes it so much more fun. 

Here are a few Halloween games that are simple and classic that anyone can play.

Halloween Bingo —————–> I’ve got this covered for you. I’ll email it to you!

Toilet paper obstacle course with spiders in hallway

Bobbing for apples

7. Halloween Crafts

Kids love making crafts. Especially when mom joins in with them and they get to keep what they made. Crafts are the perfect way for them to use their creativity, work together and make Halloween seem less scary.

Here are some really great Halloween craft ideas.

21 Spooktacular Halloween Party Ideas For Adults and Kids

Go to the dollar store. Get some friends over. Lay down some newspaper. Turn on the Halloween Music. Light the candles. Get out the cookies. All the things. And start crafting. 

You can also just paint pumpkins! Outside, newspaper, acrylic paint and let them have at it.

8. Fire Pit with (Adult) Treats

Bond with the family under the stars. 

Make a bonfire or a fire pit. Gather the chairs. Make a pot of hot chocolate. Get some blankets. Some light sticks. Music. Roast marshmallows and make smores. Tell stories around the fire. Invite your friends and family.

Make sure to break out the wine and “spirits” (no pun intended) for the adults. You’ll be home so you can relax safely. 

9. Backyard/Neighborhood Treasure Hunt

Set up a scavenger hunt of prizes in the back yard for the kids. Get creative and make this really good and worth your while. Turn your backyard into a maze of a hunt and let this keep the kids busy for a couple of hours. Let them wear their costumes at the same time as the hunt. 

10. Carve Pumpkins

Gather your family and pumpkins and start sketching out your pumpkin art. Set up an assembly line. Listen to your Halloween music while carving. They don’t last but a couple of days after Halloween anyway, so might as well have them look their best on that actual night so you can enjoy your hard work then.

One person draws the art

One person cuts open the “lid”

One person digs out the seeds

One person carves

Add your candles and make sure to take pictures to post on social media.

Also, bake those pumpkin seeds! They are delicious when baked in cinnamon and sugar.

10. Dress Up In Costumes Anyway

Even though you won’t be going traditional Trick Or Treating, ask your kids what they want to be for Halloween. Encourage a super hero or villain over a scary monster. Let them decide and dress up. Do their hair and make up. It’s all about the memories and the time of year they get to remember what it feels like. How mom and dad made Halloween fun even though they don’t trick or treat. 

11. Check Your Town’s Events

Also, check your local churches for their fall festivals. We usually jump in the car after we are dressed up and go through the local churches fall festivals and hayrides (for about an hour before it gets dark). Our city also throws a “treats on the streets” where all the local businesses set up a stand to volunteer to the community and pass out candy and marketing supplies.

My Final Pro Tips Mom to Mom

WEAR. THE KIDS. OUT. EARLY. Have a glass of wine. And pat yourself on the back with a job as a mom well done. Turn on a good movie or relax in the bathtub after they’ve all “hit the hay (ride)” (again, no pun intended). 

Save those costumes. Use them for next year if there are younger siblings. Or just to play dress up in. Get the most use you can out of them.

As soon as Halloween is over, go to the AFTER SEASON sales and grab your costumes and new decorations. Pack them up for next year. Don’t even use them. It will be like getting a brand new surprise on a much cheaper dime when you dig your Fall box back out the next year.

And finally, don’t forget to take pictures. Upload them to your cloud drive. Then delete the pix from your phone. Once your photos are saved, you can free up your space. Go back and organize your cloud/drive pix so you can look back on them next Halloween.

Be sure to pin this blog post to save it for later on your Pinterest board so you can come back and revisit the valuable information you read here on the SoCo Blog. When you pin this on Pinterest, you are also sharing it even further for other moms to potentially find it and help her get organized as well. Just hover over the photo below until the “pin” button pops up, click on that button and it will take you straight to your Pinterest account where you can save this blog post to your boards.