25 Alternatives to Celebrating Halloween

A favorite holiday for many people is Halloween. Young and old love getting dressed up in costumes and having a good time. Kids go trick-or-treating and have classroom parties at school. Adults get together for parties, haunted hayrides, and touring haunted houses. However, the pagan holiday isn’t for everyone. If you are not a fan or don’t celebrate Halloween, here are some great alternatives to still having fun on this day.

1. Potluck and Prayer Night

Gather your friends and have a potluck. When you are done, spend some time praying for those out and about on Halloween night. You can pray for one another as well. Afterward, spend some time mingling and hanging out.

2. Christian Costume Party

Have a Christian costume party where everyone has to come dressed as their favorite Bible character. Send out invites a few weeks early so people can plan their costumes.

3. Friends and Family Movie Night

Have a movie night with lots of snacks and popcorn. Instead of choosing one movie, make it a marathon. Start as early as possible so you can get through them before bedtime. You could also let your kids stay up a little later than usual if bedtime will still be at a reasonable time.

4. Dance Party

Break out your favorite music and have a dance party. For some extra fun, have awards like “best dancer,” “most flexible dancer,” or “funkiest dancer.” Don’t forget to add some prizes.

5. Pizza Party

Make several kinds of pizzas and have a party. Instead of the traditional pepperoni or sausage, mix it up a little and add a stuffed crust or a white pizza (uses alfredo sauce instead of tomato) or deep-dish pizza.

6. Apple Party

Go bobbing for apples, then make your own caramel or candy-coated apples. You can also add apple baked goods, apple cider, and good old plain apple slices to the mix.

7. Go Bowling

Take the family and go bowling. This is a great way to have fun and get some exercise in as well.

8. Candy Party

Get several bags of Halloween candy and have a candy party. Put a bowl of each different candy in different rooms throughout your house and give each kid a bag. Then, line them up and go with them on the candy hunt.

If you have pets, put them up during this in case they decide they want to eat a piece (or bowl) themselves. The last thing you need or want is to have to go to the ER.

9. Go On a Fall Picnic

Since it will get dark much earlier, have a fall picnic in your house. Spread out a blanket in the living room and eat together. Add some cozy fall food like soup and sandwiches, a fresh salad, and a yummy fall-flavored dessert.

10. Attend a Fall Festival

Many places have fall or harvest festivals with lots of things to do and see. This would be a great way to spend an evening or afternoon.

11. Theme Party

Have a party with a theme on Halloween night. Have an 80s party where everyone has to dress like the era, research popular recipes from that time for dinner and dessert, and watch a few movie favorites from back in the day. Or have a 70s party where everyone has to put on their best disco dance moves.

12. Backyard Carnival

Get together with your Christian friends and neighbors and have a backyard carnival at your house. Ask around and see what kind of outside games people have, like ring toss or bean bags they could let you use. You could also ask if anyone has a popcorn or cotton candy maker they would bring and use. Other ideas include face painting, cooking hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill, and renting a bounce house.

13. Harvest Party

Host your own harvest party with your friends. Some activity ideas would be three-legged races, a pumpkin decorating station (with stickers, paint, etc.), and bobbing for apples. Dinner could be a potluck. If you have a bonfire pit, have everyone gather for s’mores, hot cocoa, or apple cider.

14. Decorate Fall Cookies

Make some homemade sugar cookie dough and get some fall cookie dough cutters like pumpkins, acorns, squirrels, etc. Allow your kids to cut out the dough using fall cookie cutters and then decorate them after they cool down.

If you are pressed for time or don’t want to make homemade cookies, buy fall-shaped cookie dough at the store. Don’t forget the colored icing and fall-inspired sprinkles.

15. Fall Scavenger Hunt

Go on a fall scavenger hunt together in your neighborhood. For even more fun, bring in friends and family for the event.

16. Family Game Night

Dust off the board games, break out the cards, and have a family game night. You can play for fun prizes like individually packaged snacks, bottled drinks, or items from the dollar store or just for fun.

17. Piñata

Even though you may not be trick or treating, kids will still get a ton of candy from their class parties and parades. So, instead of filling the pinata with candy, fill it with trinket toys from the dollar store, coins, one-dollar bills, and homemade coupons. Things like a daddy/daughter date, mom/daughter home spa day, lunch with mom or dad, your favorite meal, favorite dessert, skip a chore for a week, etc.

18. Karaoke Night

Have a family and friends Karaoke night. You can choose an era of music or let everyone pick and have a good mix. Have some kid tunes on hand, too, so your kids can get in on the fun.

You can even have prizes for this in several categories. Best rock singer, best country singer, best high note, best pop singer, best cover, worst cover, best baritone, best pop singer, sounds most like (insert artist), etc. If the kids get involved, think best Disney performance, best baby shark performance, etc. Remember, not everyone’s singing is great, but that is what Karaoke is all about, so have fun and roll with it.

19. Go Roller Skating

Okay, so I’m going old school here, but if you have a roller skating rink in town, go skating. This is a great way to teach your kids something new, show off your moves, and have fun while getting some exercise. It will also help your kids get some of their energy out.

20. Family Reading Night

If your family likes to read, spend the night cozied up in bed with a good book. You can read some stories together as a family with the kids, or if you have older children, you can all read in your respective rooms. This is a great relaxing way to spend the night before sleep.

21. Go to the Movies

Pick a family-friendly movie and head to the theater.

22. Family Craft Night

Pick out a few fall crafts to do together as a family. You can find all kinds of cool and fun ideas on Pinterest. Another idea is to make a craft they can play with for a while, like homemade play dough, fingerpaint, or slime.

Related: 10 Easy Fall Crafts for You to Try

23. Host a Sleepover

Have your kids’ best friends over for a sleepover. Cook a kid-friendly meal, plan some activities, let them wind down with a movie, and set a realistic bedtime.

24. Family Video Game Night

Spend the night as a family playing video games together. Set a timer and spend a specified amount of time playing each game so everyone gets a turn and also gets to play their favorite game. To make things super easy, order (or make) pizza for dinner and ensure you have plenty of snacks on hand.

25. Cooking Night

Spend the night cooking together as a family. Measure the ingredients for your recipe and let your little kids add them as you cook. Older kids can help make a salad or cook with another family member with supervision.

You can teach your kids how cooking works, and they can learn both math skills and safety skills. Another idea would be to pick up some kid-friendly cookbooks and let them pick out a recipe or make it under your watchful eye. I got a kid-friendly cookbook in elementary school about how to cook things in the microwave, and I still have it to this day. This is an excellent way for your kids to learn things and bond together as a family.

As you can see, there are many alternatives to do instead of Halloween. So pick a few, gather your friends and family, and prepare for a great time.