5 Non-Scary Ways to Spend Halloween
We have a love-hate relationship with Halloween in our house. My husband loves dark and scary and it is the one time of year he can decorate the house in creepy scary stuff and fit in. But all the scary stuff is hard on kids. For now, while the children are young we found a middle ground between fun and creepy that works for our family. We drag out the skulls, ghost crafts and pumpkins galore while we celebrate at home.
Not scary Halloween ideas
Trunk or Treat
Trunk-or-treats are a great way to help your child have the trick-or-treating experience while skipping the over the top scary Halloween houses and costumes meant to send children running and screaming. If you do not have a Trunk-O-Treat going on in your area why not set one up with your local community center or church.
Opt to start a non-scary trunk-or-treat giving participants trunk or treat ideas to get them started:
- Favorite childhood movie
- Popular kiddie show
- Career possibilities.
Not So Scary Party
Hit a Not so scary Halloween party. When we lived in Florida Mickeys Not so Scary Halloween Party at Disney was a hit. This year Disney is taking Mickey’s Not-so-scarry Halloween Party over the top. This extra event is well worth the cost if you plan to visit The Magic Kingdom anytime this fall.
If you are not lucky enough to live near one of these great events for children gather friends and family together and throw your own kid-friendly Halloween party. To make it easy have everyone bring a fun Halloween treat or dish for a potluck style party.
Stay home and have some fun on Halloween
We skip the Trick-or-treat all together now. It is safer to avoid food allergens and do our own thing and helps keep our kids safe off the dark streets where a toddler could escape and run into the street when someone scares them. We grab candy and make fun treat bags for the kids for Halloween, or order pizza or make our own, and enjoy some fun together doing fun activities and games. The kids have a great time and go to bed on time. After all of the kids are asleep we turn out the lights and enjoy a Halloween movie together for a free date night.
Change Halloween from scary to fun
A great way to turn a scary holiday into something good is to use it as an opportunity to bless others. Bake some cookies and do some reverse trick-or-treating before the sun goes down drop off freshly baked cookies to neighbors. Gather food for the local food pantry. Wear the kids out before the sun goes down by encouraging them to help others by doing community service projects like raking elderly neighbors lawns. Write positive quotes on sticky notes to attach to treats you hand out to trick-or-treaters that come by.
Take the scary out while keeping the fun with plenty of pumpkins, silly faced ghosts, and cute fun activities that make the holiday child-friendly. Exploring shadows and light is a great way to help young children overcome the fear that can suck the fun out of the holiday. Make the day fun with great pumpkin sensory activities.
The key to a great, not scary Halloween is to get creative. Step out of the scary trick-or-treating nights and plan for a great time enjoying the things you love so your family does not feel they are missing out.
