25 Halloween Activities for Families & Teens - Our Little House in the Country

There comes a point when Halloween changes a little.

When children are small, October practically organises itself. There are costumes to choose, pumpkins to carve, crafts to make and enormous excitement about going trick-or-treating.

Then suddenly you have teenagers.

They may still love Halloween — sometimes really love Halloween — but suggesting an organised Halloween craft afternoon can be met with the sort of look that makes you immediately regret opening your mouth.

I don’t think that means we have to let go of all those lovely October traditions, though.

We just have to let them grow up a little too.

Halloween with teenagers can mean late-night films instead of afternoon crafts, elaborate pumpkin carving, baking something ridiculous, walking after dark, sitting around a firepit, creating costumes with friends or simply putting good food on the table and making an ordinary October evening feel a little different.

And sometimes the best approach is simply to put the idea out there and see what happens.

So if you’d like to keep a little Halloween magic going as your children get older — or simply want some easy seasonal ideas the whole family can enjoy — here are 25 Halloween activities for families and teens.

No enormous Halloween production required.

Choose a handful that sound like your family and leave the rest.

1. Carve — or Paint — Pumpkins

Some traditions survive the teenage years perfectly well.

Pumpkin carving is one of them.

Give everyone their own pumpkin and let them decide what to do with it. Traditional faces, intricate designs, painted pumpkins, ridiculous expressions — anything goes.

Put some music on, cover the kitchen table and make an evening of it.

And save the seeds if you can. Tossed with a little oil and seasoning and roasted in the oven, they’re far too good to throw away.

2. Bake Something Ridiculously Halloween-ish

This is not the evening for tasteful restraint.

Spiderweb brownies. Ghost biscuits. Toffee apples. Cupcakes with far too much icing. Something involving melted chocolate and googly sugar eyes.

Older children who have long since lost interest in children’s Halloween activities may suddenly become remarkably enthusiastic when food is involved.

Funny that.

If you’d rather keep things traditional, make an Irish barmbrack and tell them about the old Halloween custom of hiding charms inside.

3. Have a Proper Halloween Movie Night

This is perhaps the easiest Halloween tradition of all.

Close the curtains early, light a few candles, make popcorn, bring blankets into the sitting room and choose something everyone actually wants to watch.

The definition of “spooky” will obviously depend on your household.

For plenty of ideas, have a look at 15 Spooky (But Not Too Scary) Movies for a Family Halloween Night.

And yes, watching the same favourite every October absolutely counts as a family tradition.

4. Let Them Create Their Own Costume

If your teens are still dressing up, hand over creative control.

A small budget, charity shops, old clothes, makeup and whatever can be found around the house can produce far more interesting costumes than buying everything ready-made.

It also turns the preparation into part of Halloween rather than something that happens five minutes before they leave the house.

5. Visit a Pumpkin Patch

Pumpkin patches aren’t an ancient Irish Halloween tradition — but they’ve certainly become a lovely modern one.

Go for the pumpkins, take the inevitable photographs, drink something warm and enjoy being outside on a crisp October day.

With teenagers, it can simply become an autumn outing rather than a children’s Halloween activity.

6. Go for a Walk After Dark

Ordinary places feel completely different after dark.

Wrap up, take torches and go for a walk around your neighbourhood or somewhere familiar.

Notice lit-up houses, pumpkins glowing at doors, leaves underfoot, the colder air and how quiet everything becomes.

October gives us darkness early enough to enjoy it without needing to be wandering the countryside at midnight.

Always a bonus.

7. Light the Firepit

If the weather cooperates, take everyone outside.

Light the firepit, bring blankets and something warm to drink, toast marshmallows and stay out longer than you normally would.

Tell ghost stories if your family is that way inclined.

Or just talk.

Sometimes the activity is really just an excuse to get everyone in the same place for an hour.

8. Make Barmbrack or Another Traditional Halloween Food

Instead of another pumpkin-flavoured recipe, try making something connected to older Halloween traditions.

Barmbrack is the obvious Irish choice, but colcannon, apple cake, roasted nuts or homemade toffee apples all work beautifully at this time of year.

Food is one of the easiest ways of connecting today’s Halloween with the celebrations that came before us.

I’ve explored much more of that history in The Simple Magic of Halloween: An Intentional Guide to Its Origins, Traditions, and Celebrations.

9. Hand Over the Halloween Decorating

This is a good one if you’ve reached the stage where decorating together is no longer quite the event it once was.

Let the teenagers do it.

Give them the box of decorations and walk away.

You may get tasteful autumnal Halloween.

You may get a three-foot skeleton sitting at the kitchen table.

Either is acceptable.

10. Try an Old-Fashioned Halloween Game

Before screens, Halloween entertainment was considerably messier.

Apple bobbing, snap apple, fortune-telling games and the infamous flour-and-coin game kept generations entertained.

And strangely, the sheer ridiculousness of some of them makes them surprisingly good with teenagers.

We’ve collected some of the best in 10 Forgotten Halloween Games to Bring Back This Year.

Prepare to lose all dignity.

11. Have a Halloween Makeup Evening

Halloween makeup has come a very long way from a bit of white face paint and fake blood.

Let teens experiment with skeleton faces, vampires, ghosts, theatrical makeup or whatever strange tutorial they’ve found online.

It works whether they’re preparing for an actual costume or simply messing around at home.

12. Read Something Spooky

This doesn’t necessarily mean gathering everyone around while you solemnly read aloud from a ghost story — although if your family would tolerate that, wonderful.

It might simply mean everybody finding something atmospheric to read during October.

A ghost story. A mystery. Gothic fiction. Something witchy. Something mildly creepy.

I’ve put together 10 Cosy & Creepy Books to Read in October if you need somewhere to start.

13. Make Proper Toffee Apples

Sticky, messy and absolutely worth doing once a year.

Make a batch together and add whatever toppings appeal — chocolate, chopped nuts, sprinkles or simply the traditional glossy toffee coating.

Half the entertainment is attempting to eat one gracefully.

14. Have a Halloween Dinner

It can be wonderfully silly or barely themed at all.

Make “mummy” sausages if that still gets a laugh.

Serve something warming in big bowls.

Put candles on the table.

Add a few tiny pumpkins.

Have dessert on a Tuesday for no particular reason other than it is October.

The point isn’t really the themed food. It’s making an ordinary dinner feel like an occasion.

15. Try a Torchlight Game Outside

If you have a garden or safe outdoor space, take a few torches or glow sticks outside after dark.

Play hide-and-seek, flashlight tag or invent something completely ridiculous.

Teenagers may initially inform you that they are absolutely not doing this.

Give it five minutes.

16. Make Halloween Lanterns

Old jars, paper, leaves, paint or tissue can all become simple lanterns.

Use battery-operated LED candles inside rather than real flames, particularly with paper decorations.

Line a windowsill or put them outside near the front door.

If you’re interested in more homemade Halloween ideas, 15 Quirky Halloween Crafts Using Things You Already Have at Home has lots of simple ones.

17. Make the Family Halloween Playlist

Hand this job to the teenagers.

Everybody gets to add a few songs.

There will almost certainly be disagreement.

There may be songs that have absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with Halloween.

That’s fine.

Play it while you’re carving pumpkins, baking or getting ready on Halloween night and suddenly you’ve created another tiny family tradition.

18. Carve a Turnip

Just once.

If only to develop a profound appreciation for pumpkins.

Before pumpkins became our Halloween lantern of choice, carved turnips were traditionally used here in Ireland and elsewhere.

They are smaller, harder and significantly less cooperative.

Attempting one is part history lesson, part Halloween activity and part upper-body workout.

For more traditions from home, see 13 Irish Halloween Traditions and How You Can Celebrate Them Today.

19. Have a Halloween Evening With Friends

Not every family Halloween activity has to involve the entire family.

Let older children invite a couple of friends over.

Order pizza. Put a film on. Leave snacks out. Light the fire.

And then — this is crucial — disappear.

Sometimes providing the setting is enough.

20. Take Halloween Photographs Just for You

Not a formal photoshoot.

Just photographs of October as it actually looks.

The pumpkins lined up at the door.

Someone concentrating on carving.

Costumes abandoned on a chair.

Flour all over the kitchen after baking.

Friends arriving.

The dog looking deeply unimpressed by proceedings.

These ordinary photographs often become much more precious than the perfectly posed ones.

21. Tell Them About Halloween When You Were Young

This one costs absolutely nothing.

Tell them what Halloween looked like when you were their age.

What did you dress up as?

What games did you play?

Did you go trick-or-treating?

Did your family have barmbrack?

Were there bonfires?

What did Halloween night feel like?

Family stories are traditions too, and teenagers are often far more interested in these things than we assume — particularly when we’re not presenting them as a lesson.

22. Go Somewhere Genuinely Spooky

If your teenagers enjoy being scared, this is the age when Halloween outings become much more interesting.

Look for a local ghost tour, historic night tour, haunted attraction, Halloween trail or seasonal event.

Choose something appropriate for your family’s tolerance level.

There is a substantial difference between “atmospheric ghost walk” and “nobody sleeps for three nights”.

Choose wisely.

23. Make Spooky Hot Chocolate

This is gloriously unnecessary.

Which is precisely why I like it.

Make hot chocolate, add cream or marshmallows and whatever Halloween toppings you happen to have, then take it into the sitting room for a film.

Sometimes a tradition can be as small as making the ordinary version slightly more fun.

24. Choose One Old Halloween Tradition to Bring Back

Pick something your family has never tried.

Snap apple.

Barmbrack.

A carved turnip.

An old fortune-telling game.

Lighting a candle.

A traditional Halloween food.

A story or superstition from Irish folklore.

You don’t have to recreate Halloween from two hundred years ago.

Just borrow one little piece of it.

You’ll find plenty of ideas in 12 Quirky Halloween Superstitions and Where They Come From, 13 Irish Halloween Traditions, and 10 Simple Samhain Rituals You Can Try at Home.

25. Finish October by Remembering the Good Bits

Before October disappears into November, ask everyone one simple question:

What was your favourite thing we did this month?

No elaborate gratitude ceremony required.

You might hear about the pumpkin patch.

Or the film.

Or the night their friends came over.

Or the ridiculous turnip.

And you may discover the thing they remember most wasn’t the thing you spent the most money or effort on at all.

That is useful information for next year.

Free Printable: 25 Halloween Activities for Families & Teens 🎃

If you’d like to keep these ideas somewhere you can actually see them during October, I’ve made a free printable version of the 25 Halloween Activities for Families & Teens.

Pop it on the fridge, add it to your seasonal binder or let everyone choose a couple of things they’d genuinely like to do.

There is absolutely no requirement to tick all 25 boxes.

In fact, please don’t.

Download the Free 25 Halloween Activities Printable →

Choose what sounds fun. Ignore what doesn’t. Add your own traditions in the margins.

That’s the whole idea.

Want a Little More? The Ultimate Halloween Bucket List Companion

If you’re planning more than a couple of Halloween activities this year, you might also enjoy our Ultimate Halloween Bucket List Companion.

It’s a larger printable collection designed to help you gather your favourite Halloween ideas, traditions and plans in one place — without turning October into another enormous project.

Explore the Ultimate Halloween Bucket List Companion →

Use as much or as little of it as suits your family.

Keeping Halloween Magic Alive as They Get Older

I think this is really what this list is about.

Our children grow.

The things that delighted them at six won’t necessarily delight them at sixteen — and that’s exactly as it should be.

But family traditions don’t have to disappear because everybody is getting older.

They can change.

Pumpkin painting becomes elaborate pumpkin carving.

An afternoon Halloween party becomes friends, pizza and a horror film.

Crafts become makeup or decorating.

Early trick-or-treating becomes a late evening around the firepit.

And sometimes the tradition is simply that everybody ends up back in the kitchen at some point, eating something warm and talking about their night.

We don’t need to manufacture magical childhoods or fill every weekend with seasonal activities.

We just keep offering little opportunities to gather.

Some will be enthusiastically accepted.

Some will be met with an eye roll.

And occasionally the thing you thought nobody cared about will turn out to be the tradition they absolutely expect you to do again next year.

Those are the ones worth keeping.

Continue Exploring Halloween

If you’re looking for more ideas for a simple, cosy Halloween, you might enjoy:

Illustrated Pinterest-style featured image for a blog post about traditional Halloween games, featuring a cosy country cottage at dusk with apple bobbing, carved pumpkins, lanterns, candles, autumn leaves and nostalgic Irish Halloween traditions.

lustrated Pinterest-style featured image for a blog post featuring ten seasonal foods and treats for Halloween night, showing a cosy country kitchen with pumpkin soup, stuffed peppers, caramel popcorn, toffee apples, autumn baking, candles and warm seasonal déco

You can also browse the Autumn archive for more simple seasonal ideas, recipes, traditions and printables.

I’d love to know which Halloween traditions have survived as your children have grown — or which completely unexpected ones your teenagers still insist upon every year.

Tell me in the comments. I suspect some of the simplest ones will be the favourites.

Chat soon,

Ciara x

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🖨Create Your Autumn Companion Binder

If you’re planning to print several of our autumn companions, a few simple supplies can make it easy to create your own beautiful Autumn Companion Binder to enjoy throughout the season. It’s a lovely way to keep your favourite planners, journals, checklists and seasonal inspiration all together in one place.

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🍂 Continue Exploring Autumn

Autumn is a season of slowing down, finding comfort in everyday moments, and creating simple rhythms that help us feel grounded. If you’re looking for more gentle inspiration, you’ll find plenty of seasonal ideas, free printables and cosy reads waiting for you below.

autumn printables - a hub of free printables — 🍂 Browse the Autumn Printables Collection
*Discover the complete collection of free autumn calendars, planners, journals, bucket lists, checklists and seasonal printables designed to help you enjoy a slower, cosier season.*

Watercolour autumn scene with headphones, a phone displaying Audible, a mug of tea and a rain-speckled window.

P.S. Something for Your Autumn Listening 🎧🍂

I’m a huge audiobook listener, and Audible is one of those subscriptions I genuinely use all the time — while I’m walking, pottering around the house, driving or simply getting on with the ordinary jobs of the day.

There’s something particularly lovely about having a good book in your ears as the evenings begin to draw in, so if you’ve been thinking about trying Audible, you can take a look at the current Audible Standard offer below.

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