It’s that time of year again! Is it just my kids or does back-to-school automatically equal spooky season? We love holidays around here, and over the years we have accumulated many traditions surrounding the spookiest day of the year. We kick off our month with Boo Baskets and plan many special outings that only New England has to offer. Then, we pack up or crew, and head South to trick-or-treat. The weather is better, the people are friendlier, and almost everyone participates. It’s a big ol’ win for us!
Ten years ago, my husband and I eloped on Halloween. He picked it to avoid trick or treating forever, and I picked it because I couldn’t imagine anything more romantic than spending our anniversaries walking under the stars listening to our children giggle or handing out candy to the community. Oil and water – the two of us.
I’ve written about the importance of family traditions before, but I think it’s important to say it again: family traditions are important for developing family memories! Each year that a family has the same tradition, the memories build on themselves and strengthen in the mind. There’s even science to prove it!
Halloween often gets overlooked as a memory-making holiday. Partly – I’m sure – because it isn’t honored as a national holiday, and often falls on a school night. Like 5 out of 7 years. It also tends to be trumped by its bigger cousins, Thanksgiving and Christmas – where families drop everything to be together. But make no mistake: Halloween is an amazing opportunity to create lasting memories with your brood. So today, I’m sharing some of our favorite Halloween traditions to help you get your creative juices flowing!
Boo Baskets
One of my favorite ways to kick off the Halloween festivities is with a Boo Basket. This year, we’re doing a “family” boo basket to keep costs down and also provide us with activities to do together. I like to gift our Boo baskets at the beginning of the month, so it helps build the excitement to the big day. This year, our boo basket will include a DIY no-sew Halloween blanket, window clings, scrapbook materials, pajamas, and other fun goodies to enjoy throughout the month.
Start a Halloween Scrapbook
This is a new addition for this year! Using MPIX and some adorable Halloween scrapbook materials, we’re going to capture all our memories to look back year after year. I can’t wait to see how this turns out and add to it. I’ll probably have to resist the urge to control the project, so I’m sure some hard apple cider will be required, lest my Type A personality takes over.
Visit a Pumpkin Patch or Corn Maze
From what I’ve seen in my travels up and down the coast, you’re never too far from a pumpkin patch or corn maze. The farming culture in America is great for fall festivities! A pumpkin patch is a fun treat – especially if they have other things going on. Pro tip though: Plan to buy your pumpkins at Aldi ($5 each) and go to the pumpkin patch to pick one family pumpkin! If you’re planning a corn maze excursion, go on a day that is no more than like 70-75 degrees, otherwise you’ll be very hot and dusty.
Decorate for Halloween!
You guys. You do not need to decorate to the nines to make this special. Instagram has ruined our ability to find joy in simplicity. Halloween is supposed to be fun and cooky and it’s been destroyed by influencers! My kids love making black and orange paper chains, and the spider webs at Walmart are like… $3. Add in a few strands of lights, a pumpkin or ghost, and some sort of funky hand towel, and you’ve created a spooky vibe that your children will reminisce for years to come.
Movie Night
We love movie night! Since going screen-free, this has been an even bigger hit in the house because we appreciate it more. There are so many awesome family-friendly Halloween movies. Remember all the Disney movies? Get on it! Every Saturday afternoon, we get busy in the kitchen baking a fun snack, then we pop some popcorn and enjoy a show together! This isn’t wallet-shattering stuff; it’s the intentionality that makes it special. This week, we made butterbeer cookies and threw on Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
Host a Halloween Party (or find one to go to!)
Obviously, you can’t crash your neighbor’s Halloween party. Social etiquette experts would tell you that’s rude, no matter how far we’ve strayed from common decency in the last decade. And with inflation, it’s hard to justify the bill for hosting a massive shindig. That said, as Millennials, we have to do better. We aren’t setting a very good example for our children of what it means to live well. There’s a whole lot of hustle and stress in the US and not a lot of connecting. You guys: we have one life to live. Connecting with others should be priority #1.
Now… I remember growing up in the time of The Potluck. Remember those? Well, what’s spookier than trying someone else’s food? Not much. Invite a few friends (and family), put everyone in charge of one activity and/or one dish, decorate your house with those abovementioned paper chains, and put together a Halloween playlist. Instant party. Even better if you do it as a pre-game to trick-or-treating and you all go out together!
Alternatively, maybe you’re in my position and your life is filled with commitment-phobes. You know the type – the ones that can’t make plans “too far in advance” just so they can leave space for something better to come up. That seems to be a prevalent disease among Millennials and could be a whole separate post in and of itself. Never fear! Lots of PTAs put on Halloween festivals for kids. If your kid isn’t in public school, this may take some digging in the area to find out, but they’re generally a very fun way to celebrate the season (and double win because it supports the local school system).
Dress up as a group!
Each year, we select a group-themed costume. It’s been one of our favorite ways to rock the Halloween spirit So far, we’ve pulled off “traditional Halloween creatures” – witch, black cat and pumpkin. We’ve rocked Hocus Pocus, and our favorite so far: Harry Potter! This year, we’re doing Harry Potter again because my husband and I have proudly and officially turned our three little ladies into Potter Heads. That, and the capes still fit from last year. If the cape fits, wear it.
DIY Costumes
You know what sucks? Spending $50 on an itchy, uncomfortable paper-thin costume. I’ve been DIYing costumes since my oldest was a tot. I’ve had some misses, to be sure. But all our costumes utilize Primary clothes, so we can re-wear almost all the pieces after the day. So far, we’ve pulled off “traditional Halloween,” (witch, black cat, and pumpkin), Hocus Pocus, and now Harry Potter!
Halloween Breakfast
We kick off both October 1 and Halloween every year with a special breakfast. It’s a great way to begin and end the month. And I know – we’re all super busy. But here’s a hard truth: how you prioritize your time is your own decision. Your child’s childhood is also your parenthood and pulling off a Halloween breakfast does not have to be difficult. But it’s always incredibly special.
To make a festive Halloween breakfast, you need some candy eyeballs, writing gel, and some plastic spiders to pull it off. Last year, we made spider web pancakes using this super simple (and reusable) contraption that helped us draw our designs on the skillet. Throw your breakfast on some Halloween plates, with some festive napkins and serve it with some red juice and a paper straw? Now you’ve got a party.
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