12 Trick or Treat Alternatives for Kids

Even if you don’t want to send your kids out at night, that doesn’t mean Halloween is cancelled! With these fun alternatives to trick-or-treating, this could just be the best Halloween ever!

A lot of parents are wondering, is Trick-or-Treating safe in 2025? Perhaps you’ve been considering alternatives to trick-or-treating. Maybe the decision was made for you if your neighborhood doesn’t do much trick-or-treating.

Or maybe you’re just looking for more ways to celebrate the occasion in a year that doesn’t always seem to have much to celebrate!

Whatever the reason, we’ve got you covered!

kids carving pumpkins as an alternative to trick-or-treating

12 Things to Do with Kids Instead of Trick-or-Treating

We’re not quite sure what our Halloween plans are yet, but if trick or treating is cancelled in our neighborhood we will be prepared! We’ve put together this list of fun trick or treat alternatives that kids are sure to love!

1. Hold a Scary Movie Marathon

Since we’re staying home more often lately, movie nights are becoming a new tradition in our family! During October, we choose spooky-themed flicks and make fun snacks!

Here are some of our favorite family friendly Halloween movies:

You can also watch many of these (and more!) movies on Prime Video, Amazon’s streaming service that is included free with your Amazon Prime membership.

Click here to try Amazon Prime FREE for 30 days!

2. Tell Ghost Stories

A good ghost story can be even spookier than a movie, and a lot more interactive! Grab a flashlight and check out some of our favorite books for inspiration:

3. Create a Halloween Candy Hunt in Your Yard

This is one that my husband and I have talked about doing instead of Trick or Treating. We have a big yard, so we were planning to hide candy, sort of like an Easter Egg hunt!

You could put the candy in plastic bags with glow sticks inside and have a light up treasure hunt!

4. Make Halloween Crafts

Here are our favorite crafts:

5. Create Your Own Haunted House

Here are some of our favorite DIY decorations that would make the perfect addition to you haunted house project:

glowing DIY jack-o-lanterns made with empty laundry detergent containers

6. Host a Halloween Party

Small get-togethers with close family or friends in your “bubble” are a fun way to spend Halloween night! Try some of these spooky fun recipes:

7. Visit a Haunted Drive

Our town has a family that creates a “haunted drive” every year on their property. You stay in your car and cruise slowly through all of the spooky decorations!

Super stretchy edible candy slime that only requires three simple ingredients. An awesome way to use up extra Halloween candy! Make your own silly putty!

8. Make Halloween Slime

Slime is one of our favorite sensory activities year round, but it is spot-on for Halloween! Any slime recipe will work, but these recipes are ones we designed specifically for Halloween:

9. Hang up a Halloween Piñata

This is one we’re planning for our family! Piñatas are a tradition in our family for birthdays — since they are candy-filled it’s all perfect for Halloween!

Click here to see a bunch of creepy cool Halloween piñatas!

10. Host a Monster Mash

Put on your costumes, put together a playlist of all your favorite Halloween songs, and get dancing! You could even use an essential oil diffuser to make spooky mist and Halloween luminaries to set the mood!

11. Do a Candy Drop for Neighbors

For an alternative to trick or treating, instead of passing out candy at your home, you could put together candy bags and drop them off at neighbors and friends! It’s also a great kindness activity for kids!

12. Explore Pumpkin Science

By Halloween, pumpkins are often starting to lose their freshness. Instead of tossing them, why not explore and do some fun fall STEM activities? Have fun squishing the insides, back pumpkin seeds, make slime…there are so many possibilities to learn and play!

13. Spooky Scavenger Hunt

Create a Halloween-themed scavenger hunt around your neighborhood or local park. Hide spooky items or clues leading to a “treasure” like a Halloween basket. This activity is great for kids and encourages exploration and teamwork. You can tailor the difficulty of the clues to different age groups.

14. Monster Mask Making

Provide paper plates, markers, and craft supplies for kids to design their own monster masks. Then have a mini fashion show to show them off.

15. Spooky Photo Booth

Set up a small photo corner with Halloween props and costumes. Kids can take silly pictures to remember the fun.

16. Glow-in-the-Dark Treasure Hunt

Hide small glow sticks or glow-in-the-dark toys around your yard. Kids can use flashlights to hunt for treasures as the sun goes down.

17. Spooky Storytime with Puppets

Use puppets or stuffed animals to act out funny, kid-friendly Halloween stories. Children can even make their own puppets to join in the fun.

What are your favorite alternatives to trick or treating?

What is your family planning this year for Halloween? I’d love to hear your ideas in the comments in case there is something we didn’t think of yet!

Stacey aka the Soccer Mom
Latest posts by Stacey aka the Soccer Mom (see all)

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2 Comments

  1. We are planning a sleepover movie night with my siblings and their kids. We are going to camp out in our yard in tents and watch Halloween movies on a projector, play games, and eat some yummy snacks.

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