Are you ready for some spooky fun with your family? Halloween is just around the corner, so I’ve searched the internet for great activities and gathered 13 family favorites. Happy Halloween!

1. Kid-made decorations are a fun way for children to participate. Let them make handprint paper bats and pipe cleaner spiders and hang them around the house. Kids love to see their artwork on display, and you’ll have a uniquely decorated home, unlike any on the block!
2. There’s more than one way to carve a pumpkin! Cookie cutter pumpkins provide a simple way for kids (and adults!) to carve up Jack O’ Lanterns. Empty out the pumpkin guts as usual and then place a stainless steel cookie cutter on the pumpkin and pound through with a rubber mallet. Kids love it!
3. Host a Halloween party for the neighborhood kids, or just for your own family. Play silly games like ghost bowling and pin the spider on the web! Try these no-bake ghost cookies or Halloween fruit cups for snacks for the kids!
4. Watch a scary(ish) movie like Beetlejuice, The Addams Family, or Edward Scissorhands. Here’s a Halloween movie list for kids by Parenting.com. And what goes well with a movie? Popcorn! Try this monster munch from All Recipes.
   
5. Try your hand at a creative, handmade Halloween costume! Making them together each year could be a really fun memory for your kids. Check out these must-see costumes for inspiration.
6. Cook a Halloween dinner with “scary” or “creepy” foods such as Rachel Ray’s ghoul-ash, witch finger breadsticks, and spider bites!
7. Visit a pumpkin patch! They often host hay rides, petting zoos, and other fun activities for the family. Pumpkinpatchesandmore.org is the place to find a patch near you.
8. Go to a local haunted house or haunted zoo. Many children’s museums also host Halloween activities for kids. Scour around your area for fun new places to go! Find a haunt near you at findahaunt.com.
9. Go “booing.” This is where you leave a gift on a friend’s doorstep with a note for them to do the same. It’s fun to ring the doorbell and then run and hide! Plus, it’s always good to do random acts of kindness.
10. Send your kids on a Halloween scavenger hunt. You can use this free printable from Sugar Bee Crafts, or make up your own!
    
11. Count down to Halloween with a paper chain. Kids love to take off a link every day as anticipation grows for Halloween. Tinkerlab shows us how to make a paper chain here.
12. Gather around for ghost stories. Set the tone with a crackling fire in the fireplace or candles lit around the room. Turn off the lights, hand out flashlights, pop some popcorn, and tell scary stories!
13. Have a family dance party. The scene is set! You have your handmade kid decorations up. Get a Halloween CD and dance to Monster Mash and the Ghostbusters theme song.

Rebecca Eanes is the bestselling author of multiple books including Positive Parenting: An Essential Guide, The Positive Parenting Workbook, and The Gift of a Happy Mother. She is the grateful mom of two boys.