Halloween Traditions for More Holiday Memories!
I’m a firm believer that holiday traditions make some of the best memories for our children. So I try to institute as many traditions around the holidays as I can. And the creative B-Inspired Blogger moms are the perfect source for some family tradition ideas. Here are some of their ideas for Halloween traditions…
10 Halloween Traditions [From the Mouths of Moms]
1. Throw a “Trick or Treat” Party
“We throw a costume party in October every year where we play ‘Trick or Treat.’ I’m not big on Halloween, but I love games! There is a bowl of strips of paper and a bowl of candy. Each strip of paper either says ‘Treat’ and you pick a candy out of the bowl for your turn, or it describes a ‘trick’ you must perform. This blog post is from before we had kids, but it shows a few of the ‘tricks’ we had to do! It is always a total blast. And I can’t wait until our boys are old enough to play. Most of the tricks are so silly, even toddlers can play.” Kristin from Call Me Kristin
2. Make Your Halloween Costumes
“I have a tradition of always making my kids’ Halloween costumes. I can’t wait until they can start helping me make them. I want them to think of Halloween as an opportunity to be creative.” Krissy from B-Inspired Mama
3. Bake Halloween Sugar Cookies
“Last year was our first year as a family of three. We gathered apples at the orchard, visited the pumpkin patch, painted pumpkins, and baked sugar cookies. Baking the Halloween sugar cookies was a tradition that was started when I was a kid, but the others were new ones that began with our family.” Gina from famiglia&seoul
4. Give Your Candy to “The Great Pumpkin”
“We started a Halloween tradition last year where they pick out 5 pieces of candy from Trick or Treating to keep, then put the rest on the porch on Halloween night. When they wake up in the morning, they see that ‘The Great Pumpkin’ replaced that unhealthy candy with a few small toys and art supplies.” Krissy from B-Inspired Mama
5. Spend Time Outdoors
“We get outdoors and take Halloween Hikes every year or Hayrides.” Lora from Kids Creative Chaos
6. Head to the Mall
“Because, he’s young and it’s cold here, so far we have gone to the mall for 2 years. It’s warm and safer. All he does is walk into the store and they give him the candy. It’s ideal for the little ones.” Valerie from Glittering Muffins
7. Visit a Museum
“We go to the Smithsonian’s Air and Scare Museum every year. They have treats, all of the Star Wars guys and fun games for the kids.” Kristen from Busy Kids Happy Mom
8. Go to the Zoo
“We go to the Zoo Boo every year at the Detroit Zoo. It’s a great time to see lots of kids (and sometimes adults) in wonderful costumes! There’s a trail that’s set up through part of the zoo with stops for candy … and at the end there are games for the kids, a ‘Zoo Boo Revue’ show, and cider & donuts!” Laura from Play Dr. Mom
9. Bake Some Pumpkin Seeds
“We go to the pumpkin patch the weekend before and carve and decorate our pumpkins. We then bake the seeds. This is the thing I look forward to the most.” Brittany from Love, Play, Learn
10. Do Candy Science Experiments
“We only did this last year, but I definitely want to do this again this year and make it a tradition. Experiments with all our leftover candy!” Laura from Play Dr. Mom
More Holiday Traditions from B-Inspired Mama
How do you and your kids celebrate Halloween? Any fun Halloween traditions? Share them in the comments below!
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Laura M says
What a fun list of ideas! I like the great pumpkin idea, where ever you draw the line, if you do, it is nice that they are rewarded. I also like the eat as much as you like today, give it away tomorrow idea. My hips would benefit from this even more than my kid’s demeanor!
Krissy @ B-Inspired Mama says
Thanks, Laura!
Candace says
The pumpkin fairy visits our house as well. The kids choose several pieces to keep and the rest is exchanged, donated, or used in experiments. It is a fun tradition for them!
mybuddiesandi says
Though my daughters are now grown, we never asked them to give up their candy. I think it’s a great idea, though. There were many years that the candy was around past Christmas time. It would have been nicer not to see it go to waste. I don’t think all of our families are the same or that they should be the same and it’s great to hear how everyone handles issues like Halloween candy and I respect each opinion. I don’t understand the need to be harsh and critical of any idea shared with the intention of helping others.
Tina says
I love the ideas that “use” the candy without eating it. I go through my kids candy (we have 4 and that’s A LOT of candy) and I take everything that I can bake with (mostly the chocolate and candy bars). We make candy cookies with all of my daycare kids and I send them home with the parents. Then, I take out the starbursts, warheads, skittles, and other candy that we can use for science experiments. Next, I take the M&M’s, Smarties, any leftover Skittles and other multi-colored candies and we use them for math sorting and graphing. The only things I save are the Dum Dums because they’re great small treats for every now and then. I love the idea of the Great Pumpkin exchange and I think my kids would be more excited with books, toys, and school supplies than the candy anyway! Great idea 🙂
Jeanette Nyberg says
Oh, some good points here. I hate having all that candy sitting around after Halloween, especially since it always manages to find its way into my daughter’s bedroom. I think I’ll try to institute some sort of ‘trading the candy in’ for something better this year.
Allison says
I love any idea that gets the candy out of our house. 🙂 I’m fine with my kids having treats, and believe me, they eat more than their fair share on Halloween. What I don’t like is all the leftover candy in our house for months and months. We aren’t big candy people.
Anna says
Yes, I agree 100%. Treats are fine – but when the kids get accustomed to having candy every day for months on end, it creates a bad habit and sick teeth – not to mention waaaay too much temptation for this mom 🙂
Stephanie says
This is such a great list of traditions! What a fun idea to share candy with “The Great Pumpkin!” Ignore the Negative Nellies…anyone who reads your blog knows you are a wonderful mother and your kiddos are having a fantastic childhood whether they eat 5 or 50 pieces of candy at Halloween time! Hugs!
Terry says
Giving their ‘unhealthy candy’ to the great pumpkin? Really? OMG It’s not crack! It’s just candy & Halloween is once a year! Mothers like you should go trick or treating at a dentist house and get a tooth brush!
Krissy @ B-Inspired Mama says
Thanks for your perspective, Terry! Trust me, my kiddos do get their fair share of candy. The “Great Pumpkin” tradition is just our way of curbing that HUGE influx of it at Halloween time. And they get a real kick out of seeing what other (non-food) goodies the Great Pumpkin leaves. It works for us! 🙂
Allison Hendrix says
Genius to the Great Pumpkin! I been on both sides of this one and have come to conclude my kids already act like they are on crack…give them an insane amount of candy, and they go psycho, for real. I think our crew has a sugar sensitivity issue. 🙂 So this is a great solution. Thank you. But again that’s the beauty of being a mama, we each get to decide for ourselves what’s best for our kiddos…and we can change our mind. No judgement on anybody’s else’s choices.
Anna says
Wow. Halloween may be once a year, but training our kids to love candy in giant amounts creates a nasty habit that lasts for more than day. I think it’s a great idea to indulge a little – and then trade it off for something more lasting.
Zina says
To each their own Terry! We actually DO the “crack” approach, lol. We let our kids eat as much candy as they like the night of Halloween and donate the rest the next day. For me, as a parent, my issues is the “eating candy every day” from Halloween to Thanksgiving. I can imagine the dentists of the world *love* that daily coating of sugar. PS: Krissy, we did something similar with our daughter when it was time to get rid of her pacifiers. If the child is happy with the exchange… score.
Varya @ CWOV says
Oh, but this is such a fun tradition! And trick or treating at a dentist’s house for a toothbrush is a great idea! Thank you! 🙂
Brittany Morazan says
This is such a great, fun list! I am featuring it on my Kid's Co-op roundup tomorrow!
-Brittany@ love, play, learn
JDaniel4's Mom says
JDaniel would love to see the characters from Star Wars. Our tradition is to bake treats and hand them out to neighbor as we trick or treat. We give before JDaniel gets.
Krissy Sherman Bonning says
I love that, Dierdre! So sweet and teaches such an important lesson.
Anne Gill says
As a Veteran and a sister of an active duty Marine serving in Afghanistan, I always hit the after Halloween candy sales and let the kids help me pick out candy to send to the troops overseas. Last year my oldest son even donated the majority of his candy to send over too.
Krissy Sherman Bonning says
That is AWESOME! That would be a great thing to do with the candy that the “great pumpkin” exchanges. Thanks for the idea.
bitsybet says
Carving the jack-o-lantern. It was fun choosing the face. My dad would draw them free hand, and then cut them out. With all the stencils available, you can have any kind of face or picture.
Krissy Sherman Bonning says
Such awesome memories! I know what you mean, too. The pumpkin designs you see now are a far cry from the jack-o-lanterns from my childhood Halloweens. 🙂
bitsybet says
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Vicky says
Great ideas! We have done the pumpkin seeds and the kids really enjoyed it. Especially the part where they removed the seeds from the gooey pulp. Pinning this list.
Krissy Sherman Bonning says
Thanks, Vicky. I remember roasting pumpkin seed when I was a kid, but I haven't done it with my kiddos yet.
Gina says
I love your idea of sharing candy with “The Great Pumpkin!” I'll have to remember that! 🙂
Krissy Sherman Bonning says
Thanks, Gina! The kids didn't seem to mind giving up their candy at all. And my fiance just took all that candy in and shared it with his coworkers.