As we get older, even though Halloween is still a lot of fun, it can also start to lose that initial uber-exciting spark that existed when we were younger, especially if you’re in your teens and trying to appear more adult.
Even though the teens in your life might start to act like they’re not that interested in Halloween or maybe you have younger kids who make them feel a little bit older than they actually are, the spooky season can certainly still be fun for everyone. You might just need to slightly adapt things for older kids who may be feeling over the whole trick-or-treating thing.
If you want to show your teenager a good time on Halloween without having them get into the alcohol or stay out all night with friends, there are actually lots of things you can both partake in that they likely won’t sneer or laugh at.
So, let’s dig into six fun ways to celebrate Halloween with your teens that they’ll actually enjoy.
Fill the car with snacks and your teen’s friends and head to a local haunted house or fright-filled amusement park.
It can often feel like quite the task when you’re trying to impress a group of teenagers, but one thing that a lot of teens have in common during the Halloween season is that they enjoy being actively spooked with their friends because it can be such a fun time filled with lots of laughs and good memories.
Before you get tickets to a local haunted house or even plan a mini road trip to a spook-filled night at an amusement park, you should have your teen pick three to four friends to tag along who are fully up for some scares and also have their guardian’s permission to attend.
Once the day comes, you can head out to the store with your teen and pick out a bunch of treats and drinks that will keep the crowd going for the night and pack everyone into the car. Once you’ve arrived, be sure to lay out some ground rules for everyone involved, like staying together as a group, keeping their phones handy, and consistently checking in with each other just in case someone gets anxious or frightened.
If they’re into the spiritual side of Halloween, you can help them host an Ouija board or séance with their friends.
If you were a teenager who was super into The Craft and you passed your love along for all things witchy down to your teen, one’s passion for all things slightly dark and unexplainable may very well help you guys figure out the perfect Halloween night with friends.
Since you’re arranging a spooky evening with an Ouija board for teens, it’s important to keep things both fun and spooky and light and amusing in order to ensure that no one gets overly excited or freaked out. If anyone in your group has recently experienced the loss of a loved one or is still grieving, this may not be the Halloween activity for them.
Be sure to really set the mood for the evening with a dark room filled with candles and even dark lacy fabrics hanging over lampshades to give the room an atmospheric glow. Finish things off with some adult snacks, like a nice charcuterie board or canapés.
Before anyone arrives, you can invite your guests to think of at least one famous deceased person who they want to try to reach out to with the Ouija board. And when everything is said and done, you can gift everyone with a little palo santo that they can take home with them or help you cleanse the area once the séance is complete.
An outdoor scary movie night complete with a projector, lots of treats, and everyone dressed up as their favorite movie villain.
It’s simply not the Halloween season without watching a slew of the best scary movies with a group of your friends with piles of candy bar wrappers and popcorn strewn all over the floor. If your teen is majorly into movies, this is exactly the kind of Halloween activity that they won’t even think twice about.
Besides making a list of three to four solid Halloween classics — might we suggest Scream, Halloween, Hereditary, and It Follows — you can help your teen deliver a clever movie night with a twist by giving their guests the option to dress up as their favorite scary movie villain.
If the weather holds up, you could even get out your projector and make a super cozy spot on your outdoor patio or deck, hang up some twinkly lights and get everyone some blankets and make it a scary movie night under the stars. Everything seems just a little more spooky when you can’t quite make out what’s behind that bush in the corner of the yard.
Help your teen host a competitive pumpkin carving contest where the winner gets to take home a Halloween-themed gift basket.
Another option for a group of teens who are creative and enjoy keeping things a bit competitive is hosting a pumpkin carving contest.
Providing the pumpkins for a small group is a reasonably inexpensive option and if you want to keep things interesting for the group, you can help your teen think up different themed ideas that everyone has to stick to for their pumpkin carving. For example, you could have everyone choose to carve something from one of their favorite movies of the year — think about a Barbie-themed pumpkin carving or you could keep things spooky with a carving representative of The Nun II.
To keep the group motivated and have a fun little shopping excursion with your teen, you could make a Halloween-themed gift basket and provide other gift bags for everyone who showed up to participate in the fun. Things like a $10 gift certificate to the movies and an artisanal package of popcorn and seasoning are great prize items that any teen would appreciate while they watch a scary movie this October.
If you have the capacity for a small group of 10 to 12 teens, you can help your teen organize their first murder mystery party.
Is your teen and their group of friends really into drama club at school? This Halloween may be the perfect opportunity to help facilitate any of the melodramatic teens in your life into treating this spooky season as their inner outlet when they fully get into character and let their thespian flag fly.
If you need a little help planning a murder mystery party for teens, there are lots of kits available online that can make the entire process fairly seamless. If you’re looking for something a bit more niche and Halloween-related and you and your teen have an idea for a fun murder story that’s appropriate for teens, you can really just let both of your imaginations lead you and come up with a storyline, theme, and characters yourselves.
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This can be a really fun fall activity to fill up your October with your teen because depending on what theme your teen chooses, you can spend time together making the invitations for their friends, planning a special menu, setting up the decor, and getting cool party favors for everyone. Plus, this kind of thing doesn’t have to revolve around anything directly horror-related if it’s not their thing, but you're still able to work in the fun of Halloween with the murder mystery element.
For those teens who aren’t into the scary scene but love everything festive, a Halloween baking night where everyone gets to take home homemade treats is a super fun idea.
There are a lot of teens out there, and even some adults, who enjoy the festive spirit of Halloween but could do without all the scares, so this is where a fun night of Halloween baking comes in.
Even if your teen just invites over their best friend or a relative who lives nearby who wants to come and hang with the family for the evening, partaking in some Halloween baking can be a really therapeutic and easy way to connect with your teen. And if they have special dietary requirements, it makes it that much better because you can really spend the time and energy tailoring the recipes to their needs.
It’s also a fun idea that whoever you have coming over to this Halloween baking evening to bring their own recipe and baking goodies so that everyone can have something they’ll enjoy in the end. Plus, it can almost act like a Halloween cookie or baking swap where everyone is able to take home some of each other’s treats and share them with their loved ones.
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