15 Fun Halloween Family Traditions Worth Starting
There’s something about Halloween that brings out the fun in family traditions. The silly dinners, the pumpkin guts all over the kitchen table, the spooky movies, and the little things you find yourself looking forward to year after year.
Growing up in a family of eight kids, we had plenty of opportunities to make Halloween memorable. And now, as six sisters with our own homes, families, and traditions, it’s fun to see which things have stuck with us.
We asked each sister to share one of her favorite Halloween traditions. Some are simple, some are a little ridiculous, and a few have been passed down through generations.
Here are the traditions we love, plus a handful of other ideas to make October a little more fun.
Six Sisters, Six Favorite Halloween Traditions
Grace: A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch
There’s just something about wandering through a pumpkin patch and finding the perfect pumpkin.
For Grace, picking out pumpkins for Halloween is a tradition worth keeping. Whether you’re searching for the biggest pumpkin in the field, the funniest-shaped one, or a little pumpkin that fits perfectly in your hands, it’s such a simple way to celebrate the season.
Make an afternoon of it, take a few pictures, and let everyone choose their own pumpkin to bring home.
Emma: Mr. Bones Dinner
This is one of those traditions that’s equal parts hilarious and delicious.
Every Halloween, Emma’s in-laws make a special dinner featuring a skeleton named Mr. Bones, laid out right on the table. But instead of actual bones, he’s made entirely out of food!
Here’s how Mr. Bones comes together:
- Bones: Breadsticks arranged into a skeleton.
- Heart: A heart-shaped bowl filled with spaghetti sauce.
- Intestines: A pile of spaghetti noodles.
- Hands: Cucumbers and carrots.
- Head: A hollowed-out purple cabbage filled with ranch dressing, with olives for eyes.
The result is a wonderfully ridiculous skeleton dinner that everyone can dig into.
It’s creative, interactive, and the kind of meal kids will talk about long after Halloween is over. Plus, who doesn’t love an excuse to eat spaghetti and breadsticks?
Eliza: Grandma and Grandpa’s Mop Water
Yes, you read that right. Mop water.
This wonderfully gross Halloween tradition started with our grandparents, and it’s been making us laugh ever since.
The idea is simple: buy a brand-new, clean mop bucket (a dollar-store bucket works great!) and fill it with a special Halloween punch designed to look like dirty mop water.
Our family’s version includes orange juice concentrate and purple Kool-Aid, creating a murky, suspicious-looking drink that’s much tastier than its appearance suggests.
Then everyone gets to drink the mop water!
It’s silly, a little disgusting, and exactly the kind of thing kids think is hilarious.
CLICK HERE for the full recipe and instructions.
*Important: Use a brand-new, food-safe container that’s never been used for cleaning, and food-safe utensils for serving.*
Faith: Painting Pumpkins
Not every pumpkin needs to be carved!
Faith loves painting pumpkins, and it’s such a fun alternative to traditional jack-o’-lanterns.
You can go as simple or elaborate as you want. Little kids can paint colorful faces, polka dots, or silly monsters, while older kids and adults can try more detailed designs.
It’s also a great option for families with younger children who aren’t quite ready for carving tools.
Spread out some newspaper, pull out the paints, and let everyone create their own little masterpiece.
And the best part? You can enjoy the finished pumpkins all season long.
Lucy: Dinner in a Pumpkin (And the Sweetest Halloween Memory)
This one holds a particularly special place in our hearts.
Every Halloween, our mom makes a delicious casserole baked right inside a pumpkin. We call it “Dinner in a Pumpkin”, and it’s been a family favorite for years.
But for Lucy, the best part of this tradition isn’t just the dinner.
It’s remembering our dad scraping out pumpkin after pumpkin, sometimes more than ten of them, so our mom could fill each one with a warm, homemade meal.
Then she’d deliver them to widows in our neighborhood, grandparents, and other families who would appreciate a special dinner that night.
What could have been a simple Halloween meal became an opportunity to think about other people and make their holiday a little brighter.
And looking back, it’s one of those memories that means even more now than it did when we were kids.
Our Dinner in a Pumpkin recipe is coming soon!
Hope: Dinner in a Pumpkin (Because It’s Just That Good)
Yes, Dinner in a Pumpkin made our list twice. And we’re not even sorry.
While Lucy especially loves the memories of making and delivering it, Hope’s favorite part is much simpler: the dinner itself is absolutely delicious.
There’s something so cozy about a warm, savory casserole served straight from a pumpkin on a chilly October evening.
It’s festive without needing elaborate decorations, and it makes an ordinary family dinner feel like a special occasion.
Some traditions stick around because of the memories. Others stick around because everyone keeps asking you to make them again.
This one is both.
More Halloween Traditions to Try With Your Family
Not every tradition needs to be something you’ve done for generations. Sometimes all it takes is trying something once, having a great time, and deciding to do it again next year.
Here are a few more ideas we love.
Host a Black-and-Orange Halloween Dinner
Make Halloween dinner a little more festive by serving a meal made entirely of black and orange foods!
A few fun ideas:
- Black bean soup topped with shredded cheddar cheese.
- Orange mac and cheese with black olive spiders on top.
- Black bean and sweet potato quesadillas with orange cheese.
- Pumpkin-shaped cheese balls served with dark crackers.
- Carrot sticks and black olives with your favorite dip.
- Orange soda or mango punch in spooky glasses.
- Chocolate cupcakes with orange frosting for dessert.
Set the table with black and orange decorations, light a few candles, and have everyone dress in the same colors.
It’s a simple way to turn an ordinary dinner into a fun Halloween tradition without spending hours in the kitchen.
Make Pumpkin- or Skull-Shaped Pizzas
Homemade pizza night gets a Halloween makeover!
Shape pizza dough into pumpkins or skulls, then let everyone decorate their own.
Use pepperoni for jack-o’-lantern faces, black olives for eyes and mouths, and strips of cheese or bell peppers for extra details.
You don’t need perfectly shaped pizzas. In fact, the wonkier they turn out, the more fun they usually are.
Carve Pumpkins Together
It’s a classic for a reason.
Set aside an evening to carve pumpkins as a family. Let everyone choose their own design, scoop out the seeds, and help bring their jack-o’-lantern to life.
For younger kids, grown-ups can handle the carving while little hands help with scooping and drawing faces.
And don’t forget to roast the pumpkin seeds afterward!
Visit a Local Farm or Ranch
One of the best parts of fall is getting outside while the weather is still beautiful.
Here in Utah, we’re lucky to have so many farms, ranches, pumpkin patches, and fall festivals to visit.
Make it a tradition to explore somewhere new each October, or return to the same favorite spot year after year.
Look for hayrides, corn mazes, farm animals, apple cider, and plenty of pumpkins.
It’s a wonderful way to spend a fall afternoon together.
Watch a Spooky Kids’ TV Episode
You don’t need a full movie night to enjoy a little Halloween entertainment.
Pick a favorite kids’ show and watch its Halloween episode together.
We rounded up some of our favorites HERE!
Have a Halloween Thriller Movie Night
For families with older teens, a suspenseful movie night can be a fun Halloween tradition.
Make a big bowl of popcorn, turn down the lights, and pick something mysterious or thrilling to watch together.
Not everyone loves horror movies, and that’s okay! There are plenty of suspenseful movies that deliver the excitement without being quite so terrifying.
Check out our favorite thriller movies that AREN’T horror movies for a Halloween movie night HERE!
Make Halloween Treats for Someone Else
We love the idea of keeping a little bit of our mom’s Dinner in a Pumpkin tradition alive in different ways.
You don’t have to make an entire casserole inside a pumpkin to brighten someone’s Halloween.
Bake a batch of pumpkin cookies, put together a little treat bag, or deliver a warm dinner to a neighbor or friend.
It’s a simple way to make the holiday about more than costumes and candy.
Have a Halloween Read-Aloud Night
Choose a mysterious, magical, or slightly spooky book to read together in October.
For younger kids, pull out a stack of Halloween picture books and let everyone choose a favorite.
For older kids, start a chapter book with secret passageways, enchanted worlds, or a good mystery.
Turn on a lamp, grab a cozy blanket, and read a chapter together each night leading up to Halloween.
Take a Halloween Costume Photo Every Year
This might be the easiest tradition on the list, but it’s one you’ll be grateful for later.
Take a picture of everyone in their Halloween costumes each year. It doesn’t have to be fancy or perfectly posed.
Over time, you’ll have a collection of photos that tells the story of your family—favorite characters, homemade costumes, missing teeth, and all those stages that seem to pass too quickly.
You could even take the picture in the same spot every year to see how everyone changes.
The Best Traditions Are the Ones You Love Coming Back To
When we started talking about our favorite Halloween traditions, we loved seeing how different everyone’s answers were.
For some of us, it’s a trip to the pumpkin patch or an afternoon painting pumpkins. For others, it’s a ridiculously fun skeleton dinner or drinking something that looks like it came straight out of a mop bucket.
And then there are the traditions that carry a little more meaning, like watching our parents spend hours preparing Halloween dinners to share with people they loved.
We don’t think traditions have to be elaborate, expensive, or picture-perfect to be special.
Sometimes it’s the silly little things you do every year that become the memories everyone holds onto.
And those are the things worth passing along.
We’d love to know: What Halloween traditions does your family look forward to every year? We’re always looking for new ideas!
XO The Threads Between Sisters
