Most of the year, I keep the decorating pretty simple. Then fall arrives, and suddenly I want the house to look like a pumpkin threw up everywhere. Halloween and Christmas are my exceptions, and I have a lot of fun with them.
Our family Halloween traditions have become some of my favorite parts of being a mom. I want Henry and Penelope to grow up remembering how happy the holidays felt at home. The pumpkin Mickey plates, the cozy dinners, the decorations in their bedrooms. All those little things we get to enjoy together.
I pick the playful decorations my kids will love, and everything gets to join in. It doesn’t all match. Our house becomes a little Halloween village for a couple of months before it turns into a gingerbread house, and that makes me so happy.
Our family Halloween traditions start with a fun house
We are a Disney Halloween family. I decorate the bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen, living room, and dining area, so there is something fun throughout the house. I try to make each room feel festive while still keeping it easy for us to live in.
Because I homeschool and stay home with the kids, we spend a lot of time here. Decorating gives us something to enjoy during ordinary parts of the day, from getting dressed to sitting down for dinner. The kids get excited about it, and Robert and I love Halloween just as much as they do.
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Classroom decorations work around the house too
One of my favorite inexpensive tricks is using those little paper wall cutouts made for classrooms. I find decorations on Amazon and at Dollar Tree, get a pack of adhesive dots, and put the cutouts around the walls. They are colorful, fun, and much cheaper than filling every room with decorative pieces.
I love Halloween party supplies for the same reason. They give me the playful look I want without needing a collection of knickknacks.
Little breakable things are not a good fit for our house. Henry has pica, so what he can reach matters. That includes paper pieces and adhesive dots; those need just as much thought about placement as any other small item.
Seasonal bedding and bathrooms make the rooms feel different
I love Halloween bedding. I’ve found affordable options on Amazon, and I like being able to bring them back out each year. Since we only use them for part of the year, they can give us several seasons of enjoyment.
The bathrooms get a turn too. Changing the shower curtain, bath rugs, and soap dispenser makes a room we use every day feel like part of the celebration. Those are some of my favorite seasonal things to reuse.
For the couches, I put Halloween covers on the pillows we already have and add a throw. It makes the living room look like it belongs in Halloweentown. I love the big Disney Halloween blankets from Kohl’s and buy them for the kids each year. I’ve sometimes found them on sale for around $12, so I keep an eye out.
Halloween dinner and a movie is our favorite tradition
This October will be our fifth year of doing Halloween dinner and a movie. It is my favorite part of the season because I’ve watched the kids grow up through it. We keep coming back to the same little tradition, and every year they’re a little older.
I make a cozy dinner and use a Halloween paper plate set. Pumpkin Mickey is my favorite, and it’s back on my list this year. Honestly, the plates do a lot of the work. An ordinary dinner looks festive when you put it on a pumpkin Mickey plate.
Before dinner, I put on Halloween cartoons or Disney Halloween shorts for the kids while they have a snack. That gives them something fun to watch while I clean up and cook.
Then we have dinner, something sweet, and a movie. Dessert might be those little Halloween sugar cookies I always stock up on, worms in dirt, or brownies with orange and green sprinkles. Sometimes it is cake. I like having a few easy ways to make dessert feel like Halloween.
The food doesn’t have to be shaped like a ghost or a pumpkin. Soup, stew, or a pot roast can be our cozy dinner, and the plates and dessert bring in the Halloween part.
If you want to try it, start with a dinner your family already enjoys. Add a festive touch and pick a movie that suits your kids. That is enough to give an ordinary evening something to look forward to.
The movies become part of the memories
The Halloweentown movies and The Nightmare Before Christmas are regulars in our house. During the day, I also like putting on Halloween episodes of familiar shows. By October, it really does feel like Halloween all the time around here.
Penelope and I have our own October tradition, too: watching Mean Girls because of the famous October 3rd line. We started when she was a newborn. That one has become a little mother-daughter tradition alongside our family Halloween movies.
A random Tuesday can become a Halloween activity night
We carve pumpkins more than once during October and paint some too. Other nights, we might bake cookies and decorate them, or I print Halloween coloring pages and activities for us to do.
I love being able to turn a random Tuesday into a family night. We can have our Halloween dinner and a movie, decorate some cookies, or paint a pumpkin. There are so many little ways to spend time together at home.
The pumpkin-shaped pizza from Papa John’s has been part of our Halloween Day tradition as well. It’s another thing I associate with the season and look forward to bringing back when it’s available.
Festive pajamas are one of my favorite extras
Seeing the kids in their fall and Halloween pajamas makes me ridiculously happy. I could honestly cry over how much I love those everyday moments.
I usually look for eight to ten pairs of seasonal pajamas and about eight to ten fall or Halloween outfits for the kids. I reuse what still fits and look for sales when they need new things. I check Walmart, Target, Old Navy, Carter’s, and The Children’s Place because I enjoy hunting for the deals.
It can add up to a few hundred dollars. That is something I choose to spend on because we enjoy the clothes throughout the season. One favorite pair of pajamas works for a movie night too. You can decide which extras are worth it for your family.
I do enjoy a fall trip to T.J. Maxx for myself as well. But when I’m choosing things for the house, I keep thinking about what will make the kids excited to walk into the room.
Cozy meals make the whole house feel like fall
I am the person looking for pumpkin and fall versions of everything at the grocery store. The seasonal drinks, the snacks, those little sugar cookies. I love trying the fun things that come out this time of year.
And I love starting a cozy dinner early. On the days when the weather finally cools down, I can open the door and feel that breeze coming through the house. There’s a soup or stew cooking, a fall candle lit, a warm drink in my hand, and football on. The kids are relaxing in their comfortable fall clothes. It warms my soul.
I was thinking recently about how happy I am that we’ve made home a place all four of us love to be. We have our schedule, things to do together, and room to relax. I can see how comfortable the kids feel here. Robert and I feel it too.
Keeping up with everyday housework helps me enjoy being home. I shared the cleaning side in my Friday reset routine, including how I finish the weekly jobs so we can have a slower weekend.
Spooky lights give us a reason to go exploring
We love being home, and we also love getting out and exploring. In the fall, some of our favorite outings are evenings looking at decorated houses around the Phoenix area.
We pack snacks and the kids’ drinks, then sometimes make a Starbucks stop. Penelope and I love a pumpkin chai latte, and Henry loves a cake pop. We have favorite houses we return to, including the Scary Christmas House. We love, love, love that one.
Taking a drive to look at spooky lights can be a fairly inexpensive outing. We usually have an early dinner and head out for an evening together when the weather feels good.
In past years, we’ve also enjoyed the pumpkin festival at the Fairmont Scottsdale Princess. I like looking for seasonal events around us, and a Halloween drive-through light display is something I’d love for us to try.
Disneyland is another family favorite. This year, we’re especially excited to go to Oogie Boogie Bash for the second time, on Halloween itself. That is a bigger outing we’re looking forward to alongside all our evenings at home.
The feeling I hope they remember
Our family Halloween traditions give us so many chances to enjoy each other during the season. I get to watch the kids grow through the same movie nights, familiar decorations, and dinners we keep coming back to.
I hope that when Henry and Penelope think about the holidays at home, they remember how happy they felt here. I hope some of these traditions stay with them as they grow and become things they want to pass along.
For now, I get to put out the pumpkin Mickey plates, make something cozy for dinner, and spend another evening with my family. I love that we can make home feel this fun.
What is one Halloween tradition your family looks forward to every year?
