While the idea of Halloween as we know it today shouldn’t be celebrated by Christians, there are plenty of Halloween alternatives for Christian families to enjoy that don’t honor or celebrate the evil of the holiday.
This post is all about Halloween alternatives for Christian families to enjoy fall traditions and costume fun without compromising their beliefs.
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Halloween Alternatives for Christian Families
While I did go trick or treating as a kid, I’ve watched Halloween turn more and more evil and scary over the years, which left me searching for Christian ideas for Halloween.
But, I wanted to find ideas that allowed my kids to enjoy all the fun traditions, yummy treats, and silly costumes.
These Christian Halloween ideas do just that! Your kids won’t feel left out of the holiday. Your family can enjoy the fall traditions and treats. But, you can know that you aren’t honoring the evil of the holiday.
I hope you find one to enjoy with your family!
1. Carve Pumpkins and Read “The Pumpkin Patch Parable”
Rather than carving scary faces into a pumpkin, you can use pumpkins as a means to teach your children more about God. This adorable story of “The Pumpkin Patch Parable,” demonstrates to kids how God takes us, cleans us, puts his light in us, and makes something beautiful out of us.
2. Host a Fall Party with Fall Activities
Pick another day in October to have a fall party and invite family and friends. Do fall activities like pumpkin carving and apple bobbing. Enjoy fall treats like candy apples and popcorn balls. Maybe even have your guests dress up to a certain theme like super heroes or movie characters. Enjoy time together and celebrate the beauty of fall. It’s simple clean fun.
3. Have a Candy Treasure Hunt
If you do nothing more for Halloween, a candy treasure hunt can make your kids’ day all on it’s own. Hide candy around the house or even all through your yard. Then let them collect it all, bring it inside, and ride the sugar high till bed time.
4. Find a Harvest Festival Near You
Since many Christians feel strongly about not celebrating Halloween, fall harvest festivals are one of the most common Christian Halloween alternatives. But, even if your church doesn’t have one, you may be able to find another church near you that does. Most are open to the public and they are a great Halloween alternative for Christian families.
5. Have a Fall Craft Night
If your kids love crafts, having a fall craft night with lots of candy might just be a dream. There are tons of easy Dollar Tree fall crafts on Pinterest and Dollar Tree sells full fall craft kits too! It’s a fun night that requires little to no prep and will be a ton of fun!
6. Have a Dress Up Family Movie Night
Pick out a movie and then have each child dress up like their favorite character from the movie. It can be as simple as wearing the same color as the character or as complicated as having a family craft night to prepare for family movie night.
Then take your kids to pick out their favorite candy and a few fall themed treats for an extra special family movie night!
Here are a few ideas for fall themed movies to try:
- Spookley
- Fantastic Mr. Fox
- It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
7. Have a Dress Up Game Night
Family game night is always fun but add in a few costumes and you’ll be laughing all night long. And while you may think you can’t have family game night with young kids, there are actually plenty of games that are fun for kids of all ages. Here are some of our favorite board games that even toddlers can play.
8. Talk About the Origins of Halloween
If your kids are a little older, they will undoubtedly ask why you aren’t celebrating Halloween like their friends do. So, you’ll likely have to launch into a little history lesson and explain why you are on a search for Christian alternatives to Halloween. So, here’s a quick summary for you.
The Christian holiday of “All Saints Day,” is on November 1st, a day to celebrate all the Saints of the church that came before us. October 31st then became All Hallows Eve, which was literally created to be the eve before a holy day and used to be spent largely in church. (Learn more here from English Heritage) Contrast that with the Halloween we have now which is focused on depicting and celebrating evil.
That is the reason that we should not celebrate the evil of Halloween alongside the world. But, it doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate it at all.
9. Have a Costume Walk
Change things up on your next walk around the neighborhood by switching out your normal athletic apparel for a costume of sorts. Let your kids pick their favorite from the dress up bin too and invite along a few friends if you like.
Then, simply go for a walk or bring along candy or a fall treat to hand out to the neighbors. I like to call it reverse trick or treating.
This post was all about finding Halloween alternatives for Christian families that won’t leave your kids feeling left out.
-Beautifully Busy Mom
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Meet the Author
Hi, I’m Monica! I’m a former teacher turned stay at home mom of three! I started this blog after feeling very lonely at the beginning of my motherhood journey. My goal is that no other moms would feel the way that I felt. So, this blog is filled with free resources, fun activities, and answers to the not so easy questions. That way, you can enjoy the beautiful chaos that is motherhood. Let’s be friends 🙂
