5 After-School Halloween Activities for Nannies

For kids, Halloween is a perfect holiday. They can pick out a fun costume to wear, tell spooky stories, and get candy from their friends and neighbors. But there’s no reason to limit the fun of Halloween to just one night!

Help your kids get into the spirit of the season by planning fun Halloween activities they can do after school. These ideas can be adapted to meet the needs of kids of all ages and abilities to make sure they’re safe and having fun!

5 Halloween Activities for Nannies

Spread these Halloween activities ideas out over the days and weeks leading up to Halloween to build anticipation for the holiday (and give your kids a chance to wear their costumes more than once). While you don’t have to dress up in a costume, we highly recommend it!

Scavenger hunt trick or treat

Get ready during the day when your kids are at school or occupied with their virtual lessons by setting up a Halloween-themed scavenger hunt around the house. You can simply hide treats (like candy, spider rings, pencils, or anything else Halloween-related) around the house for younger kids. Or, you can go for a walk around the neighborhood and look for different types of Halloween decorations.

Older kids will want more of a challenge and might prefer a more traditional scavenger hunt where they have to solve clues before moving on to the next spot. Leave a small treat with each hint that builds up to the finale, which can be a special treat, costume, movie, or some other “prize” they will enjoy.

Bake spooky cookies

Get some Halloween-themed cookie cutters to create cookies in all kinds of spooky shapes, like ghosts, bats, pumpkins, and witches. You can decide whether you want to involve kids in the baking process or if you just want to let them decorate the cookies afterward with frosting.

Carve pumpkins

Carving pumpkins is a classic Halloween tradition. Take your kids to the pumpkin patch to pick out their pumpkin, then get to work carving them! You can freestyle it, or you can pick up a pumpkin carving kit.

If pumpkin carving isn’t your thing, or you are working with younger kids who might not be able to keep their tiny fingers away from the sharp ends of your pumpkin carving kit, you have other options. Let them paint their pumpkin or decorate it with glitter, silly stickers, feathers, and anything else you can find in a craft store. Because of the messy nature of this project, we recommend choosing a nice day when you can do it outdoors!

Watch a Halloween movie

This time of year, you can enjoy an afternoon watching a spooky movie. Make it festive by hanging some Halloween decorations ahead of time!

Here are a few favorites for different age groups.

Up to age 5

• Spookley the Square Pumpkin
• Super Monsters Save Halloween
• Pooh’s Heffalump Halloween Movie
• Curious George: A Halloween Boo Fest
• It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

Ages 6 – 8

• Scared Shrekless
• The Dog Who Saved Halloween
• Hotel Transylvania 1 – 3
• Toy Story of Terror
• Monsters, Inc.

Ages 9 – 11

• Hocus Pocus
• The Addams Family
• Frankenweenie
• Coraline
• Gremlins

Ages 12+

• The Haunted Mansion
• Little Shop of Horrors
• Ghostbusters
• Beetlejuice
• Goosebumps

Throw a costume parade

There is no reason to only wear your Halloween costume once a year. Talk to other nannies in your neighborhood to organize a costume parade around the block. Let other neighbors know so they can come out to watch and wave.

Have a Happy and Safe Halloween

We love Halloween, and we know you’re going to do everything you can to make sure your kids enjoy it this year. So whether they are trick-or-treating or staying in, use these Halloween activities to help your kids get into the Halloween spirit without doing anything too scary.

At Ease Family Solutions is here to support you every step of your career. If you’re looking for placement, we can help! Fill out an application, and someone from our team will be in touch with you soon.