9 Safe Ways to Celebrate Halloween in 2022

Updated: September 23, 2022

By Brooke Weber, contributing writer

Zombies and witches and werewolves, oh my! 

Halloween is almost here, and for many families, that usually means costume prep, spooky themed parties and, of course, an all-important night of neighborhood trick-or-treating.

And, lucky for you, we’ve got some great tips on how you and your family can have a fun Halloween – and it may even include some Halloween kids yoga poses!

From dastardly decorations to outside yoga classes, we’ve got just the ideas to get you started.

Here are 9 safe ways to celebrate Halloween!

1. Pick your own pumpkins…

You’ve probably seen plenty of pumpkin patches and apple orchards on your Instagram feed already – why not join the fun?  Do you want to turn your home into your own personal pumpkin patch with gourds of every shape, size and color? Or are you looking to pick the single biggest pumpkin and show it off for all to see? The choice is yours.

Picking your own pumpkins is a safe fall activity that gets the whole family involved in Halloween planning. Just do a quick search online for farms near you that offer a pick-your-own experience. If the closest orchard is a fair distance away, try making a day or weekend trip out of it!

2. And carve away!

This is one Halloween activity that never goes out of style. Carve your pumpkins or gourds to your heart’s content! Pumpkin carving tools can usually be found in your kitchen, but those who really want to get serious might consider splurging on a specially made pumpkin-carving kit. The kids can certainly take part in the pumpkin-designing fun, but use your best judgement on what tools they should and shouldn’t handle. 

Once you’ve got everything you need, draw a simple smiling jack-o-lantern or a fully realized Halloween landscape – it’s all up to you. You could even carve a pumpkin in the shape of your favorite kids yoga pose! If you try this one out, be sure to tag us on Instagram: @pretzelkidsyoga.

3. Decorate, decorate, decorate

Once you’ve got your pumpkins carved, it’s time to focus on all your other decoration options. If you’ve got some Halloween items that have been neglected for a while, why not bring them back to life this fall? Let’s be real – if there’s any time to go all out for the holidays, it’s this year, when you’re probably sick of spending so much time at home! So, take advantage of the extra time with family and make decorating together part of your Halloween plans! If you don’t have any decorations already on hand, you and the little ones can make crafts like paper chains, flying paper bats and bed sheet ghosts together out of inexpensive, easy-to-find supplies. 

4. Get back to the basics

While pumpkin carving might be the activity everyone thinks of first when they think of Halloween, there are plenty of other classic kids activities that have somewhat fallen out of the mainstream. Bring them back this year! Bob for apples by setting up a bin or bucket, filling it with some water (make sure to keep it shallow, though) and putting some of your orchard-picked apples in. Other games, like pin-the-tail-on-the-donkey, can easily be done in small groups outdoors. If you’re looking to have an outdoor Halloween gathering with just the family, you can even turn masking up into a contest – whoever arrives with the spookiest, silliest or most creative mask wins!

5. Stay centered with Halloween yoga poses

Yoga is the perfect activity to do in small, socially distant outdoor groups, and with these top Halloween poses for kids, you can get the whole family having fun and feeling spooky. Transform the typical cat pose into the “angry cat,” practice your concentration skills by becoming a scarecrow, relax your entire body by bending down and exhaling like a ghost or stretch out your arms in your best zombie impression. 

Pretzel Kids’ activities, too, can easily be adapted to fit a Halloween theme. Stop and start some Halloween music for a scary edition of Freeze Dance, or invent your own yoga poses based on everyone’s costumes. If you find that you really like leading your small group of Halloween yoga-lovers, you might even consider pursuing a gig as a kids yoga instructor – Pretzel Kids’ online certification course has got you covered there!

6. Join a Kids Yoga Halloween class

If teaching your own personal yoga class isn’t your thing, that’s okay too. Instead, sign your family up for a Halloween-themed kids yoga class! We think all kids can benefit from yoga as both a physical exercise and way to calm themselves. In fact, Pretzel Kids offers yoga classes for kids in many forms, including completely online courses, backyard pop-ups, afterschool classes and in-school classes. Finding the right class for your family will allow your kids some much-needed socialization – and if you sign up for a kids yoga class this month, you’ll be just in time for special spooky sessions! 

7. Trick-or-Treat Hide and Seek

If you’re looking for a way to keep the trick-or-treating tradition going, why not set up a candy hunt right inside your own home? 

Hide treats throughout the house for your little ones to find on Halloween night. For extra fun, write silly riddles on pieces of paper and leave them with the candies to give the kids clues for where to look next! Still, you might just want to get as close to the real thing as possible. To do this, hide treats behind doors in your home and encourage the kids to knock and say “Trick or Treat!” before opening them and claiming their prizes. With a little creativity, your house or apartment can become your very own mini Halloweentown!

More Safe Ways to celebrate Halloween

And here’s a great pro tip here: Try incorporating yoga pose cards and mindfulness activities for kids. Maybe this will inspire the kiddos to do yoga while seeking out treats!

8. Redefine “treat”

Maybe the thing that terrifies you most about Halloween isn’t the monsters and ghouls, but the sugar overload. So, perhaps you can make some healthy treats for the whole family to enjoy. Pretzel sticks can become wands, peeled oranges can become tiny pumpkins – the Internet has a whole host of healthy Halloween-y snacks to explore!

9. Halloween movie marathon

Just in case you’ve never tried it before, this year’s the prime time to sit down and watch through all your tried and true Halloween favorites. You could stick with popular films like Halloweentown, Twitches, Hocus Pocus and The Nightmare Before Christmas or try out some lesser-known flicks like Paranorman or Monster House. Whatever you choose, settle down with some of your healthy snacks on Halloween night and prepare to be joyfully spooked. Be warned: a lot of these movies feature scenes or images that may be a bit scary for children. Read up on the films beforehand and ask the kids what they’re comfortable with watching to make sure everyone’s having fun! 

Here’s another tip: If you live in a part of the country where drive-ins are still open, check to see if they are playing Halloween films. This could make for a fun and safe Halloween outing! 

Stay safe this Halloween with Pretzel Kids!

If you’ve read this far, you’ve got all the tools you need to make this Halloween both safe and fun! 

And, if you want to throw in some Halloween yoga fun, give us a howl – er, we mean, holler!