All Hallow’s Teen
As usual, Spooky Month has been everything I’ve dreamed of and more. Cool, crisp autumn air. The tree on my lawn is starting to sprinkle vibrant crimson confetti across my fading green lawn. My living room looks like a tornado collided with a Spirit Halloween store. And I’ve even had a chance to fire up our fire pit a few times.
Even if teenagers are practically grown, I think it’s important to give them a fun Halloween full of happy memories that will sustain them throughout their lifetimes. Teens today are especially vulnerable to mental health challenges, with as many as 13% of teenagers experiencing a major depressive episode in the span of a year according to the Pew Research Center. Since teens who spend time with and are supported by their families experience lower rates of depression, I think Halloween is a perfect time to share some family fun.
And teens who are engaging in wholesome activities like family game night, IRL friend hangs in safe and healthy environments, and trick-or-treating are teens who aren’t stuck in front of a screen doomscrolling or getting into situations that could adversely affect their futures — that’s why I’ll always advocate for teenagers who want to throw on a costume and trick-or-treat.
But if you’re looking for a way to keep the teens in your life laughing and having a great time this Halloween weekend, it might not be as hard as you think. Have your crew invite some pals over and try out this list of our family’s favorite Halloween activities.
1. Set the mood with some vintage Halloween YouTube
I realize YouTube has done its share of bad in the world. But I love the fact that you can find endless hours of classic television uploaded from folks’ VHS tapes. And there is an absolute treasure trove worth of vintage Halloween television on the streamer, particularly uploads from ‘80s and ‘90s network TV with the original commercials included. In our modern age of targeted advertisements, I had forgotten how much Halloween would hijack commercial advertisements for everything from fast food to sliced turkey.
My teens love the kitsch of vintage Halloween TV, and it makes a good background streamer while you’re getting the fun started.
Here are a few to check out:
Ultra Halloween VHS — Supercut of Halloween ads, vintage Halloween cartoons, and Halloween episodes of everything from “The Simpsons’ Treehouse of Horror” to ‘90s Nick series “The Adventures of Pete & Pete.”
Halloween Central Compilation — An hour-long compilation of TV ads from the 1970s through ‘90s.
Vintage Halloween Cartoons Playlist — A monster 183-video playlist of vintage Halloween cartoons dating all the way back to the 1920s through about the ‘90s.
Halloween Movie Trailers — A long list of Halloween movie trailers and ads from the ‘70s and ‘80s
2. Start by making Spookycorn
At our house, we call it Owencorn. But it’s really just popcorn with whatever you want in it, and it’s a lot of fun for kids and teens to make. Simply hop over to your favorite discount store like Dollar Tree and give everyone a couple of bucks to pick out their favorite sweet and savory snack. Grab some caramel and cheddar popcorn off the shelf along with some buttered popcorn to pop. Have the kids mix everything together in a big bowl and then serve up the fun.
3. Play the nametag game
Simply called “the nametag game” at our house, this has been a party pleaser for our family since long before we had kids. We’ve actually had parties where folks continued playing for hours and our entire party effectively became a nametag game party.
It’s called the “nametag” game because we originally played it with nametags, but because we had so many people demanding another round, we started picking up a megapack of labels instead. Write a fictional or nonfictional name you think your party will know on the nametag and then slap one on everyone’s back. The goal is to talk to other guests, asking questions until they guess who is on their back.
We used to play with prizes, but we found that people just want to play and guess more and don’t actually care about winning, so now we just give them another tag after they move their winners to the front of their costumes. What’s cool about this game is it gets people talking to other party guests with almost no effort — it’s literally the best ice-breaker I’ve ever found.
4. Play Halloween Trivia
We started playing YouTube trivia when we realized it makes a great time passer while we’re standing in line at the fair or the Halloween Castle. Simply search for Halloween trivia on YouTube, and you’ll find plenty of trivia games ready to go.
Here are a few to get you started:
Guess the Villain By Their Voice
Guess the Horror Movie By Theme Song
And here are some conversation starters:
Would You Rather: Scary Edition
5. Screen a Movie
Rounding out the evening with a scary movie screening is our favorite way to wrap up a Halloween party. There are tons of great Halloween movies and horror flicks to stream around Halloween time, whether you plan to watch something a little more tame like “Hocus Pocus” or super scary like our family favorite “The Shining.” If you have older teens and everyone is okay with scarier content, check out this of the top streaming horror flicks I write each month for Looper.com.
Thanks for reading, and have a spooky week in your dark and eerie little nebula!
