How to make time for what matters: try these Halloween activities with your family
Updated: Nov 2
Spooky season is well and truly here. It’s time to hang the cobwebs, carve up the pumpkins, and fill your cupboards with reserves of candy.
We know that running a business can take a lot out of you. There's always another email to answer, another decision to make or another job that could do with being finished before the end of the day.
When you're responsible for keeping a business moving, switching off isn't always easy. But life doesn't happen exclusively between working hours. Some of its best moments happen in the little pockets of time we make for the people who matter to us.
Halloween is a perfect excuse to put the laptop away, embrace your inner child, and spend some time making memories with your own children, nieces, nephews or the little monsters in your life.
You don't need an elaborate plan or a big budget. Sometimes, the simplest traditions are the ones everyone remembers. Here are a few Halloween activities to try with your family.
Get creative with a pumpkin
Few things signal the arrival of Halloween quite like a pumpkin waiting to be carved.
Put the kettle on, clear the kitchen table, and let everyone have a go at creating their own spooky masterpiece. You could go for the traditional grinning jack-o'-lantern, try a pop culture inspired pumpkin (like a Pokémon) or see who can come up with the most ridiculous design.
If you're spending time with younger children, painting pumpkins or decorating them with stickers is a fun, safer alternative to carving. Adults can handle any cutting involved, leaving little ones to concentrate on the artistic direction. (And, as any parent will know, artistic direction can be a very serious business.)
Once everyone's finished, display your creations in the window or outside the front door. You'll have a little reminder of your evening long after the last pumpkin seed has been cleared away.
Organise a glow-in-the-dark treasure hunt
You don't need to leave the house to create a little Halloween magic.
Turn the lights down, hide some glow sticks around the living room or hallway, and send everyone on a spooky treasure hunt. You could hide wrapped sweets, small treats or clues leading to a final Halloween surprise.
For older children, make it a little more challenging with riddles, puzzles or a story about a missing witch's hat. For younger ones, keep the clues simple and the hiding places easy to find.
You can even give everyone a torch and a little treat bag to carry around. Just remember to keep the route clear of trip hazards and use glow sticks or battery-powered lights rather than candles.
It's an easy way to turn an ordinary evening at home into something the children will be talking about long after Halloween has passed.
Dress up for Halloween activities and embrace your inner child
At some point, most of us decide we're a little too old for fancy dress. Halloween is a good opportunity to reconsider.
Whether you're accompanying the children on a trick-or-treating expedition or hosting a little party at home, get involved. Dig out an old costume, throw together something from your wardrobe or commit wholeheartedly to a truly terrible vampire outfit.
You might feel a little silly at first, particularly if you've spent the day dealing with suppliers, customers or business finances. But that's rather the point.
For a little while, you don't have to be the business owner, the problem-solver or the person who has everything under control. You can just be part of the fun.
If you're going trick-or-treating, make sure everyone has something warm to wear, take care around roads and stick to homes where trick-or-treaters are welcome. The important thing is enjoying the experience together, not collecting the most sweets on the street.
Give your home a spooky makeover
A few decorations can transform an ordinary evening into a Halloween occasion.
Paper bats in the windows, homemade ghosts, cobwebs, carved pumpkins, and a string of orange lights can go a long way. Let the children decide where everything should go, even if their idea of interior design involves putting seventeen skeletons in the downstairs toilet.
You could make a morning or afternoon of it, putting on some Halloween music and getting everyone involved in creating decorations from things you already have at home.
Paper, cardboard, old jars, and scraps of fabric can all be turned into something suitably spooky.
It's a chance to get creative together without spending a fortune on decorations you'll only use for a few weeks.
And if your front window becomes the most enthusiastically decorated on the street? All the better.
Host a family game night
Halloween doesn't have to involve going out. Sometimes, a cosy evening around the table is exactly what everyone needs. Put out some snacks, make a few spooky drinks and choose a game everyone can get involved in.
If your family enjoys a little mystery, a social deduction game such as Werewolf can be a brilliant choice. Players take on secret roles, trying to work out who among them is the town’s secret werewolf murdering villages at night. If you’ve been hooked on the latest season of The Traitors, you’ll surely have a good time.
If that feels a little too complicated for younger players, choose a familiar board game, play Halloween-themed charades or invent a quiz about ghosts, monsters, and everyone's favourite scary films.
The best part is that nobody needs to be particularly good at anything. A little friendly competition, a few ridiculous accusations and plenty of laughter are more than enough.
Try putting phones away for the evening, too. It's a small thing, but giving one another your undivided attention can make an ordinary family night feel different.
Have a spooky movie night
Sometimes, the ideal Halloween plan involves pyjamas, blankets, and absolutely no intention of leaving the sofa.
Let everyone vote on a film, prepare some popcorn and make the living room as cosy as possible. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a great seasonal choice, bringing together Halloween's spooky atmosphere and a little Christmas magic.
You could even turn the evening into a tradition, watching the same film every October or letting a different family member choose each year.
If the children are old enough for something scarier, agree on the film beforehand so nobody ends up hiding behind a cushion for the next three nights. Halloween should be fun, not a new bedtime challenge.
And don't forget the snacks. A bowl of popcorn, homemade Halloween biscuits and a few blankets can make the whole thing feel like an occasion, even if you've watched the film a dozen times already.
Tell spooky stories by torchlight
There's something wonderfully nostalgic about sitting in the dark, shining a torch upwards, and telling ghost stories.
Build a blanket fort in the living room, pile up the cushions, and take turns inventing tales about haunted houses, mysterious footsteps or a monster that lives at the bottom of the garden.
The stories don't need to be particularly frightening. In fact, the sillier they get, the better. You could take turns adding a sentence to one shared story, with each person making the plot a little more ridiculous than the last.
For younger children, keep things gentle and finish with a funny twist. Older children might enjoy creating their own mysteries, complete with suspicious characters, and unexpected endings.
It's a simple activity, but one that encourages imagination, conversation, and a kind of togetherness that's easy to overlook when everyone is busy doing their own thing.
Get baking something wicked
If there's one thing that makes an afternoon in the kitchen even better, it's the opportunity to make a mess in the name of Halloween.
Whip up some spooky cupcakes, decorate biscuits with icing monsters or make ghost-shaped meringues. You could even turn ordinary brownies into a graveyard with biscuit headstones and chocolate crumbs.
Younger children can help mix ingredients, choose decorations and, naturally, taste-test the finished products. Older children might enjoy taking charge of a recipe or coming up with their own designs.
It doesn't need to be complicated, and it certainly doesn't need to look perfect. The slightly lopsided ghost with too many chocolate eyes might end up being everyone's favourite.
Put some music on, let the kitchen get a little messy, and enjoy the process rather than worrying about the finished result. You can always tidy up together afterwards.
You don't have to make every moment magical
It's easy to put pressure on ourselves to make every occasion special. Social media can make it seem as though every family outing needs to be an elaborate production, complete with matching costumes, beautifully decorated tables, and activities planned down to the last detail.
Real life rarely looks like that. Sometimes, the costumes don't arrive on time, the pumpkin collapses halfway through carving or everyone ends up watching television because it's been a long week.
That's fine, too.
Making memories isn't about creating the perfect Halloween. It's about being present for the imperfect, ordinary moments that make up our lives. A walk around the neighbourhood, a shared bag of sweets or ten minutes spent listening to a child's latest story can mean more than an expensive day out.
And if you're running a business, it's worth remembering that you don't need to wait until everything is finished before giving yourself permission to enjoy your time away from work.
There's always something else that could be done. There will probably still be something else tomorrow.
That doesn't mean you should stop caring about your business or your ambitions. It simply means recognising that your time, energy, and attention are valuable resources, too.
Need some extra help making running your business a little easier, so you have more time for loved ones? Get in touch
Business owners spend a lot of time planning for the future. Setting targets, managing finances, solving problems, and working towards building something they’re proud of.
It's important work. But so is making time for the people who support you, share your life, and remind you there's more to the world than your next deadline.
Halloween offers a small opportunity to step back from the everyday routine and enjoy something together. You don't need to do everything on this list. Pick one idea, invite the family round, or simply spend an evening doing something you all enjoy.
The emails can wait a little while. The decorations will eventually come down, the sweets will be eaten, and the pumpkins will find their way to the compost.
We believe taking steps to find time away from your business, to focus on the things that matter, is important. That’s why we work with business owners to make sure they’re funded and supported. That they have access to the resources needed to make their lives easier and free up valuable time to work on both their business and personal lives.
So, what are you waiting for? Complete the form below or give us a call at 0345 602 7355 to start exploring how we can help.
Remember: life is short. But the laughter, the stories, and the memories you take the time to make with loved ones are likely to make it all worthwhile.
