A traditional Halloween celebration includes dressing up, trick-or-treating, and maybe attending or hosting a party for your family and friends. Many people also love decorating their house to add to the festiveness of the season. All of these customs are enjoyable, but if you are looking to try something different this year during the holiday consider a Halloween-themed camping trip! Whether you head out to the woods on Halloween itself or just for a weekend in the fall, there are several fun ways to bring Halloween to life while camping.
DECOR, DECOR, DECOR!
One of the best parts of Halloween is being festive with decor, both inside and outside of your home. Decor can also be a fun component of your camping trip, and there are several fun options to add Halloween spirit to your camping spot.
- Lighting – You can add a bit of the spooky to your campground lighting with fun inflatable solar lanterns featuring spiders and other creepy creatures. Or, choose a string of ghost lights that you can hang from your tent or RV.
- Linens – Say “boo!” to your friends and family with hand towels and washcloths portraying colorful pumpkins and witches. Practical things can be filled with Halloween spirit, too!
- Tableware – Liven up a boring picnic table with a bright tablecloth in orange and black, with your choice of scary creatures and sayings. And instead of the same plain paper plates that make camping cleanup easy, bring along some fun plates with a celebratory holiday theme.
- Pumpkins – Carving pumpkins around the campfire can also be a fun activity. Display your pumpkins around your campsite and add LED lights inside to add pops of light around the campsite.
Sweet and Savory Treats
What would many people consider the most important part of celebrating any holiday? Delicious food, of course! The Halloween holiday is no exception. Even if you are camping out, you can enjoy tasty and festive foods. Use Halloween-themed food picks to create a delightful meat and cheese tray. Or cook up whatever hot dish you want and present it in a hollowed-out pumpkin. For everyone’s sweet tooth, prepare some hot cocoa over the campfire or stove, with tiny marshmallows on the top and serve in decorative Halloween cups. You can also use the seeds from those pumpkins you carved and roast them over the fire for a crunchy snack. Just add a little olive oil and salt and place them on a foil lined baking sheet on a grill over the fire and roast until crispy and light brown.
Costumes and Games
To keep costumes simple while sleeping out in the wilderness, consider purchasing a kit with temporary tattoos, rings and other small items. These types of kits usually also contain stickers and pieces to make small Halloween crafts, for a fun and easy holiday activity. But if Halloween is one of your favorite holidays, don’t be afraid to go all out even if you are celebrating at a campground. Great costume ideas include purchasing a sleeping bag that serves double duty as a costume, such as a wearable bag of your favorite science fiction character.
Do-it-yourself games are great additions to camping trips and you can make an easy game of night bowling by adding glow sticks to full 12-ounce water bottles. Use a softball decorated as a pumpkin to add a Halloween vibe to your bowling game. To add even more enjoyment to your campground Halloween celebration, bring along a few basic things and you can do traditional activities such as bobbing for apples or play Halloween-themed music and have a dance party. It’s simply not Halloween without Thriller and The Monster Mash. And, if your fellow campers don’t mind getting a bit spooked, take a hike in the dark with just a few flashlights. Tell scary stories as you walk along if you dare!