Fall is a great time to take off in your RV for a road trip. The leaves are changing adding to the beautiful scenery, the weather is campfire perfect, and the summer crowds have slowed down. It's our favorite season for RV travel.
One thing that is fun about RVing in the fall, are all of the amazing fun fall and Halloween festivals and activities. Whether you travel to a festival or just looking for something going on in the area that you are traveling to, there is something fun for everyone to enjoy this time of year.
Guest Post and Images by TheAdventureDetour
Local Halloween Activities
If you find yourself traveling during the Halloween season, it's worth it to check the community calendar where you are staying to find fun local events. We have enjoyed fun fall and Halloween activities like hayrides, corn mazes, pumpkin patches, jack-o-lantern walks, haunted houses, trunk or treats, parades, pumpkin carving, and art activities. Plus it is the fall festival season! We love catching fall art and crafts fairs, music festivals, apple festivals, harvest festivals, food and wine festivals, renaissance festivals, and anything to do with pumpkins.
Where To Look For Great Halloween Events
There are a few types of places that we have consistently found great Halloween events as we have traveled across the country. Some of these may surprise you but check the websites of locations near you to see if you find a great Halloween event.
Botanical Gardens
One that is always a great option that many people wouldn't necessarily think of is botanical gardens. Many botanical gardens put on night carved jack-o-lantern walks. Some even have pumpkin carving contests. We love botanical gardens during the day but they are really magical at night by the glow of pumpkins. This option is great for all ages.
Zoos
Many zoos put on evening special programs that are perfect for families, kids, and animal lovers. Some even get the animals involved in pumpkin bashing activities. Most events usually involve trick or treating. It's always special to be able to visit a zoo that is normally only open during the daytime.
Amusement Parks
Many amusement parks offer special fall programs or events for Halloween. We love to visit amusement parks and fall is a great time both for the cooler weather to enjoy the rides and the fun fall festival-type events parks often put on.
Campground Halloween Activities
Sometimes you don't even need to leave the campground to have Halloween fun. Many state parks put on fun Halloween events, crafts, trick-or-treating, or nature-themed activities. Often privately owned campgrounds have Halloween activities. We have stayed at campgrounds that have trunk-or-treats, scavenger hunts, haunted houses, hayrides, pumpkin carving, Halloween movies, dances, and even costume parties. Check with the campgrounds in your fall travels to see if they offer any seasonal activities.
Campsite Fun
If you find yourself camping out in the middle of nowhere or feel like keeping the party in your campsite, there are still so many fun things you can do on your own while camping during Halloween. Our family really loves to celebrate the seasons while traveling. Here are a few fun activities that we often enjoy.
Scavenger Hunt
There are free Halloween-themed scavenger hunts online that you can print off of Pinterest to enjoy with your family. I usually place the clues inside and outside of our campsite and then have a prize at the end for the winner that makes it there first. While you are on Pinterest, check out other free fun Halloween-themed printables like puzzles, Mad Libs, and coloring sheets. We have even found a free print-off harvest game on there.
Bob For Apples
We love to go old school with our family activities and you just can't beat old-fashioned fun activities like bobbing for apples. It is always guaranteed to have everyone soaking wet and cracking up by the end.
Make Popcorn Balls
Here is another old-fashioned activity that is so much fun. It's just as much a sensory activity as a tasty treat. Getting all sticky forming the balls is a favorite for kids and you can't beat the taste. You can create simple balls with popcorn, butter, and marshmallows/marshmallow fluff. Or you can get fancy and add tons of additional toppings like nuts, chocolate chips, or candies. We made our popcorn and melted the ingredients all in our one-pot Foodie pressure cooker which can be done either inside or outside. If popcorn balls aren't your thing, then consider making caramel apples instead. You can still load the apples up with fun toppings and the process makes a fun treat.
Make A Craft
There are loads of free family Halloween craft ideas on Pinterest. One of our favorites good for both fall and Halloween is to make yarn pumpkins. You simply blow up a balloon, fill a plate full of craft glue, and get some yarn of the color you want to use. You cut yarn pieces big enough to wrap around the height of the balloon. Dip each yarn piece through the glue to saturate it and wrap it vertically around the balloon. Repeat this until your balloon is completely covered in vertical yarn pieces. Let it dry overnight or a couple of days and then pop the balloon which leaves a yarn pumpkin behind. You can get creative by adding a stem made out of paper, yarn, or even painted clay.
Make Slime
Each year we love making a glow-in-the-dark Halloween slime. It's really fun to play with outside using a flashlight and kids just love this. With slime the options are endless. You can get ingredients to make your own and fill it with fun Halloween ad- ins or make the slime Halloween-colored. We buy a glow-in-the-dark slime kit each year made by Elmer's Glue that makes the process easier on me while still being fun. I am slightly slime-challenged when we make it on our own but it usually turns out just perfect with Elmer's kits.
Paint A Pumpkin
For small kids, consider painting pumpkins instead. It's still fun and much safer than carving one. Some years we carve a big pumpkin and paint faces and designs on smaller pumpkins. It's so much fun regardless of your age. They also have pumpkin face kits where you can just still facial features onto a pumpkin but kids really love getting messy with the paint.
Carve A Pumpkin
Go old school again by selecting a pumpkin to carve. We usually buy the pumpkin carving tools that come with the little book of patterns. That way our daughter can trace the pattern onto the pumpkin with a pencil and its safer for her to use the tools to carve. We cut the top off for her and she gets to scoop and clean it out. Then we work on carving it together. This is always an outdoors on the picnic table kind of activity to contain the mess. It's so much fun and we just love to see it lit up at night. Often we carve it the day before Halloween so we have at least 2 nights to enjoy it.
Watch Halloween Movies Or Shows
We have some of our Halloween favorites on DVD so that if we are in the middle of nowhere with no TV or internet, we can still enjoy them. Every year a staple for us is It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. We are huge Peanuts fans and really get into this show. We also love watching the Hotel Transylvania movies during Halloween and most years we watch The Nightmare Before Christmas as well.
Decorate Your RV Or Campsite
Usually, a trip to the dollar store is a jackpot for simple Halloween decorations that really make your campsite feel festive. We like to hang black crepe paper streamers, balloons, and use some paper Halloween decorations of things like black cats and ghosts. The cheap thread spider webs are also fun to hang up around the RV. It's fun to pick up some orange or purple lights to give it all a glow. If you want to get fancier and have a theme, I mentioned how much we love the Peanuts and the show It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown. Oriental Trading Company sells Great Pumpkin Peanuts party supplies and decorations.
Trick-Or-Treat Your Campsite
Even if you don't have a place to go trick-or-treating, we found a really fun solution that the kids love just as much. We put on a glow-in-the-dark candy hunt on Halloween night. It's so simple and looks spectacular outside at your campsite. This takes a little time to set up but the result is so neat and worth the time. Pick up a large pack or 2 of glow sticks and glow jewelry which is easy to find during Halloween. Activate all of the glow sticks, necklaces, and bracelets and tape one to each piece of candy. Then scatter the candy with the glow jewelry all around outside. This looks so neat in the dark and it's so much fun.
Glow Party
After the glow candy hunt, it's time to fire up the glow party for Halloween night. Have everyone put on all of the glow jewelry from the candy hunt. Also, pick up some balloons that have lights inside or make your own. Walmart sells glow balloons in the party aisle or you can buy a pack of balloon LEDs on Amazon and put them inside your own balloons. Take all of your glow gear and fire up the Halloween party music. We love to dance in the dark to tunes like The Monster Mash and Thriller. There are many fun Halloween Party music playlists to choose from. Kids usually love playing with the glow balloons and we absolutely love this glow dance party for Halloween night.
I hope this inspires you to travel over the fall season while still enjoying fun fall and Halloween activities. There are so many local options for fun or you can always create your own. If you have kids in tow, it's usually still important to them to celebrate and with a little planning, you can have a blast RV traveling during Halloween. I hope you make some amazing family memories this fall season. Have you traveled in your RV during Halloween? Did you find any fun local or campground activities? Leave us a comment and tell us what you enjoyed!
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Scott, his wife Van, and their 12-year-old daughter Sissy have traveled full-time in their RV for 7 years. They have worked and homeschooled on the road through 42 states so far. They blog about RVing tips, travel destinations, and the full-time RV lifestyle on their blog, TheAdventureDetour. They are also RV content creators @theadventuredetour on Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook. They love connecting with RVers so be sure to reach out to them and say hi!
