10 Halloween Party Ideas for Tweens (without candy!)

I recently came across a fun Halloween edition of Better Homes & Gardens with loads of decorating and activity ideas. But I couldn't help notice, much of it was geared towards smaller children - not the tweens (and soon to be TEENS!) I've got on my hands these days. So, since we do love both Halloween and avoiding processed food around here, I thought I'd share some fun Halloween party ideas for tweens without involving too much junk food. Well, except for one thing! Read on to see... :)

10 Halloween Party Ideas for Tweens (without candy!)

1. Touch and Feel Mystery Box

You can have fun with this one at any age! Pull out some old boxes, cut a hole in the side (big enough for a hand to reach into, but small enough so you can't easily see the contents) and decorate. For your creepy mystery elements, peel a bunch of grapes (eyeballs), fill a rubber glove with rice (a severed hand), cook a batch of spaghetti (then dry it in a plastic "brain" mold) and find some toy rats. Turn down the lights and invite guests to touch and feel the mysterious items (if they dare)!

2. Glow-in-the-Dark Art

A simple black light can transform any standard highlighter into glow markers as you've never seen before. It's a super fun and special art experience for kids of any age! Heck, even I have fun drawing in these conditions, haha. Just be sure to warn them it will no longer glow if they take it with them when they leave unless they have a black light at home, of course!-

3. Fortune Teller or Tarot Card Reader

Find someone in your area (or ask a friend or aspiring actress to pretend!) to read the fortunes of your young guests. I just suggest sticking to the positives - tweens and teens can be fragile enough as it is!-

4. Laser Light Dance Floor

Turn down the regular lights in favor of a laser or disco light, enhanced with a fog machine (and some good tunes!), and the kids will go nuts on the dance floor.-

5. Spider Ring Hung

I thought long and hard about an age-appropriate prize for whoever finds this most spiders this year, and I decided to go with a pumpkin-spiced bath bomb! You can hide either standard black spiders or the glow-in-the-dark variety depending on how dark it will be at your gathering.-

6. Chocolate Fountain

Okay, so this is the one item that's not exactly REAL FOOD, but if you pair "clean" chocolate with fresh fruit such as strawberries and bananas, as well as whole-wheat pretzels, it's honestly not sooo bad. And if you're really feeling up to it - you could throw in some naturally sweetened homemade marshmallows as well!-

7. Costume Contest

So many categories to choose from ... our personal favorites are best, scariest and most creative. And we even found some cool glass skull cups (at Michael's) that we're going to fill with homemade "mocktails" to pair with the award ribbons!

8. Piñata

These don't have to be only (or completely) full of candy! This year, some of my favorite alternative fillers for a Halloween piñata are syringe pens, emoji LED rings, and glow sticks. -

9. LED Glow Balloons

How cool is it that these are a thing? I had no idea until I was recently searching for something else and stumbled upon this brilliant little product. These LED color-changing balloons come in all colors (including Halloween themes) and would be fun filled with helium of course, or just strewn about the floor where people are walking (or dancing). These could serve as party favors as well - how fun!

10. Hands with Popcorn (a whole-grain food!)

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - I am so glad popcorn (a fun food that kids love) is a whole-grain food! It's so easy to make and even more fun adding it to hand-shaped bags that you string up for your Halloween party. Let each guest use a pair of scissors to "sever" their bag of choice upon their departure!

I'd love to hear any other ideas I've missed to help older kids have fun and celebrate Halloween this year! Please share with us in the comments.