Celebrating Halloween at work is a simple, high-impact way to increase employee engagement, camaraderie, and satisfaction. This blog shares 14 creative, inclusive Halloween ideas—ranging from costume contests, pumpkin carving, and secret gift exchanges to virtual celebrations, charity events, potlucks, and kid-friendly trick-or-treating—that work for both in-office and remote teams. Whether you go big with themed competitions or keep it simple with candy bowls and games, intentional holiday celebrations help employees feel cared for, strengthen workplace connections, and reinforce a positive company culture.
Celebrating holidays at the office is a great way to show your employees that you care about their experience at work…and want it to be a great one! And the benefits make their way back to the business—increased camaraderie, engagement, and employee satisfaction. Need a few ideas to get started beyond the traditional Halloween party? We’ve put together 14 creative ways you can make this a spooky season to remember. Check out this list of office Halloween party ideas:
Secret Santa has been reinvented—introducing the “You’ve Been Boo’d” secret gift exchange. Give each employee the name of a coworker ahead of time (and maybe even a $5-10 budget) with the mission of getting them a Halloween gift anonymously. Whether you have remote employees or a team in-office, this secret gift exchange would work for everyone.
Wearing your Halloween costume to work during the day isn’t just for the kids—encourage everyone to show up to the office or on Zoom dressed in their Halloween costume. While a parade might be fun (especially if you have young kids visiting the office that day), it can be just as fun to wear your dragon outfit or princess tutu to your afternoon meeting.
If everyone’s already planning to get dressed up in their costume, add even more fun (or encouragement) to the day with a contest. In this scenario, a parade might be in order so everyone has a chance to see what their coworkers are wearing. You might decide to limit the contest to only those that specifically enter (perhaps they participate in the parade or say a few words about how they designed or came up with their costume) or include everyone in the company with employees submitting nominations throughout the day.
Bonus idea: Sponsor a special lunch or snack during the contest if you decide to do a parade or let employees speak about their costumes. Food always increases participation and it can help build comradery as everyone gathers to vote on the best costume.
A costume contest doesn’t have to be in person to make it fun! In fact, a virtual costume contest opens up a lot of opportunities to invite more participation from remote employees, larger groups of people, and even costumes from employees’ families. With a virtual costume contest, encourage everyone to submit pictures of their costume (or them with their family) and then send around a digital voting form. Employees can vote on Halloween costume superlatives (best group costume, funniest costume, scariest costume, and more).
Everyone loves a cute picture of a dog or a cat—and once you add a costume, no one can resist! Liven up your Halloween celebration at work with not just a human costume contest but a pet costume contest. Encourage everyone with a pet to submit a photo and then build out a voting sheet online. Prizes for the winner could include a Bring Your Pet to Work Day pass, a gift card to a local pet supply store, or a variety of pet toys. This is a great option for both your in-office teams and your remote employees.
Bonus idea: Let everyone bring their pets to work on Halloween! Do a pet parade with all of the pets in their costumes.
Bring the mess to the office with a pumpkin carving contest. Set aside time during lunch and let employees grab a pumpkin (provided or brought from home) and put their carving skills to the test. This idea might be best rolled out over a few days so everyone can display their pumpkins in the breakroom or at their desk. At the end of the week (or on Halloween), send out a voting sheet so you can find the winner.
Bonus idea: Carved pumpkins (or painted pumpkins if you’re interested in a different version of the activity) could be displayed outside in your parking lot or grass area. Invite friends or family to come visit the pumpkin walk and vote on their favorites.
Take the in-person Halloween festivities and make it work for everyone with a virtual spin. Encourage employees to submit pictures of their creations for a company-wide contest. Perhaps you can entice someone on the marketing team to compile all of the images into a slideshow or presentation deck, making it easier for everyone to review the submissions. Host a Zoom call where all of the submission pictures will be revealed and let employees vote on their favorite, just as they would in person.
Send everyone an invite, a DoorDash gift card (if it’s in the budget), and encourage teams to do a virtual Halloween party to celebrate the holiday. Employees can eat lunch together, swap scary stories, offer advice to new parents taking their kids trick-or-treating, and more! Whatever you do during the call, just create an opportunity for employees to gather and connect.
Service ideas and activities aren’t just for Christmas. Consider using Halloween as a good opportunity to host a charity event. One company participated in a 7-10-day charity event where they decked out a restaurant in spooky Halloween decor, ran a prix fixe menu, and donated a portion of the sales to FEEDNH.org. Staff members and diners are encouraged to dress up. Take this idea and run with it the way it might work for your business—a one-day sale of your products, a rented restaurant or space for an employee charity night, etc. Make it your own and have fun with it!
Get your employees’ creative juices flowing with an office decoration competition. Get each department to decorate a conference room or their area of cubicles. Potentially assign themes or let imaginations run wild and then host a voting contest to find the winner. Want to add some extra fun? Invite family members and friends to come and take a tour of each haunted house to ring in the spooky season with full force.
Need something a little more lowkey? Everyone loves a good treat when they visit reception. Consider putting out Halloween candy bowls where employees gather with Halloween-themed candy. Celebrating the holiday doesn’t have to be grandiose or take a lot of budget—even a small bowl with KitKats can brighten the day and get your entire team involved!
Set up a game station in the breakroom and encourage employees to stop by when they have time during the day on Halloween. Make it even more fun with Halloween-themed games like Halloween Jeopardy, Bingo, a scavenger hunt, and more. This is a great opportunity to throw a Halloween celebration while also giving your employees the opportunity to connect beyond their everyday tasks.
Tap into the culinary talent of your workforce with a potluck lunch! Invite employees to bring their favorite meal, snack, or drink and then encourage everyone to eat together and mingle. Bonus points for employees that give their delicious dish a Halloween-style name—spook-etti, Halloweenies, bat wings, toxic sludge—you get the idea.
(Pssst...our favorite Halloween meal? Chili and hotdogs, plus some delicious apple cider! Warms the tummy and the heart. Win-win!)
Bring the kids to work! This idea works great no matter how you play it—kids visiting each cubicle area for a treat (think trunk-or-treating but in the office) or kids visiting the office after it’s decorated (for the office decoration competition!). The more the adults get into it with costumes and decorations, the more fun it is for the kids. And for your employees with children, bringing them to the office for some fun will go a long way in building connection, community, and loyalty.
Not sure which idea is best? Send out a survey and ask your employees! One of the best ways to find ideas for Halloween at work that your people will love.
However you decide to celebrate Halloween, encourage employee participation by leading through example. Bring a dish to share to the potluck, dress up in a costume, put out a candy bowl, or throw a good ol' fashioned Halloween party—show everyone that you want to have fun and celebrate. Happy Halloween and safe spooks!
