Halloween is right around the corner and soon, you'll need a way to keep the kids entertained. While the little ones are content trick-or-treating, and you may feel safe allowing older teens to attend Halloween parties, what about preteens? Is there a way for families with preteens to enjoy Halloween at home? Sure there is! In fact, Halloween is a wonderful evening for a family night.

First of all, Halloween at home is the perfect time to introduce your children to some of the scary movies you loved as a kid. Of course, you'll want to keep the rating appropriate for their age. You could show them such classics as Hocus Pocus or go even more classic with movies such as The Wolf Man or Frankenstein. Regardless of what you show, a movie marathon is a great option for Halloween night.

Another great way to spend the evening is making classic Halloween treats. Some great ideas include caramel apples, cut-out sugar cookies, festive cupcakes, or even a snack mix. There are a number of great places to get Halloween recipes. Of course, if you want free recipes, the internet is a perfect place to start.

Last, but not least, get your children involved in a good cause. There are a number of different ways to help charities on Halloween. A fun idea for the whole family though is to setup a haunted house and charge admission. The money raised with the haunted house can then be donated to your favorite charity. It could be a local pet shelter, food drive, or any other charity your family believes in. This is also an activity that could take up several family nights. The earlier in October you open your haunted house, the more money you'll earn for your charity.

Halloween doesn't have to be boring for preteens. The days of a big candy loot may be over, and they may still be too young to hit teen Halloween parties, but there are a number of fun ways to enjoy the holiday at home.

‘Tis the season for that super sweet kernel of candy corn that everyone can agree reminds them of Halloween past, present, and, most likely, future! Besides eating all of that candy corn that may be lying around your home this week, you can also play some fun and simple games with these bright candy kernels.

Send the kids on a Candy Corn Hunt. You can do this a couple of different ways. Create a path of Candy Corn that they must use to hunt around and cannot sway from the path. Alternatively, hide small bags of candy corn around your yard and send the kids on a traditional hunt.

• Fill a large pumpkin pail with candy corn and see who guesses the number of candy corn. Whoever guesses closest, wins! Share the Candy Corn with everyone.
• Create Candy Corn Artwork with heavy card stock, candy corn, and a glue stick. This may get messy, but will be fun!
• Make Candy Corn Strings, just like popcorn. Decorate the room and front doorway with the Candy Corn Strings.
• Make a homemade batch of Candy Cor. A great idea for older children.
• Make Candy Corn Krispie Treats by adding in candy corn to this favorite recipe.
• Play Candy Corn Fooz Ball. Using a large table surface set up two kids at different ends of the table. The children throw candy corn to the other child, who must block it from going through and making a goal. The child can block it using a solid cookie cutter. (Make sure it is one that will not scratch up your table.)
• Make Candy Corn Sculptures using frosting to hold the sculpture together. (Make sure to place paper down on your table to keep the mess minimal.)
• Finally, send them home with bags of the sweet stuff!