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Boo! It’s that time of the year again. Time to get all dressed up in your favorite Halloween costume and go trick-or-treating! Nothing beats the old-fashion trick-or-treating in your own neighborhood, but there are many other fun things that you can do with your kids this Halloween, too!

Check out these fun Halloween activities and Fall festivals for kids in Washington, DC; Baltimore, Maryland and Northern Virginia.

Pumpkin Festival at Butler’s Orchard – Germantown, MD
Saturdays and Sundays in October (2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 24, 25, 30 and 31): 10 am – 5 pm
Columbus Day (Monday, October 11): 10 am – 5 pm

Enjoy a fun country pumpkin festival at Butler’s Orchard in Germantown, Maryland. New this year is their giant corn bin! Go on a hayride, play in a straw maze, go on giant slides, visit farm animals, go on pedal tractors and check out Pumpkinland. Most activities are included with admissions. Kids’ activities that require additional charge are arts and crafts, pony rides and face painting. They’ll have burgers, hot dogs, pitas, caramel apples, cider and other country food. Admissions are $10 per person and free for kids under 2.

See my review of Butler’s Orchard Pumpkin Festival.

Butler’s Orchard is located at 2200 Davis Mill Rd, Germantown, Maryland (map it).

Giant slide at Cox Farms Fall Festival.

Fall Festival at Cox Farms – Centreville, VA
September 18 – 19 (preview weekend): 10 am – 6 pm
September 27 – October 31: 10 am – 6 pm
November 1 – 7: 10 am – 5 pm

Family-friendly activities and entertainment at Cox Farms, leading up to Halloween. Your kids will love going on a hayride (as many times as they like!), giant slides, straw tunnels and rope swings. Visit farm animals, enjoy local apples and fresh apple ciders and take home a a patch pumpkin. Shop for pumpkins and other fresh produce from their local market. New this year is Farm Chores, where kids can enjoy interactive play with farm tasks, such as milking a cow and exploring a corn crib. Pack your lunch for a picnic, or buy food at the farms. They sell burgers, cheese sandwiches, chips, pretzels and pop corn there. Tickets are $9 per person for weekdays, $15 per person for weekends and free for kids under 2. Get your tickets online or at the farms.

See my review of Cox Farms Fall Festival.

Cox Farms are located at 15621 Braddock Rd, Centreville, Virginia (map it).

Corn Maze and Pumpkin Patch at Crumland Farms – Frederick, MD
September 26 – November 1 (Saturdays and Sundays only): 10 am – 6 pm

Check out the eight-acre corn maze featuring Crumland Farms’ mascot, Mazey the Cow. Besides finding your way out of the corn maze, you and your kids can feed farm animals, ride the MooChoo train, go down a giant slide, leap into a pile of fresh hay, go on a hayride to pumpkin patch and more. Admission fees: $9 per person and free for kids under 2.

Crumland Farms are located at 7612 Willow Road, Frederick, Maryland (map it).

Cow train at Temple Hall Corn Maize and Fall Festival in Leesburg, Virginia. Photo from NVRPA.org

Temple Hall Farm Corn Maize and Fall Festival – Leesburg, VA
Friday, Saturdays and Sundays from September 24 to November 1 (maze and daytime activities): 10 am – 6 pm
Friday and Saturday night maze admission: 6 pm – 10 pm
Tractor-pulled wagon rides are on Saturdays and Sundays only and horse-drawn wagon rides are on Saturdays only

Check out this 24-acre corn maze in Leesburg! Other activities include hay fort, corn box, cow train, pig races, corn cannons, pumpkin blasters (launch a pumpkin 100 yards away), horse-drawn wagon rides and more. Admission fees: $12 for adults (12 – 54), $10 for kids (3 – 11), $10 for seniors (55+) and free for kids 2 and under. Horse drawn wagon rides are $2 per person and pumpkin blasters are $1 per pumpkin. Get a coupon online. Update: see my review of Temple Hall Farm Corn Maize and Fall Festival.

See my review of Temple Hall Corn Maize and Fall Festival.

Temple Hall Farm is located at 15855 Limestone School Rd, Leesburg, Virginia (map it).

Kid-Friendly Halloween Haunt at King’s Dominion – Doswell, VA
October 2 – October 31 (Saturdays and Sundays only): 12 pm – 5 pm

Halloween Haunt at King’s Dominion can be pretty scary for your little kids since it’s a PG-13 style event. To include little kids in their event, King’s Dominion will hold kid-friendly activities on Saturdays and Sundays in October from 12 pm to 5 pm. Kids 12 and younger can wear costumes during the day, just no masks or face makeup. Adults may not wear costumes into the Haunt. Admission fees: $56.99 for ages 3 – 61 and at least 48″ tall and $34.99 for under 48″ tall and over 61 years old. Get discounted tickets online.

King’s Dominion is located at 16000 Theme Park Way, Doswell, Virginia (map it).

Kids' Pumpkin Dash in Reston Town Center, Virginia. Photo from TheGreatPumpkin5K.com.

Kids’ Pumpkin Dash and Oktoberfest at Reston Town Center – Reston, VA
Kids’ Pumpkin Dash (FREE):
Saturday, October 9: 9:30 am – 10:30 am

Oktoberfest:
Friday, October 8: 3 pm – 11 pm
Saturday, October 9: 11 am – 11 pm
Sunday, October 10: 12 pm – 7 pm

Two fun Halloween events at Reston Town Center in October! This is the second annual Kids’ Pumpkin Dash at Reston Town Center. Kids can dress up in their favorite Halloween costumes and participate in a fun race. Parents/guardians are encouraged to run alongside kids on the course. Four age categories: 4 years and younger, 5 and 6 years, 7 and 8 years, 9 and 10 years. All Kids’ Pumpkin Dash participants will receive a race bib, ribbon and pumpkin. After the race, your kids can compete in a pumpkin carving contest. Register for Kid’s Pumpkin Dash for free.

Stay for Octoberfest for the rest of day at Reston Town Center and enjoy food, drink and live performances. They’ll have carnival rides for kids, too! Get your Oktoberfest tickets online.

Reston Town Center is located at 11900 Market St, Reston, Virginia (map it).

Boo at the Zoo, National Zoo – Washington, DC
Friday, October 22 – Sunday, October 24: 5:30 pm

Join the 12th annual Boo at the Zoo at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. Get your kids all dressed up (and you, too!) to go trick or treating while saying hello to pandas, lions, elephants, apes and other zoo animals. More than 40 treat stations will be available, as well as animal encounters, keeper talks and festive decorations. For kids ages 2 to 12. Rain or shine. Tickets are $20 per person for FONZ (Friends of the National Zoo) members, $30 per person for non-members and free for kids under the age of 2. Parking passes are included (Saturday passes are no longer available). Get your tickets online.

The National Zoo is located at 3001 Connecticut Ave NW, Washington, DC (map it).

Greenbelt Pumpkin Festival. Photo from GreenbeltPumpkinWalk.com.

FREE: Greenbelt Pumpkin Festival: Carving Party and Pumpkin Walk – Greenbelt, MD
Friday, October 22 (Carving Party): 4 pm – 8 pm
Saturday, October 23 (Pumpkin Walk): 6 pm – 9 pm

This is as Halloween as it’s going to get! Participate in a pumpkin carving party on Friday night while enjoying live music. Your pumpkin may appear in trees, on stumps or on the ground, lighting the path of the Pumpkin Walk on Saturday night. Enjoy a walk through the woods with Jack-o-lanterns will be lighting the way! This is not a haunted walk, so your little kids can enjoy this walk. For the pre-dark walk with your little kids, arrive around 5:30 pm. Night time walk will begin at dark and end at 9 pm. Free apple ciders and hot chocolate will be provided, so bring an empty thermos.

The Carving Party will be held at the Roosevelt Center, located at Crescent Rd and Southway Dr, Greenbelt, Maryland (map it).

The Pumpkin Walk will be held at Northway Fields, located at Northway Rd and Ridge Rd, Greenbelt, Maryland (map it).

Air and Scare – National Air and Space Museum – Chantilly, VA
Saturday, October 23: 2 pm – 8 pm

Go trick-or-treating and check out thousands of aviation and space artifacts at the National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. Other fun Halloween activities for kids during Air and Scare include simulation rides (normally $7-$8, but it’s free during Air and Scare), a puppet show, a showing of a family-friendly movie, face painting and photo opportunities with Star Wars characters. The museum will also have a Tot Zone, where kids ages 3 to 7 can play dress up and create crafts, as well as a Teen and Tween Zone, where teens and tweens can learn to pack a parachute, watch robotic demonstrations and more. Free admissions, with parking fee of $15 per car.

The National Air and Space Museum, Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, is located at 14390 Air and Space Museum Pkwy, Chantilly, Virginia (map it).

George Washington's Mount Vernon Estate Fall Harvest Family Days. Photo from MountVernon.org.

Fall Harvest Family Days at George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate – Mount Vernon, VA
October 23 – 24: 9 am – 5 pm

Visit the four-acre George Washington Pioneer Farmer site for a fun Fall festival! Horse-drawn wagon rides, a straw bale maze, outdoor cooking demonstrations and learn how to dance 18th century style. Admission fees: $15 for adults, $14 for seniors (62+), $7 for kids ages 6 to 11 and free for kids 5 and under.

George Washington’s Mount Vernon Estate is located at 200 Mount Vernon Memorial Highway, Mount Vernon, Virginia (map it).

FREE: Vienna Halloween Parade – Vienna, VA
Wednesday, October 27: 7 pm – 9 pm

Vienna Halloween Parade begun in the 1940s as a gathering of local kids to show off their Halloween costumes. Now the parade draws tens of thousands of people; kids in Halloween costumes are still an important part of this event as they lead the parade. Rain or shine. Free admissions.

The parade will run down Maple Ave, from Branch Road to Center Street in the Town of Vienna, Virginia (map it).

ZooBOOO! at Maryland Zoo – Baltimore, MD
October 29 – 31: 10 am – 4 pm

Dress in your favorite Halloween costume and go trick-or-treating at Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. Fun carnival games, live entertainment, costume contests and yummy food. Musical Zoo will start at 10:30 am, magic show will start at 1 pm and costume contests will be held at 11:30 am and 2:30 pm. Admission fees: $14 for adults, $10 for kids ages 2 to 11, $12 for seniors (65+) and free for kids under the age of 2. Get your tickets online.

The Maryland Zoo is located at Druid Hill Park, Baltimore, Maryland (map it).

NSO Family Concert: Spooky Sounds and Scary Tales. Photo from Kennedy-Center.org.

National Symphony Orchestra Family Concert: Spooky Sounds and Scary Tales – Washington, DC
Sunday, October 31: 1 pm – 2 pm and 3 pm – 4 pm

Put on your spookiest Halloween costume and get ready for the spirited Spooky Sounds and Scare Tales concert by National Symphony Orchestra (NSO). Arrive early for pre-concert trick or treating and musical “petting zoo.” Dressed in their Halloween costumes, the NSO will perform Dukas’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, John Williams’s Hedwig’s Theme from Harry Potter and music from other scary tales. For kids ages 5 and up. Tickets are $15 to $18, depending on your seating area. Get your tickets online.

The Kennedy-Center is located at 2700 F St, NW, Washington, DC (map it).

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