Halloween Things to do in Bethesda with Kids

I have always loved October.  Probably because it is my birthday month but it is also because it is Halloween.  I am really lucky to live in Bethesda because there are wonderful Halloween things to do in Bethesda with kids!

Halloween Things to do in Bethesda with Kids – Pumpkin Festivals

It seems like it wouldn’t be Halloween in my house without a trip to Butler’s Orchards but there are a

number of places to go for pumpkins!

Pumpkin Festivals For Bethesda Kids

Sharp’s at Waterford Farm
This 530-acre working farm offers three open house events. At the Day In The Life Of a Farmer activities (Oct. 20), kids learn about beekeeping and how crops are grown, feed goats, navigate a mini corn maze, and take a hayride. At the Pilgrim History program (Nov. 1 and Nov. 9), guests learn about the Pilgrims home life, the chores Pilgrim children were responsible for, the games Pilgrim children played, and also about the Pilgrim’s relationship to Native Americans. Pick a pumpkin and an ear of popcorn at both events. (Note: Registration required.)

4003 Jennings Chapel Rd. (Brookeville, Md)
Cost: $8/child; adults attending with children are free
Open: 10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.
Online: sharpfarm.com

Butler’s Orchard Festival
The Fairy Godmother may have turned a pumpkin into Cinderella’s carriage, but here pumpkins become fairytale characters who populate the orchard’s popular Pumpkinland. Other attractions include hayrides, a corn maze, giant slides, barnyard animals and, well, picking pumpkins ($.65/pound). Pony rides, face painting and a pumpkin cannon, available only on the last three weekends of the month, cost extra.  This is always one of the best Halloween things to do with kids in Bethesda!

22222 Davis Mill Rd. (Germantown, Md)
Cost: $12/person; free for children under 2 (Note: cash only at the entrance gate)
Open:  Oct. 1, 7, 8, 9, 14, 15, 21, 22, 28, 29 at 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Online: butlersorchrd.com,

The Butlers’ Orchard also offers Harvest Days activities which include:

• Exploring the learning stations, jumping in the hayloft barn, swooshing down the giant slides, visiting barnyard animals, taking a hayride to pick a pumpkin in the pumpkin patch, and exploring the straw maze.
• Each person picks one small pumpkin and also receives a crisp Butler’s Apple and a copy of the “Pumpkin Post” – a facts and fun worksheet that can be used in the classroom or at home to reinforce material learned on the farm.
• Pumpkin Harvest Days are self-guided and all activities run continuously.  You may do any activity in any order!  Our picnic area is also open for you to enjoy if you bring a bag lunch.

•  2017 dates and times for Pumpkin Harvest Days:

• • October 3 through November 3, Tuesdays through Fridays
  • plus Monday, October 30
  • (Closed all other Mondays)
  • Reservation times every half hour 9:30am – 3:30pm.  Farm closes at 5:00pm.
  • Come early in the month for the best pumpkin selection!

•  The 2017 fee is $7.25 per person for all children and all adults, including teachers and chaperones.  Under age one is free unless they want to choose a pumpkin.

Homestead Farm

Looking for something a little more straightforward? Skip the extracurriculars and head here for some simple pumpkin picking. On weekends through Halloween, the farm offers hayrides to the patch, where shoppers can take their time deciding on their favorite member of the cucurbitaceae family, to which pumpkins, squash and gourds belong.

15604 Sugarland Rd. (Poolesville, Md)
Cost: $4/person age 2 and up for hayrides; $.59/pound for pumpkins
Open: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Online: homestead-farm.net

Larriland Farms
Get into the spirit with ghost and goblin decorations at the farm, which offers 20-minute weekend rides through woods decorated with storybook and other characters. Besides that and the pumpkin field, there’s also a Straw Maze made of more than 1,000 bales of straw and the Boo Barn for kids 4 through 6. It’s a dark passage to the bottom of the Red Barn and full of animated ghosts and goblins.

2415 Woodbine Rd. (Woodbine, Md)
Cost: $4/person for hayrides
Open: Saturdays and Sundays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m.; Tuesday through Friday, 9 a.m.-6 p.m. (Oct 1-30)
Online: pickyourown.com

Summers Farm
Budget watchers and big spenders alike can enjoy a trip to this farm, which is home to the Maryland Pumpkin Festival (Oct.7-8). There’s no admission fee, and hayrides to the farm’s 15-acre pumpkin patch are free. Willing to spend a few dollars? Check out Summer’s 12-acre cornfield maze, slides, farmer golf, and pumpkin and apple cannons. Candy lovers take note: the pumpkin cannonblasts out wrapped goodies one day a weekend.

5620 Butterfly Lane, Frederick, Md.
Cost: $8.95/person weekdays, $13.95/person weekends, $7.95/senior over 60, kids 2 and under free
Open: 1 pm-7 pm, Mondays through Thursdays; 10 am-10:30 pm, Saturdays; 10 am-7 pm Sundays (through Oct. 31)
Online: summersfarm.com

Jumbo’s Pumpkin Patch
A free hayride and petting zoo are the perks of visiting Jumbo’s. You’ll also have plenty of free fun finding your perfect pumpkin in their 30-acre patch and exploring their 3,000-square foot Fall Shopping Craft Attic. Pumpkins cost $.57/pound.

6521 Holter Rd. (Middletown, Md)
Cost: free admission, extra charges for some activities or $15 to access all
Open: daily from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (through Oct. 31)
Online: jumbos.org

Clark’s Elioak Farm
Known for its Enchanted Forest, the farm opens its pumpkin patch plus rides, an enchanted forest

castle, gem mining and geode cracking on Oct. 14-15. The Countdown to Halloween is Oct. 21 and 22, with the Enchanted Pine Tree Forest, rope maze and face painting. Kids who bring a teddy bear Oct. 7 and 8 get a free hayride, while those who dress up the final weekend of the month can join the Halloween costume parades at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Note: Swing by the petting farm while you’re there. Kiddie-size pumpkins are $2.75 apiece, while larger ones cost $.69/pound.

10500 Clarksville Pike (Ellicott City, Md)
Cost: $6/person 13 months and up to access the petting farm, Enchanted Forest, slides, maze and play areas. $2/ride
Open: 10 a.m.-5 p.m., weekdays; 10 a.m.-5:30 p.m., weekends (through Nov. 6)
Online: clarklandfarm.com

Montpelier Farms
Admission includes two corn mazes, hayrides, hill slides, an area for tikes 48 inches and smaller, and a Farm Football Lounge with two 52-inch flat-screen TVs showing that day’s games. Extra fees apply for duck races, pumpkin chunkin’ and a scarecrow workshop. Stop at the pumpkin patch for an orange orb of fall goodness. Pumpkins 5 pounds and under cost $3, while heavier ones are $.60/pound.

1720 Crain Highway North (Upper Marlboro, Md)
Cost: $12/person; 2 and under free; $40/ person season pass or $150/family of four
Open: (through Nov. 5) 10 a.m.-11 p.m., Saturdays; 11 a.m.-7 p.m., Sundays; 5 p.m.-11 p.m., Fridays in October
Online: montpelierfarms.com

Fall Fun Festival at Gaver Farm
Before you pick a pumpkin to schlep around, cover the 45-plus attractions such as the jumping pillow, a petting zoo, giant slides, mini mazes, duck races and photo centers. When the sun goes down, Fall Fun Nights get started with a Moonlight Corn Maze, campfires and s’mores.

Where: 5501 Detrick Rd. (Mount Airy, Md)
Cost: $7.50/person weekdays, $10.25/person weekends, $32.50 for a season pass; Kids 2 and younger free
Open: daily from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. (through Oct. 31)
Online: gaverfarm.com

Best Areas to Trick or Treat – Halloween Things to do with Kids in Bethesda!

Edgemoor

Just off Arlington Road and north of Bradley and south of Old Georgetown is the classic Bethesda neighborhood of Edgemoor.  There are beautiful homes close to one another with sidewalks and good lighting.  Some of the Edgemoor neighbors go all out for Halloween.  You have to make a trip there just to see some of the amazing house decorations!

Embassy Row
Taste the international life style when you knock on doors along Embassy Row, where foreign embassies stretch from the Vice President’s home all the way to Dupont Circle. More than 20 embassies invite trick or treaters to explore cultures from around the world. You may get a few tourism pamphlets along with your candy bars, but where else can you say you’ve been trick-or-treating in Indonesia, Armenia, Ireland, and Portugal all in one night?  

I grew up in DC and remember trick or treating at the Swiss embassy which was in my neighborhood. The person who answered the door had no idea why I was there!  Things have changed along embassy row.