Eighty percent of American adults played for their own enjoyment in the past year, from crafting classes to themed bars, according to The Harris Poll’s Rise of Kidulting report, released October 21. Half would rather buy a blind box, build a model or collect toys than talk to a therapist, and the top thing they want brands to offer more of is adult-only nights at theme parks, museums or zoos.
Harris’s survey of 2,158 adults never asks about Halloween, but the Halloween surveys I’ve covered this year find adults spending on themselves the same way: $2 billion on adult costumes against $1.5 billion on children’s, according to the National Retail Federation, and 53% calling Halloween a favorite holiday in Ferrero’s survey.
Kidulting by the Numbers: 80% Played, and Half Call It Self-Care
The Harris Poll defines kidulting as adults buying or taking part in playful things traditionally tied to childhood, such as collecting toys, building models, buying blind boxes, playing games, or visiting playful or immersive experiences. Its online survey of U.S. adults, taken June 25 to 27, found:
- 80% did something playful for their own enjoyment in the past year, including 94% of Gen Z, which Harris counts as ages 18 to 29.
- 51% would rather do kidult things than talk to a therapist, 49% would rather do them than go out for drinks, and 47% than go to a party.
- 52% call kidulting one of their main forms of self-care, rising to 66% of Gen Z and Millennials.
- 64% say play helps them feel less isolated and more connected to other people.
- 77% say most brands underestimate how much adults want playful experiences designed for them.
“Two-thirds of Gen Z and millennials now call kidulting one of their main forms of self-care. That’s not a punchline,” said Libby Rodney, chief strategy officer at The Harris Poll. “That’s a generational shift in how young Americans are managing their mental health, and they’re backing it up with real spending.”
Blind Boxes Split the Generations, 57% to 16%
Fifty-seven percent of Gen Z and Millennials bought themselves a blind box or mystery box in the past year, against 16% of Gen X and Boomers. Here is what each group bought for itself, by category:
| Bought for themselves, past year | Gen Z and Millennials | Gen X and Boomers |
|---|---|---|
| Board games or puzzles | 71% | 46% |
| Building or model kits | 66% | 31% |
| Craft kits | 65% | 32% |
| Coloring or sticker books | 65% | 30% |
| Plushies or dolls | 63% | 20% |
| Action figures or models | 61% | 22% |
| Trading cards | 60% | 21% |
| Blind boxes or mystery boxes | 57% | 16% |
Building and assembly kits have the widest spending gap of any category Harris tracked: 46% of Gen Z and Millennials who played spent $100 or more on them, against 20% of Gen X and Boomers.
Eighty-nine percent of the adults who played spent money on it, which works out to about seven in 10 of all adults. Among those who played, 65% spent $100 or more in at least one category, rising to 80% of Gen Z and 78% of Millennials, and 13% spent $500 or more in a category.
Adults Play to Relax and Remember, and Only 12% Feel Embarrassed
Relaxing is the top reason adults buy something playful, at 50% of those who played, followed by an affordable price (46%) and something they loved growing up (41%). Eighty-three percent of all adults agree that “in uncertain times, small moments of joy feel more important than ever,” and 75% say playful hobbies help them stay emotionally resilient.
Thirty-two percent say playful products and experiences feel too expensive, the top thing stopping them from spending more, and 25% worry it isn’t a responsible use of money. Only 12% say embarrassment holds them back, though 49% sometimes feel judged for enjoying things considered childish.
The Top Wish Is a Night at the Theme Park Without the Kids
Sixty-two percent of adults want brands to offer more adult-only nights at theme parks, museums or zoos, the top answer on Harris’s list, rising to 69% of Gen Z and Millennials. The rest of the top six:
- Nostalgic movie or cartoon marathons in theaters or bars, 60%
- Adult-focused craft kits or building sets tied to childhood brands, 59%
- Themed travel packages or hotel stays, 57%
- Themed restaurants or bars based on childhood shows or games, 57%
- Pop-ups recreating throwback moments for adults, 52%
Adult-only access is also the top thing that makes a product or experience feel designed for adults, at 42%, ahead of nostalgic references adults understand (39%) and food, drinks or nightlife (37%). Seventy-three percent say brands too often assume playful experiences are only for families with children, and toy and collectible brands have the clearest permission to make play for adults, at 50%, followed by entertainment and streaming brands (47%) and gaming brands (46%).
Halloween Surveys Find the Same Habits
These Halloween figures come from other 2026 surveys and from my own reporting, not from Harris, so each number stays with its source.
62% Want Adult-Only Nights, and 62% Want an Adult Halloween Night
Harris’s top wish, adult-only nights at 62%, has a Halloween twin in Ferrero’s third annual Halloween survey, released October 12: 62% of U.S. adults believe they deserve their own adult Halloween night, up from 54% a year earlier, and 70% say Halloween is as much for adults as for children. My story on Ferrero’s Halloween survey has the rest of its numbers.
One-third of adults who wear costumes plan to visit a haunted house this year, and 41% plan to throw or attend a party, against 29% of all adults, according to a Halloween & Costume Association analysis of the National Retail Federation’s survey. Dave & Buster’s is throwing an adults’ party on Halloween night, its Moonlight Mixer for guests 18 and older from $24.99, in my Dave & Buster’s Halloween story.
Halloween Collectibles Sell Out, Then Resell for Up to Triple
Forty-two percent of Gen Z and Millennials who played spent $100 or more on collectible figures and toys in the past year, against 19% of Gen X and Boomers. Monster High’s Skullector Michael Myers doll, a $70 Mattel Creations exclusive, sold out, and on September 30 sealed ones started at about $118 on eBay. Monster High’s $65 Draculaura Halloween Edition doll was sold out at Mattel Creations on October 20, in my Skullector story.
Nine of Jellycat’s 19 Halloween plush were sold out on October 19, and Hocus Crow, $35 new, was listed from about $109 on eBay, about three times its price, in my Jellycat Halloween story. Blind boxes, which 57% of Gen Z and Millennials bought in the past year, have Halloween series too, in my Halloween blind boxes guide.
Nostalgia Fills Theaters, a Stranger Things Diner and a ’90s Video Store
Eighty percent of adults feel more emotionally connected to a brand that taps their childhood memories, Harris found, and 60% want nostalgic movie or cartoon marathons in theaters or bars. In Ferrero’s survey, 29% of adults rewatch nostalgic Halloween episodes of a favorite series. The original Scream returns to theaters on Friday, October 30, for its 30th anniversary, with tickets on Fandango, in my Scream re-release story.
Themed restaurants and throwback pop-ups are Harris’s fifth and sixth wishes, at 57% and 52%. Stranger Things: The Diner is coming to Manhattan with tickets from $24.65, including a $10 food credit, and its Friday and Saturday nights are for guests 21 and over, in my story on the diner. Angry Orchard’s free Scream pop-up turned a downtown Manhattan space into a ’90s video store for guests 21 and over on October 2 and 3, in my story on the pop-up.
Adults Outspend Kids on Halloween Costumes, $2 Billion to $1.5 Billion
Americans plan to spend $2 billion on adult costumes this Halloween and $1.5 billion on children’s costumes, part of a record $13.5 billion, or $115.14 a person, according to the National Retail Federation, in my Halloween spending story. If prices run higher than expected, 34% of shoppers plan to buy items they can reuse, and cost is also the top barrier in Harris’s survey, at 32%.
“As consumers pull back on bigger purchases, they’re leaning into smaller moments of joy,” Hershey’s Unwrapping Halloween report says, from a July Morning Consult survey of 3,026 adults. In Harris’s survey, 83% say small moments of joy feel more important than ever.
Parents Say They Play for Themselves Too
Eighty-three percent of parents of children under 18 told Harris they buy or do playful things for their own enjoyment, and 76% say they do it for an excuse to enjoy playful things themselves. In Hershey’s survey, 41% of parents expect to be more involved in Halloween this year, against 27% of all adults, in my story on Hershey’s report.
For 62% of Adults, the Perfect Halloween Night Is a Night In
Forty-nine percent of adults would rather do kidult things than go out for drinks, and “calm or cozy” is the mood 57% look for after a stressful day, Harris found. In Ferrero’s survey, 62% say the perfect Halloween night is staying in, and a cozy night in with candy and a binge-watch is the most popular thing adults plan to try this year, at 37%. Fifty-three percent call Halloween a favorite holiday, the first time Ferrero’s survey has put that figure over half, and Ferrero calls the trend Adultoween.
How Harris Ran the Survey
The Harris Poll surveyed 2,158 U.S. adults online from June 25 to 27, 2026, a nationally representative sample that included 346 Gen Z adults (18 to 29), 693 Millennials (30 to 45), 583 Gen X adults (46 to 61) and 536 Boomers (62 and older). The spending figures and the reasons for buying cover the 1,736 adults who played in the past year, the parent figures cover 795 parents of children under 18, and the rest cover all adults. The full report is on The Harris Poll’s site.
