Not quite prepared for Halloween? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered.
Not only are we giving away FREE Halloween costumes by way of jack-o-lantern heads at every local branch leading up to Halloween, we have also rounded up plenty of activities to keep little ones (and maybe some bigger ones) busy.
Here’s our Top 5 favourite child friendly activities that you can easily do at home – all with budget and less waste in mind.
Vampire bats and ghost leaves
This is one of our favourite activities because it gets the children out of the house into the fresh air as well as keeping them busy on a rainy afternoon: ticking two boxes at once!
Starting with a walk on a crisp autumnal day, take the family out for a walk around an area with plenty of trees and collect enough fallen leaves to create a string of bunting. When you have a good armful, take them home and paint them white or black. Then leave them overnight.
The next day, when the paint has dried, draw spooky bat faces complete with fangs in white on to the black leaves, and black ghost faces on to the white leaves. Then tape them on to string to create your bunting. Finally, decorate your home with your own terrifying-but-natural bunting.
Pumpkin painting!
Instead of carving, and all the hazards that come with it, why not create some full-colour painted pumpkins to brighten up your doorway or window sill. Whether Monsters Inc, Wednesday Addams or Scooby-Doo, or even something more sinister for a grown-up version, there are plenty of themes available to you with a little creative thinking.
Or you may prefer the more harvest feel with gold-splattered pumpkins, or speech bubble pumpkins painted with ‘BOO!’, ‘TRICK’ or ‘TREAT’ painted on them.
This less-mess (optimistic, we realise!) alternative to pumpkin carving will preserve your nerves, keeping the children away from sharp instruments, as well as preserve your floors, work tops and carpets. Just pop down some newspaper and get your paintbrushes at the ready.
Apple bobbing
It’s an oldie but a goodie! Apple bobbing is an inexpensive, splashy game that is fun for children and teenagers alike. All you need is a bowl of apples and a big bucket of water! In fact, your little ones may even enjoy it in the bathtub with some careful supervision.
The rules are simple: everyone takes turns to see how many apples they can remove in one minute using just their teeth. But, no cheating, make sure everyone is crossing their arms behind their backs. All you need to do is decide what the prize – or forfeit – is.
Mummy wrap
The mummy wrap game is great when you have a few children at home to keep busy, so whether it’s a party or you have a large family, this could well be the ideal, low-cost game for you. All you need for this one is a few rolls of toilet paper!
Divide your children into teams. Depending on the size of the game participants, you might need one or two rolls per team. Then, set a timer for 2 minutes and ready, get set, go! The teams have 2 minutes to transform one of their teammates into a mummy before the timer goes off. The best mummy wins!
And here’s a bonus craft: You can re-use the toilet rolls tubes for more Halloween arts and crafts ideas like making these spook-tastic Halloween decorations.
Scary charades
Perfect for children of reading age, charades is an ideal game to play indoors in the evening, when it’s a little too chilly to head out. So, wrap up warm, or in toilet roll if you’ve just finished playing ‘mummy wrap’, settle down with your painted pumpkins and ghost leaves bunting, turn the lights down low and get scaring.
Start by writing down a variety of different Halloween characters individually on little scraps of paper. Think: Vampire, Zombie, Werewolf, Mummy, Witch, Wizard, Cat, Pumpkin, Frankenstein’s Monster, Ghost, Skeleton, Spider, Bat, etc. and let the children take turns pulling the names out of a bowl and trying to act out the character without talking.
You could add other Halloween activities to it such as ‘going trick or treating’ or ‘carving a jack-o-lantern – Pinterest could make your life easier.
Free Halloween masks
Keep your eyes peeled for later in the month, where each of our branches will be giving away Halloween costumes. Why waste £10-15 on a costume that is likely to only be worn once, when you can pick one up for free? We’ll also be sharing tips on keeping your pets safe this Halloween, so do follow us on social media – and don’t forget to post your spooktacular creations with us by tagging #HowdenHalloween!
