By Kerry Potter
The first thought that comes to mind when people think of Halloween is candy! But collecting candy doesn’t have to be the sole focus of Halloween. There are lots of fall, fun family Halloween activities you and your children can do, that can even include tasty treats, without having candy be the main event.
Growing up, my best friend’s mom made the whole week of October feel like a celebration of Halloween. Relive with me a weekend of my favorite childhood memories from Halloween to make your holiday more enjoyable.
FRIDAY EVENING:
Two of my favorite Halloween events are the Halloween Feel Box and the How Many Candy Corns Are There Guessing Game. My best friend’s mom would have a big group of us all come over after school and play this game the weekend before Halloween and we had a blast. The idea behind the Halloween Feel Box is to put a bunch of different foods in a box and make them as slimy and gross as possible and have everyone try to guess what the actual objects are or “what they are supposed to be.” A couple of ideas to get you started include cooked, cold spaghetti noodles as worms, peeled grapes as eyeballs, and slimy baby carrots as cut off fingers. For the other game, fill different mason jars with Halloween treats such as candy corn or pumpkin seeds—even small non-candy items like black and orange beads or spider rings—and have everyone in the family try to guess how many are in the jar. Whoever guess the correct number (or closest) either wins a prize or doesn’t have to do their chores for a week. J
SATURDAY:
The Saturday before Halloween, plan to go to a local pumpkin patch. Most towns have a local pumpkin patch within a 10-mile radius of your home.
Many pumpkin patches will have a wide variety of activities for all ages. Start by letting every family member pick out their own pumpkin to carve or paint together the following day. Grab a couple other smaller pumpkins for roasting and making your own homemade pumpkin pies, harvest pumpkin soups, and roasted pumpkin seeds. Next, pop on over to the face painting section and get an intricate scary or fun face paint. Get creative and get a wicked witch painted on your face while your children can pick their favorite animal or superhero character. Grab some locally made apple cider and jump on-board the hayride. This would be a great place to take lots of family photos to have pinned up around the house.
End the day with the corn maze or, depending on your children’s comfort level, the haunted house.
Sunday:
PUMPKIN CARVING! Stop by a local Party City and pick up some pumpkin carving kits and all your kids’ favorite paint colors. If your children are too young to participate in pumpkin carving, painting their own pumpkin might be a better option so they feel like they are actively participating. While you are busy carving and painting pumpkins, pop one of the extra small pumpkins in the oven for roasting.
End the night with a Halloween classic movie such as Casper, The Addams Family, or Ghostbusters and some yummy roasted pumpkin seeds and homemade pumpkin muffins.
