24 Oct 08 Halloween Scavenger Hunt for Younger Kids
A scavenger hunt is a fun activity that not only provides a chance for kids to get outside before the weather gets colder, but it can help them think creatively too. There are a few different ways to do a scavenger hunt. Depending on where you live, you can have different kinds of scavenger hunts. If the children are too young to go on their own, you can team them up with older children or adults or even have small teams.
Nature Scavenger Hunt If you live in a rural area or have a park near by, you could have a nature scavenger hunt. Make a list of things readily available that are safe for the children to collect, such as a maple leaf (maybe of specific color), pine cones, different color rocks, acorns, etc. Give each child or team a list and a paper bag to collect their treasures. You could even hide some things in the area they will be searching such as mini pumpkins or pre-wrapped treats.
Decorations Scavenger Hunt This will take a bit more planning; yet can be a lot of fun. Go around your neighborhood looking for interesting and unique decorations. Make note of the address, name of the family or possibly stores. Then give a list describing the decorations and the children have to find the location where the decorations reside and write it down. If they arent old enough to write, be sure your teams are split with older children or adults.
Costume Scavenger Hunt Sometimes businesses, malls or plazas have a Trick or Treat time earlier in the day and have their employees dress in costumes. List several different costumes they might find and see who can find the most costumes on the list. They could have the person sign their paper when they find the different costumes.
Photo Scavenger Hunt If you have enough adults with either Polaroid or digital cameras, you can have a photo scavenger hunt. This is a good alternative to having the children gather things, especially if you live in an urban area where there may not be many things the kids can collect legally. Once all the teams are back to the starting point, they can compare pictures to determine the winner. This also allows for people to find the same thing and have a more specific list of items. This can be done for more than one age group, by having more obvious clues for the younger children and more difficult ones for the older kids.
If the weather isnt nice, you can have an indoor scavenger hunt and hide things around the house. Some rules will need to be given such as if a door is closed, that room doesnt have any of the items in it. Give clues for the items they are looking for and a bag for collecting. Candy, apples, mini pumpkins, small toys and Halloween themed items are great for indoor scavenger hunts and lots of fun for the kids.
24 Oct 08 Fun Halloween Party Ideas
There are limitless ideas to the fun you can have at a Halloween party. Over the years, Halloween has grown into a sophisticated, adult celebration. Return to the fun kids had years ago with these basic but fun Halloween party ideas for kids.
Apple bob Fill a large tub with water and apples. Let kids take turns bobbing for apples.
Costume contest Once all your guests arrive at the party, take a vote on the best and scariest costumes. Add as many categories to your list as you want and hand out a grand prize to the best costume.
Pin the nose on Jack o Lantern This is a spin-off version of the all-time favorite game among children. Make a huge Jack o Lantern, leaving off his nose. Let kids take turns being blindfolded and pin (or tape) the nose on Jack.
Pumpkin carving contest Hold a pumpkin carving contest. See who can carve the funniest or silliest face into a pumpkin.
Make a mask Give younger kids at your Halloween party construction paper, round-ended scissors, markers and glue. Let them make their own face masks for the party. Punch a hole in both sides of the mask and tie string or tiny elastic on the mask.
Guess how many seeds Place counted pumpkin seeds in a large bowl or jar. Each party guest takes turns guessing how many pumpkin seeds there are. Whoever guesses closest to the correct numbers wins a prize.
Pumpkin seed spitting contest Cut the top off a large pumpkin and remove the inside meat and seeds. Give each kid five seeds and see how many seeds they can spit into the pumpkin from a distance.
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23 Oct 08 Fun Halloween Party Food Ideas
Getting ready for a howling Halloween party this year? Spruce up your party this year with some icky, but yummy party food. Here are some fun food ideas for your ghostly Halloween party:
Snot cubes
Refrigerate yellow and green Jello (any flavors) in ice cube trays. Serve chilled.
Worms in snot
Make snot cubes, as directed above, out of Jello. Insert gummy worms in each cube of Jello then refrigerate. Serve chilled.
Bad apples
Using a small, sharp knife cut a small, round hole in one side of the top of an apple. Insert a gummy worm inside the hole. Create display of bad apples in a wooden bucket.
Monster Mash
In a large bowl, combine the following ingredients:
* 10 cups popcorn
* 1 pound plain M&Ms
* 1-14 oz. jar dry roasted peanuts
* 1 cup raisins (optional)
* 1 cup Reeces pieces (found in baking isle by chocolate chips)
Bowl of Brains
Scramble several eggs. To get the gray brain color, mix in green, red, and blue food coloring as you beat the eggs before cooking them.
Buggy Ice Cubes
Insert gummy worms or raisins (for bugs) in ice trays with water and freeze. Insert frozen buggy ice cubes in your bowl of party punch.
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23 Oct 08 Fun Halloween Craft Ideas
Kids always have fun making crafts, especially holiday-themed crafts. Here are some fun Halloween craft ideas for your kids to make this year.
1. Trick-or-Treat bucket
Supplies: ice cream bucket, construction paper, markers, crayons, glue, glitter (any craft supplies)
Directions: Use construction paper to draw ghosts, pumpkins, scarecrows, etc. Cut out your decorations and glue them to the outside of an ice cream bucket.
2. Trick-or-Treat goody bags
Supplies: small brown paper bags, Halloween stickers, markers, treats (candy, pencils, erasers, bubblegum, etc.)
Directions: Decorate paper bags in Halloween themes using your art supplies. Put treats inside bags. Fold the top of the bag down and tape shut with a Halloween sticker.
3. Tiny pumpkins
Supplies: acorns, orange paint, and green paint
Directions: Lay acorns on a sheet of newspaper. Paint the bottom of the acorns with orange paint. After the orange paint dries, paint the top of the acorns green (for the stem of the pumpkin). Allow to dry thoroughly.
4. Spooky Spiders
Supplies: black construction paper, cotton balls or cotton stuffing, black pipe cleaners, small bowl or saucer, and a stapler
Directions: Using black construction paper, trace around a small bowl or saucer. (Cut out two circles per spider.) Place stuffing or cotton balls on first circle. Lay second circle on top of cotton stuffing and staple half-way around. Insert 3-4 pipe cleaners on each side, then staple the second half of the circles together. Bend pipe cleaners to make the legs of the spider.
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23 Oct 08 7 Halloween Games for Kids
Part of the fun of Halloween is playing silly games. When planning the games, its best to keep the costumes in mind and plan things that will work around them. Games should be simple with easy to follow rules.
Bobbing for Apples A classic Halloween party game has always been bobbing for apples, however some kids dont like putting their face in the water or dont want to mess up the make up that took a long time to perfect. One variation of this game is to tie the stems of the apples to varied lengths of string and then hang them up. Then the people have to put their hands behind their back and try to take a bite out of the apple. You can also play the game using marshmallows.
Mummy Wrap Up Divide guests into small groups. Provide them each with a roll or two of toilet paper and see who can use the tissue paper to wrap up one of their teammates the fastest. The first one to complete their mummy using the entire roll wins.
Jack-o-Lantern Faces Hang a picture of a jack-o-lantern on the wall and have matching face pieces cut out of black paper for the eyes, nose and mouth. Place sticky-tack on the back of the pieces. Blindfold each player when it is their turn and play the same as pin the tail on the donkey except players put the eyes, nose and mouth on the pumpkin face. Younger children can do just the mouth, while older children and adults can do the entire face for more of a challenge.
Ghost Hunters Cut out several paper ghosts and divide the players into two groups. Have one team hide the ghosts around the room. The other team has to hunt down the ghosts. Play continues until all ghosts are found. The team that hunts the most ghosts wins.
Ghost Bowling Collect ten empty one or two liter soda pop bottles (use the larger bottles for younger guests). Paint the bottles white and decorate with silly ghost faces. Use a small playground size ball as the bowling ball. If you can find orange ones, decorating them as jack-o-lanterns can add to the fun.
Upset the Candy Dish Place chairs in a circle, facing in, having one less than the number of players. Whisper in each childs ear the name of a favorite Trick or Treat candy. They will become this piece of candy in the candy dish. Have one person stand in the middle of the circle to be it. The child in the middle will call one or two types of candy. If the candy name thats called is matches the one the children are, they should stand up and try to move to another empty seat. Occasionally, the child who is it calls out, Upset the candy dish. and all the players need to move to a new seat. If any of the candy kids cant find a seat they then become it.
Pirates Treasure Fill two small buckets with sand and place inside a larger washtub or box. Bury treasure in the buckets such as small prizes or candy. Each player receives a plastic spoon to dig for their treasure. Divide players into two teams. Position players around their designated bucket and tell them when to start. They dig in their treasure chests until every piece is found. The first team to find all their treasure wins.
