With the spooky season fast approaching, busy parents are starting to think about Halloween costumes and parties for their little ones.
Below are some spooktacular ideas to help make your Halloween event one to remember, while ensuring you retain your sanity in the process.Halloween Food Savoury spider - On a large oval plate, create the spider's body from a big mound of mashed potato. Then make each of its eight legs by joining two cooked sausages at right angles with a bent cocktail stick. Stick four 'legs' along each side of the mashed potato. Surround the spider with some cooked peas for 'grass'. For safety, remove the cocktail sticks when serving each child's portion.
Witch's broomsticks - Melt equal weights of chocolate and butter with a little golden syrup (an adult must do this bit). Then stir the melted mixture into some crumbled whole-wheat cereal and, on a greased baking tray, form into the twiggy ends of the broomsticks. Press in a chocolate stick for each broom handle and chill in the fridge overnight.
Dead Man's eye balls - hard boil some eggs slice in half, scoop out the yolk and mix with mayonnaise or salad cream, place the filling back into the egg and top with a raisin.Ghostly Games Mixed-up cats - Play a witch's cat game. Cut out as many pieces of rectangular card as there are players, and then draw the same large outline of a cat on each one. Give each child a card and some colouring pens and give them five minutes to decorate their cats. Now divide each card into three vertical sections (the cat's head, front legs, back legs) and in each section draw a box with a number of dots in it between one and six. Then cut each cat into its three sections and lay these out on the table. The children then take turns to roll a dice and choose a section that has a matching number of dots. The first person to make a whole cat wins.
The witch's hat - On a large piece of paper draw the outline of a witch - with hair but no hat - and hang it up. On a separate piece of card draw the witch's hat and stick a bit of Blu Tack onto the back. Now, in turns, blindfold each child, turn them around a few times and let them try to put the hat on the witch. You'll be surprised where it ends up!
The Witch's Cauldron - take five boxes and cut a hole in the front, big enough for hands to fit through. Put bowls of various things inside each box like baked beans (zombie brains), jelly rice pudding (bat droppings), hard-boiled eggs in ketchup (vampires' eyes), put the pretend names over the top, and then the children have to put their hands in and guess what they are.Trick and TreatWhether or not you allow your own children to go trick or treating, you may want some offerings ready to give others.
For a trick, try lightly cooking and cooling some spaghetti, adding a little olive oil to keep the strands separate, and putting it in a big bowl with a few peeled grapes. Cover the bowl with foil, including a lid, to make a 'cauldron' - then invite those who have chosen a trick to close their eyes and slip their hand under the lid to feel for an 'eyeball' hidden among the slippery 'worms'.
For a treat, make some mini gift bags by wrapping a few Halloween sweets, raisins and stickers in squares of orange and black tissue-paper, twisting the tops and tying with gold gift ribbon.Halloween Decorations Paper-chain ghosts, witches or pumpkin faces - Start by concertina-ing a piece of paper by folding it back and forth. Then draw an outline on the front fold so it touches both sides in at least one place (e.g. the witches' arms). Carefully cut round the outline, avoiding any area where it touches the folds, and then open out. You should now have a chain of identical characters your child can colour in.
Give the room a ghostly glow by using green light bulbs instead of the standard light bulb.
Make a recording of spooky sounds. Tape the sounds of your children screaming or the dog barking to create a hair-raising effect!Halloween Dressing-UpFor those who don't want a readymade outfit and want to get creative with their costume here are some quick suggestions:
Fake Blood - Ingredients required: 20ml of golden syrup, 1 tsp red food colouring, 3-4 drops blue food colouring, and ½ tsp of plain flour. Mix the syrup and food colouring together first, then slowly stir in the flour. The 'blood' should be syrupy, so it can slide down your arm.
Witch's Hat - Roll up a sheet of newspaper into a cone about 15 inches high and tape. Then cut the bottom edges until in stand flat on a table. For the hair cut several pieces of green crepe paper into strands and tape the ends to the inside of the cone. Use three sheets of newspaper to form the hat brim - roll in the outer edges to create a circle, taping them in place. Trace around the cone bottom onto the centre of the brim, then divide the circle into quarter, cutting along the centre lines. Push the cone up through the brim and tape in place. Paint the hat black. Cut out a cardboard buckle, cover with foil and tape to the front of the hat.
Tips by
Jo Kent, Mistress of Mischief at Millets Farm Centre Halloween Howl attraction
October 2010 |
Top Tips For Halloween
