Nine spooky Halloween recipes and game ideas for children
Halloween is fantastic fun for children and lets them use their imaginations, dress up, play games, and eat tasty snacks. What's not to love?
If you're looking for ideas to make this Halloween petrifyingly good, we've got some great activities and games you could try. And not forgetting some delicious Halloween treats. So pick up your jack-o'-lanterns, don your best costume, and join us as we celebrate the most fang-tastic time of the year!
Halloween fun
With its monstrous masks and eerie atmosphere, Halloween can be overwhelming for some younger children. But every child is different, so it's important to know how to have lots of fun... and only a few frights! So we've put together some child-friendly activities and treats for you to enjoy this Halloween.
Feed the Sock-Monster – This friendly monster is easy to make by simply decorating a large cardboard box. Get out your paints, crayons, coloured paper and googly eyes and be as creative as you like... and don't forget to ask your child to give it a name. Cut out a space in the box for the monster's mouth, because it'll soon be time for sock monster's lunch... you got it, rolled up socks! Agree a place to stand and everytime the socks land in sock monster's month, you win a prize. Hours of fun, right?!
Medusa Dance – This is a great party game, or fun for the family! Choose one person to play "Medusa", and they will be in charge of playing spooky tunes like the Ghostbusters theme, Monster Mash, Addams Family, This Is Halloween, etc (tip: you can find free playlists on Youtube/Spotify). Medusa decides when to stop the music, and everyone dancing has to "turn to stone" and stay still. If Medusa sees anyone moving when there's no music playing, they're out. Dancing is good exercise and a lot of fun, too!
Wrap the Mummy – Why not make a game of wrapping up like mummy's? it's great fun to wrap each other in toilet paper like an Egyptian mummy. Quickest to use all of their toilet roll wins!
Halloween Touch n' Feel Game – Here's an activity with a scarily good twist! Take a box and cut a hole in the side, with enough room for your child to fit their hand through. They're going to reach inside and guess what they are touching. But because it's Halloween, some of the items will be tricks... and others will be treats! Include gruesome tricks such as cooked spaghetti, a used teabag, and tinned peas... yuck! Whilst treats could be just that... sweets, small toys, and fruit.
Healthy Spooky Recipes
Halloween is known for candy, sweets, and chocolate treats. However, having too many of these can also be a trick rather than a treat for parents dealing with the effects of overindulging.
So we've found some healthier Halloween nibbles to enjoy too... it's all about balance after all! They taste great, look fantastic, but aren't packed with too much of the bad stuff.
Jack-o'-satsumas – Draw spooky Halloween faces onto the skin of some orange citrus fruit, for a perfectly simple Jack-o'-satsuma.
Boo-nanas – Peel some bananas and cut them in half, drizzle them in Greek yoghurt, sprinkle them with coconut flakes, and then dab melted chocolate at the top for eyes and a mouth. Pop them onto kebab skewers and freeze them for a chillingly good treat.
Legless spiders on a log – Take a stick of celery and spread peanut butter into the groove, then place some sultanas along the length of the peanut butter. Display it with a few scattered plastic spiders to complete the effect, but make sure your children know that they shouldn't eat those.
Fire-breathing monster melon – Cut a spooky face into a watermelon using a sharp knife and scoop out the fruit. Stand your scary watermelon on a tray and lay out chunks of pineapple and watermelon flesh in front of the mouth to make it look like it's breathing fire. Just make sure that your children know not to eat the pips in the watermelon.
We hope these scarily good ideas help you to enjoy the day with your little ones, and have a happy Halloween!
To see how your local nursery is celebrating Halloween, check out their Facebook page.