October officially marks the beginning of the holiday season. While this time of year can be a cause of stress for many - it is also a great time to renew, rejuvenate, invent and re-invent traditions and celebrations that your whole family can participate in. In the following article we share Halloween ideas and traditions old and new. We provide you with links to sites that offer fun, family friendly ideas. So, grab your coffee and kick back. Feel free to tweek these ideas for your family, make them your own and Enjoy!
October equals pumpkins, costumes and trick-or-treat:
- Decorate For Halloween The First Weekend In October: This allows you plenty of time to really enjoy the season. Gather your family, dust off the boxes in your garage and have a decorating party. Allow your children to decide where the decorations should go. Don’t be afraid to decorate inside as well as outside and don't worry about it looking pretty or coordinating with your decor. Have fun with it and let loose! Last year I had a huge spider made out of trash bags draped across my living room ceiling. The kids loved it and so did their friends. Hint: This year hit the Halloween sales the day / week after. It’s fun to take out things we bought last year that we're using for the first time
- Boo Your Neighbors: A new tradition my family enjoys is "Boo'ing" our neighbors. Boo'ing is a lot like Secret Santa but for Halloween. Start the season by secretly placing a festive gift on a neighbors door step. Inside are a poem and a sign that reads, "I've Been Boo'd" with instructions on how to keep the fun going. Once you start, watch how quickly your good cheer spreads as house after house begins displaying their "I've been Boo'd" sign. It's fun to watch my children hold in their secret and listen to neighbors try and figure out who boo'd who. I have to admit though, it's hard to keep a straight face and not spill the beans, er...pumpkin seeds.
We've created a FREE printable sign and poem for you to use. Once it's printed, simply follow the instructions and voila, you've begun a fun new tradition your family and your neighbors will love.
- Make Halloween Treats For Your Kids Lunches: There are so many clever web-sites offering a huge range of fun and crafty projects you can do with your children. Here's just one of our favorites.
Apple Bites: Yum! (Family Fun) Toothsome treats are a fun and healthy break from Halloween sweets.
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
Apples
Slivered almonds
1. Just quarter and core an apple, cut a wedge from the skin side of each quarter, then press slivered almonds in place for teeth.
2. Tip: If you're not going to serve them right away, baste the apples with orange juice to keep them from browning.
3. (Optional) Add red fruit strips for the tongue - genius!
For more great recipes check out Family Fun Magazine on-line.
- Prank Your Kids and Your Husband: I love a good prank – well let me rephrase that – I love pranking others. So, while at the Halloween store lately I picked up a few prank items to play on my family; the fly in the ice, an eyeball in the evening coffee, and my 4 year olds favorite, a woopie cushion that re-inflates itself. When your family least expects it (especially from mom) play your prank and watch the fun begin. Keep the pranks light and fun – for endless laughs and be sure to be on your guard - who knows what pranks they'll play on you?
- Visit the Pumpkin Patch: Find the coolest pumpkin patch in town and take your children. My favorite is our local pumpkin patch that is over-the-top country bumpkin. There are hay rides pulled by a tractor, pony rides, corn stalk mazes and of course lots and lots of pumpkins. We can easily spend a couple of hours there. I prefer to go in the evening when everything is lit up and we can bundle up in our fall clothing.
- Host A Neighborhood Pumpkin Carving Party: This is a great event if you have new neighbors or if you are new to you neighborhood. Invite your neighbors over, pumpkin in hand, for a pumpkin carving party. Give everyone a printed stencil; we have listed a couple of great sites below where you can print free stencils, serve light snacks and drinks and have fun! When everyone is finished carving take a group photo. Get everyone's e-mail address and send a copy out to everyone who participated the next day.
We came across some great FREE printable Disney Character Pumpkin Stencils on Disney Family.com that are sure to be a hit with your kids. For those of you who are seasoned pumpkin carvers and like a little more "spirit" to your jack-o-lantern check out the FREE printable patterns we found on About.com. Spooky cool!
- Roast Pumpkin Seeds: I love roasting the seeds from our pumpkins. There are many recipes out there but I like this one. It's easy and traditional.
RECIPE INGREDIENTS:
2 cups pumpkin seeds
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
Rinse the seeds in cold water, rinsing away any fibrous strings. Pat them dry. Place clean seeds in a large bowl and add the vegetable oil and salt, stirring well to coat the seeds with the oil. Spread the seeds on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake until crisp and golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more salt if desired.
- Make A Quick Halloween Dinner: Remember Halloween day and rushing home from school so excited you could hardly eat? Well that's probably your children too. So, I have found that making a quick spaghetti dinner on Halloween Night goes a long way. Serve with garlic bread and veggies. It's a great tasting meal, inexpensive and you can easily feed many children if your home will be the hub for all the neighborhood kids.
- Create Eco-friendly Traditions: Looking for ways to make Halloween healthier for your kids and for the Earth? We found some great recommendations at http://www.celebrategreen.net.
And our friends at Celebrate Green are offering Saige Nicole's Subscribers 40% OFF the purchase price of their highly acclaimed book Celebrate Green!
Here's what KIWI Magazine had to say: "This mother-daughter team offers a myriad of suggestions on making holiday decor, gifts and meals more planet-friendly. Instead of falling into old habits of “mall dash, then trash,” readers can implement these ideas for every special occasion."
To Order Your Copy Cick Here. Enter SAIGENICOLES at checkout to receive your discount.
- Watch Your Favorite Classic Halloween Movie Together: Depending on the ages of your children, pull out or rent your favorite Halloween movie. My children love Hocus Pocus with Bett Middler and Sarah Jessica Parker so, when it comes on we make it a Halloween Family Movie Night by popping popcorn, turning out all the lights sitting down together and chillin'.
Over-the-Top
- Zombie Cake: You and your kids will really enjoy this video from an episode of TLC's The Cake Boss. Watch as this amazing team designs and creates a ghoulish Zombie Cake - for, of all things, a "Zombie Walk". See the video.
- Zombie Walk: After watching the Zombie Cake episode, I had to know more about Zombie walks. Wikipedia defines Zombie Walks: A zombie walk (also known as a zombie mob, zombie march, zombie horde, zombie lurch, zombie shamble, zombie shuffle or zombie pub crawl) is an organized public gathering of people who dress up in zombie costumes. Usually taking place in an urban centre, the participants make their way around the city streets and through shopping malls in a somewhat orderly fashion and often limping their way towards a local cemetery or other public space (a series of taverns in the case of a zombie pub crawl). Curious? So was I.
I went on line and found that many Zombie walks are being used as great fundraiser venue like Food Drives and Blood Drives (how apropos). I found this one right here in our sister city to the south, San Diego Zombie Walk.
