Witches walking down the streets, spider webs everywhere, and pumpkins for sale at the supermarket… you know what that means… Halloween! It’s that special time of year that kids put on elaborate costumes and wander the streets asking for candy, all to celebrate… what? From the history of this peculiar holiday to the numerous ways to celebrate, Halloween is all kinds of fun! A Haunting History The celebration of Halloween originated from the ancient Celtic festival of Samhain, during which people would light bonfires and wear crazy costumes to ward off roaming ghosts. When the eighth century rolled around, Christianity adopted the celebration. Pope Gregory III designated November 1 as All Saints’ Day to honor saints and martyrs, declaring the night before “Hallow’s Eve.” Overtime, the night of October 31 evolved into Halloween, a secular, community based, child-friend celebration characterized by creepy costumes and tasty treats! A time of celebration and superstition, Halloween offers countless ways for the whole family to have a good time. A Halloween party can be a great way to make the night extra exciting as you pass out candy. Try these easy, themed activities to keep the celebrations chillingly fun! DIY Halloween Photo Booth Photo booths are always a huge hit at parties. If you have the time and materials, you can set up a background by pinning or taping a black table cloth to an open wall and letting your kids draw and cut out decorations to tape on. Otherwise, the party is your background! Have your little ones help you make a few Halloween themed props, such as a witch hat cut from black paper, a Jack-O-Lantern face cut from orange paper complete with eye and mouth holes, or Halloween speech bubbles (BOO!). Use your imagination and have fun! Once you have all the props you want, hot glue or tape each to a chopstick, wooden dowel, or even popsicle stick for your guests to hold up as they snap pictures. Place them in a vase and leave them out for party-goers! Paper Plate Spider Webs
Younger children love this craft, plus the finished product can serve as further decoration for your party! Start by collecting paper plates, yarn, black paint, bobby pins, scissors, hole-punches, glue, and plastic spiders (found at virtually any store this time of year). This can be a slightly messy process (what fun isn’t messy?), so be sure to lay out a paper tablecloth to make clean up easy. 1) Help your kids and other small party guests cut a circle out of the center of the plate along the rim where the edges start to slant up. 2) Pass out paint brushes and instruct the little artists to paint their plates black. 3) Next help them use the hole punch to punch several holes around the inside rim of their O shaped plates. 4) Tape one end of a long piece of yarn to the back of the plate and tie a bobby pin to the other end. This will help the kids sew the yarn through the holes more easily. 5) Instruct the kids to criss-cross the yarn through holes on one side of the plate to the other, creating a spider web! 6) For a finishing touch, put a spot of glue on the spiders and stick them to the web. 7) Finally, hole punch the top of the plate and string another piece of yarn through there. Tie the yarn and then hang up the creepy decoration! Crazy Creepy Costume Contest The Halloween costume contest is a classic for a reason – its tones of fun and it motivates people to have crazy, creepy outfits! Gather your guests and create an isle through the crowd for contestants to walk through. Let everyone show off their stuff and tell the other guests to applaud to put in their vote for best costume. Once everyone’s gone, declare a winner and maybe present a treat reward! Whether you and your kids are munching on sweets or creating spider webs, hands and faces are sure to get dirty. Try TruKid’s Friendly Face Wash and Helping Hand Wash to clean up, then use Happy Face and Body Lotion to soothe sensitive skin after all the fun!
From all of us here at TruKid, we hope your treats outweigh your tricks!
