2012 Halloween Activities

Our Halloween in pictures! We had a themed breakfast, lunch and dinner, painted jack-o-lantern paper plates, played a roll-a-bat game and pumpkin bowling and made Halloween funfetti cupcakes for a snack. It was a full but fun day! 

I'm really going to try to get back to posting more frequently (and not taking another 5 months off!), so I'm planning a month full of turkey/fall/thankful activities for November. Stay tuned! For now, here are my little guys all dressed up (and dressed down!) for Halloween!

Autumn Scavenger Hunt

Halloween decorations are starting to rival Christmas decorations! Why not make a game out of it?! Create a scavenger hunt list or a BINGO card with all the things that your kids think they will see during a walk around the neighborhood. You can include pumpkins, jack-o-lanterns, tombstones, spiderwebs, ghosts, colored lights, blow-ups... anything! Then go for a walk and let your kids find the items on their list or card. Get little toys as prizes, or make coupons that are "good for one piece of candy" that they can cash in after trick-or treating. As a family you can get some exercise, play a game and use your creativity. What do you think? Image from FamilyFun.com

Stash the Stash

Do you wonder how to keep your kids (or yourself!) from downing candy bar after candy bar after Halloween? I have been hearing some great restraint ideas from other moms that I couldn't help but share. The Great Pumpkin/The Sugar Witch Let your kids pack a small sandwich bag of their favorite treats from the evening (pack one for yourself too!) Put the rest of the loot in a bowl by the front door/the fireplace/the kitchen table and tell your kids that The Great Pumpkin (or the Sugar Witch) is coming tonight to take all the extra candy to a local food bank to share with other kids. In exchange for their 'generosity,' The Great Pumpkin leaves a small toy for each child. Thanksgiving Countdown Calendar Create a countdown calendar similar to an Advent calendar. As you open the door for each day leading up to Thanksgiving to eat the candy that day, talk about what you are thankful for and what your kids are thankful for. This will help to spread out the sugar consumption over many more days. Unload! When we were kids we would plan our route so we could stop back home and unload our loot, lighten our load and run even faster to each house. While we were gone, my mom would sort through the candy and use the kinds that we didn't like as much to give out to other trick-or-treaters. We all know that if it's around, we're going to eat it, even if it's not our favorite... so why not be the house that gives handfuls of candy to the kids and get rid of the pieces that you don't like as much. Ask your kids before they go what their two favorites are, keep those and give all the others away (like jawbreakers - I mean c'mon, who wants a jawbreaker?!) Do you have any good ideas for decreasing the candy consumption for your little ones or do you overlook the extra sugar because Halloween is only once a year? What did your parents do when you were a kid?

Pumpkin Critters & Templates

I don't know about you, but I am terrible at carving pumpkins. Not only that, but I'm terrible at envisioning what I want it to look like too. Here are a couple cute ideas and a link for pumpkin carving templates from Family Fun magazine. Pumpkin Carving Templates http://familyfun.go.com/halloween/pumpkin-carving-decorating/printable-halloween-patterns/ Instructions for these pumpkin projects can be found at http://www.parents.com/

Cupcake Magic

Witch Cupcakes

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups chocolate frosting
1 package Oreo sugar cones
Orange sprinkles
1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting, divided
Neon green food coloring
12 cupcakes, removed from paper liners
Chocolate chips
Green and red tube icing
Mike and Ikes
Chocolate sprinkles

Directions:
Place chocolate frosting in a ziploc bad and snip off a small corner. Pipe base of cones, dip in orange sprinkes, and set aside. Place 1/2 cup vanilla frosting in another ziploc bad and snip off a small corner. Tint remaining frosting green and frost cupcakes. Turn cupcakes on sides, then place decorated cones on top. Using vanilla frosting, pipe eyes on cupcakes. Attach chocolate chips for pupils and pipe a dot onto chips. Use red icing for mouths, green icing for warts; shape Mike and Ikes into noses. Pipe chocolate icing onto cupcakes for hair and sprinkle with chocolate sprinkes.

Gummy Mummies

Ingredients:
1 box (22.5 oz) brownie mix
1 can (16 oz) vanilla frosting
Green sour apple bubble tape gum
M&Ms

Directions:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions. Divide batter among lined mini cupcake pans to make 36. Bake 20 mnutes and let cool completely. Spread frosting onto brownies. Place a piece of trimmed gum across center of cupcake. Top with M&Ms for eyes. Place more pieces of gum at slight angles to cover tops, leaving eyes visible.


These recipes are from Parents.com

Spooky Snacks

I can't wait until my boys are old enough to really get into holidays! Even if we don't throw a Halloween party every year, some of these treats are too fun to pass up, even just as an after school (or after trick-or-treating) snack. Try them out this year!

Slimy Snack
Prepare a package of lime or apple jello as directed and divide among 8-ounce mason jars or clear bowls, filling only halfway; refrigerate until firm. Prepare another jello flavor such as cherry, berryblue or grape. While jello is cooking, place three gummy worms on top of set jello and let another hang over the lip. Pour second flavor over the worms, filling to the top; refrigerate.

Frankentreats
Make rice krispie treats and cut into bars (or use store bought bars). Push each bar onto a skewer; set aside. Melt 1 cup white chocolate chips and 1 tablespoon shortening; stir in green or neon green food coloring. Spoon melted chocolate over all sides of bars, place on wax paper lined cookie sheet. Use M&Ms to create eyes and ears, a piece of gummy worm for the mouth, and jujubes for the neck bolts. Refrigerate until the chocolate has hardened, then remove the skewers. Draw on the hair and dot eyes wth black decoratin icing.

Witch on a Stick
Melt 1 cup white chocolate chips, 1 tablespoon shortening and a few drops of green food coloring; stir until smooth. Dip the end of the pretzel rod into the chocolate, covering the top 2 inches. Place on wax paper and sprinkle the sides of each rod with coconut flakes to form hair. Top each with a Hershey kiss and refrigerate until the chocolate has hardened. Draw on eyes, nose and mouth with black decorating icing; fising my covering the kiss too.

These recipes are from the October 2008 issue of Parenting magazine.