HALLOWEEN with

 

ACTIVE KIDS CLUB

 

All Hallows Eve (Halloween) is quickly approaching and there is much to do to get ready.  There is so much to do in the next two months: outdoor field trips, crafts that use your creative juices and party planning to name a few.  When I was a kid, the build up to Halloween was half the fun.  With today’s pre-made costumes and everyone’s busy days it takes a little more planning ahead but if we start now with some ways to build up to Halloween, we can build some great memories.

 

Here are some activities we invite you to join us in October to get our kids ready.

 

Halloween Activities

 

  1. pumpkin picking
  2. lantern making (fun and safety at the same time)
  3. costume designing
  4. party decoration making
  5. party games planning
  6. party in the park

 

               

1.      Pumpkin Picking

To make our jack-o-lanterns. There are many local pumpkin patches to go pumpkin picking in. Learn how they grow, get outside, pet some goats.
 
 


http://www.downeysfarm.com/index.htm

http://www.chudleighs.com/farm_home.php

they have growing calendars and late September early

October seem to be the good times

 

 

2. Lantern Making
 
you will need

–       

 
Clear plastic jar (peanut butter jars work great)

–       

 
LED tea light candle

–        Glue that dries clear

–        Paint brush

–        Tissue paper

–        Sparkles and decals (optional)

–        Paint that sticks to plastic (optional)

 

Method

1.      Cut tissue paper so it entirely covers jar. Including the bottom of the jar (so it doesn’t overlap too much)

2.      Cover jar with glue and put the tissue paper on it.

3.      past your decal on with glue

4.      paint the entire jar with glue put on sprinkles

5.      let dry

6.      paint the lid and let dry (if you choose)

7.      cut a dozen small squares of tissue paper (about 1cm by 1cm)

8.      place LED tea light in the middle of the inside of the lid

9.      put the squares of tissue over the end of pencil and put glue on the tissue paper. Then stick the tissue paper in a circle around the tea light

10.  now you can take the tea light in and out without it sliding about.

11.  put the jar on the lid and you have a lantern

 

 

Mount it or carry it.

To carry it you’ll need a bit of ribbon, wire or string to make a handle and

you will haveto make some holes in the sides of the jar.

 

To mount it. find a walking stick and a bit of wood or a hook

 


 

 

 

 

 

 


3. Costume Designing

 

The most important thing to consider when choosing a costume for your and your wee one is will it fit over other layers.  At this time of year it can get quite chilly at night and a good costume means you can add layers in case it is cold or remove layers if we get lucky have  a warm night.

 

If you want to keep with traditional Halloween costumes all “badies” are fair game:  Ghosts, goblins, ghouls, witches, skeletons, and even evil characters from movies or history.  The problem with evils is that they are very often clad in black.  Black is an unsafe colour for children walking around in the dark.

 

Always make sure the costume has some white or bright colour and a light if possible.  See the lantern above. Not only a cool Halloween Costume accessory but also a Safety device and fun to make.

 

Now of course if your child goes with the not so traditional cartoon characters or tv stars there are many more options for bright reflective colours.

 

4. Party Decoration Making

 

Jack – O – Lanterns

-         get a pumpkin, an exacto knife, a black sharpie and your imagination.. go to it…

-         ideas here

-         http://pantagraph.com/articles/2006/10/25/life/doc4538edf6e2668518679355.txt

-         http://www.richarddavies.us/archives/miscellaneous/

 

                                          

 

5. Party Games Planning     traditional Halloween party games

 

bobing for apples – a bit too old for our kids

get a big bucket or pot (we used to use my mom’s bread making pot) fill with water and apples.  Kids try to get an apple out of the water using their teeth… NO HANDS allowed.  It is more difficult than it looks.  Have lots of towels ready.

 

house of horrors -  a bit too old for our kids

blindfold kids and have them touch the horrible things – telling them what they are feeling

eyeballs (peeled grapes)

worms (large soba noodles)

peeled plums (giant spider’s eggs)

cold oatmeal (brains)

spaghetti in oil (guts)

 

Pass The Pumpkins
Have kids sit in a circle and pass small pumpkins or gourds when the music is playing. When the music stops the child without a pumpkin is out continue until there's a winner.

 

Halloween Candy Hunt
Like an Easter egg hunt: Buy plastic eggs and paint them in halloween colors. put candy in them. then hide them. The prize can be the candy inside or some of the eggs can contain notification of winning a small prize or party favor.

 

Alternative Witch Hunt - In Search of Halloween Candy (Good for ages 3 - 6)
An evil Which has stolen the Halloween Candy! And now we need to find her and get the candy back. Good thing there are clues.. Gather a bunch of brooms (borrow from neighbors) and scatter them around the yard, with the handle pointing in the direction you want the children to go. (If you don't have brooms use something else) Start at the beginning of the broom path and search with flashlights for the next broom, and the next. At the end of the line have a big pot of
candy waiting for the kids. For more fun buy one of those witches that look like they smacked into a tree and place the candy right under that spot.
Thanks - Sara

 

Guess The Ghost - Great for Young Children
Have one child leave the room. Then take a large sheet and have a different (child) stand and hide under the sheet. Mix up the remaining children in the room and then allow the child who left the room to come back inside. That child has to guess who's the ghost, by process of elimination they need to figure out which child is hiding under the sheet. Then that "Ghost" goes out of the room and a different child becomes the new ghost, mix up the remaining children and repeat until all of the children have had a turn being the ghost.

 

Witches Brew
Fill a big pot with prizes wrapped in black and green paper, and throw a bunch of other gross stuff in like spiders, cobwebs, that popcorn Styrofoam, etc. to make it look like a big stew. Then have them reach hand in for prize (if they dare!) If it wasn't so messy, I'd even suggest slime or jello as the soup base. Thanks – Angela


Halloween Decorations - Iced Hands.
Fill some gloves up with water and put them in the freezer. As soon as the gloves are frozen, cut the rubber off. Then you put the iced hands in your bowls of punch , the effect is absolutely great and spookey.
Thanks Charlette

 

Rolling Pumpkins Relay
Line up into 2 teams. The first person passes the pumpkin over his/her head to the next person in line. The next person passes the pumpkin under his/her legs to the next person, and so on. When you get to the end of the line the last person runs up to the front and starts it all over again. Whoever has the first person that was in line at the beginning of the game in the back of the line WINS. Thanks- Lara, NC

7. Party in the Park

 

Active Kids Club would like to have a party the weekend before Halloween in Oriole Park.

 

We can all dress up.. sing some songs.. play some games… carve some pumpkins and enjoy the outdoors.

 

We are hoping that each person who comes to the party can bring their own pumpkins and that each person who comes can be responsible for 1 game or activity.

 

I volunteer to put together a scary song book that we can ‘practice’ before the actual party.

And I volunteer to do clean up… (unless someone else would rather do clean up)

 

Maybe someone could bring a cd player.. we have a disk of scary music!