There will be no trick or treat visits in your neighbourhood this year. While it’s fair to say that Halloween trick and treat night was never as big as in the US, more and more British children embraced the excitement of dressing up and collecting yummy snacks from the surrounding houses. But, unfortunately, the coronavirus pandemic is going to change the typical Halloween party night. Social distancing restrictions have ruled out household visits. However, that doesn’t mean you can’t make it fun for the family.
Keeping children entertained this Halloween can be a lovely way of replacing the trick and treat walk. Craft projects can be not only engaging but hugely rewarding too. As the shop aisles are filing with Halloween decorations and costumes, it’s time to bring the seasonal spirit into your home. Luckily for a lot of children, the half-term holidays can give them plenty of time to practise and get ready. Not sure where to begin? Here are 7 ideas to make your Halloween at home every bit as fun and successful as any other year!
For little ones, a non-carved Jack O’ Lantern
There can be no Halloween with a pumpkin craft project. However, when you are keeping younger kids entertained, carving the pumpkin may not be the best option. It can be too dangerous for little Halloween’s helpers. Therefore, it’s best to switch to pumpkin craft activities that don’t involve carving.
A post-it pumpkin is a fun and simple project you can do together in an afternoon. With orange and green post-it notes, you have everything you need to create a pumpkin head in the window or on the wall. Add details with black paper, such as the eyes and nose, and tada, you’ve got yourself a sweet Jack O’ Lantern in the window.
You can also encourage children to create their own pumpkin heads on small pumpkins and squashes that can be bought in shops. Instead of carving, painting can do the trick. If you want to keep those as decoration for a long time, add a coat of transparent varnish when the paint is dry. They will look fabulous on the window sill.
For older kids, the real Jack O’ Lantern
Teenagers, on the other hand, are more confident with a knife. They’re old enough to know how to hold it carefully, so you can trust them to carve a pumpkin by themselves or with your help. There are, however, some essential safety rules to observe:
- You will need a sharp knife that can cut through the pumpkin skin and flesh easily. Accidents happen when people use a blunt blade that requires additional force to go through the surface.
- You can buy specialist carving tools for the pumpkin, which you can find online or in craft shops.
- You can make it easier for yourself by placing the pumpkin in an oven at a low temperature for 30 to 45 minutes. Wait until it has cooled for carving. It will not be enough to cook through, but it can make the skin and flesh tender to cut.
You can find some carving templates online if you’re not sure where to start. The smiling face is a popular design, but a witch or a bat can be equally satisfying. The shapes create a large opening for a tea light!
But if the pumpkin is too hard to cut, you could scratch your design into the surface, by carefully removing the dark layer of skin. You will need a craft paper-knife or scalpel to do so, but it can be a safer option for intricate designs. Add glow in the dark paint, and you can bring your engraved pumpkin to life!
Spider webs for the window
Halloween is not just about pumpkin. You can create your scary display at home. For realistic-looking spider webs, you can use glue guns to draw the shape. Let it dry first because you can hang your spider web by the window or at either side of the door. Glue creates an opaque web that appears milky white. But you can paint it once it’s dry. For best effect, you can place some glow in the dark paint on a toothbrush and use it to spray the web. You’ll get some splashes of colour that will highlight your web.
The monster in the wardrobe craft
Young kids love simple craft projects that are easy to handle by hand. Creating monster eyes with pebbles and cobbles found outside is an excellent activity for them. First, you’ll need to clean the stones to make sure they are smooth to the touch. Let Halloween’s littler helpers apply a coat of white paint. When it is dry, you will need to add a few layers of glow in the dark paint on the surface. Finally, wait until dry before drawing the eye and adding details with a marker pen. And tada, you’ve got monster eyes to place inside the wardrobe!
Halloween makeup for kids
Can there be a proper Halloween party without fantastic costumes? For young children, simple makeup tricks can create a memorable costume. If you are not sure where to start, here are some ideas and tutorials for a realistic zombie or a cute Dracula. If your child is happy to sit for a longer makeup session, you can try a Nightmare before Christmas style that requires full face painting.
A zombie dance
It’s hard to think of Halloween without thinking of the infamous Thriller dance. Why not challenge your kids to create their choreographed dance? Older kids can get creative and invent their moves or copy some of their favourite pop stars. For younger ones, it’s the occasion to engage their coordination and show them simple and engaging moves.
Halloween cookies
Last but not least, Halloween is a time for scary cookies! You can find cookie cutters in your favourite craft shops – the Range or the Cake Craft shop are good places to start. You’ll need to prepare coloured batches of icing – icing sugar, a few drops of lemon juice or water, and some food colouring – and get some piping bags to create your patterns.
Halloween can be the occasion to create fun and exciting projects together. Getting crafty can let you not only decorate the house with your creations but also encourages the kids to get imaginative. From safe pumpkin designs to delicious cookies, there’s plenty of family fun to have!
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