Every Thursday I bring you kid-tested parenting tips for a specific parenting challenge “from the mouths of moms.”
1. Throw a “Trick or Treat” Party
“We throw a costume party in October every year where we play ‘Trick or Treat.’ I'm not big on Halloween, but I love games! There is a bowl of strips of paper and a bowl of candy. Each strip of paper either says ‘Treat’ and you pick a candy out of the bowl for your turn, or it describes a ‘trick’ you must perform. This blog post is from before we had kids, but it shows a few of the ‘tricks’ we had to do! It is always a total blast. And I can't wait until our boys are old enough to play. Most of the tricks are so silly, even toddlers can play.” Kristin from Call Me Kristin
2. Make Your Halloween Costumes
“I have a tradition of always making my kids' Halloween costumes. I can't wait until they can start helping me make them. I want them to think of Halloween as an opportunity to be creative.” Krissy from B-Inspired Mama
3. Bake Halloween Sugar Cookies
“Last year was our first year as a family of three. We gathered apples at the orchard, visited the pumpkin patch, painted pumpkins, and baked sugar cookies. Baking the Halloween sugar cookies was a tradition that was started when I was a kid, but the others were new ones that began with our family.” Gina from famiglia&seoul
4. Give Your Candy to “The Great Pumpkin”
“We started a Halloween tradition last year where they pick out 5 pieces of candy from Trick or Treating to keep, then put the rest on the porch on Halloween night. When they wake up in the morning, they see that ‘The Great Pumpkin’ replaced that unhealthy candy with a few small toys and art supplies.” Krissy from B-Inspired Mama
5. Spend Time Outdoors
“We get outdoors and take Halloween Hikes every year or Hayrides.” Lora from Kids Creative Chaos
6. Head to the Mall
“Because, he's young and it's cold here, so far we have gone to the mall for 2 years. It's warm and safer. All he does is walk into the store and they give him the candy. It's ideal for the little ones.” Valerie from Glittering Muffins
7. Visit a Museum
“We go to the Smithsonian’s Air and Scare Museum every year. They have treats, all of the Star Wars guys and fun games for the kids.” Kristen from Busy Kids Happy Mom
8. Go to the Zoo
“We go to the Zoo Boo every year at the Detroit Zoo. It's a great time to see lots of kids (and sometimes adults) in wonderful costumes! There's a trail that's set up through part of the zoo with stops for candy ... and at the end there are games for the kids, a ‘Zoo Boo Revue’ show, and cider & donuts!” Laura from Play Dr. Mom
9. Bake Some Pumpkin Seeds
“We go to the pumpkin patch the weekend before and carve and decorate our pumpkins. We then bake the seeds. This is the thing I look forward to the most.” Brittany from Love, Play, Learn
10. Do Candy Science Experiments
“We only did this last year, but I definitely want to do this again this year and make it a tradition. Experiments with all our leftover candy!” Laura from Play Dr. Mom
How do you and your kids celebrate Halloween? Any fun Halloween traditions?
Do you have any clever parenting tips or fun kids’ activities? I’d love to share them with my readers by having you guest post. Just contact me for more information!
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I love your idea of sharing candy with "The Great Pumpkin!" I'll have to remember that! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Gina! The kids didn't seem to mind giving up their candy at all. And my fiance just took all that candy in and shared it with his coworkers.
DeleteGreat ideas! We have done the pumpkin seeds and the kids really enjoyed it. Especially the part where they removed the seeds from the gooey pulp. Pinning this list.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Vicky. I remember roasting pumpkin seed when I was a kid, but I haven't done it with my kiddos yet.
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ReplyDeleteCarving the jack-o-lantern. It was fun choosing the face. My dad would draw them free hand, and then cut them out. With all the stencils available, you can have any kind of face or picture.
ReplyDeleteSuch awesome memories! I know what you mean, too. The pumpkin designs you see now are a far cry from the jack-o-lanterns from my childhood Halloweens. :)
DeleteAs a Veteran and a sister of an active duty Marine serving in Afghanistan, I always hit the after Halloween candy sales and let the kids help me pick out candy to send to the troops overseas. Last year my oldest son even donated the majority of his candy to send over too.
ReplyDeleteThat is AWESOME! That would be a great thing to do with the candy that the "great pumpkin" exchanges. Thanks for the idea.
DeleteJDaniel would love to see the characters from Star Wars. Our tradition is to bake treats and hand them out to neighbor as we trick or treat. We give before JDaniel gets.
ReplyDeleteI love that, Dierdre! So sweet and teaches such an important lesson.
DeleteThis is such a great, fun list! I am featuring it on my Kid's Co-op roundup tomorrow!
ReplyDelete-Brittany@ love, play, learn
You are providing very interesting idea for Halloween.Thank for sharing these funny ideas.
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