Halloween Activities for Young Children

Celebrate the annual Fright Night with these seventeen fun (and not so scary) ideas, especially for young children.

1. Try your hand at face painting, or allow your children to paint each other's faces with washable face paints.

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2. Make your own goodie bags. Set out some brown paper bags with the standard art supplies or embellish an old pillowcase with fabric paints. You can even spring for blank canvas baggies from your local discount store or craft store without spending a lot.

3. Tie-dye some T-shirts or socks using orange and black fabric dyes.

4. Make ghosts. Fold a piece of black construction paper in half and let your child squirt white paint inside. Squish the paint between the paper, let dry, then embellish the white ghost with paints, markers and other craft supplies.

5. Make homemade slime. This is always a popular activity. Here is a great recipe from Family Fun Magazine: http://jas.familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts?page=CraftDisplay&craftid=10684

6. Watch a Halloween movie. Make popcorn, cuddle up together in blankets, and take in some spooky cinematic sights. Harry Potter, Dracula, or Ghostbusters are great choices. For younger children, choose Heffalump Halloween, starring Winnie the Pooh or The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad by Disney Classics.

7. Eat creepy cuisine. Cut sandwiches or tortillas into Halloween shapes with cookie cutters. Create a ghoulish look with almost anything by mixing in a little green or red food coloring.

8. Play "Guess How Many Pumpkin Seeds." Each family member or party guest gets to take turns guessing how many pumpkin seeds are in a jar. The winner gets a prize.

9. Go apple bobbing. Fill a bucket or tub with water and apples and see how many apples each contestant can snag.

10. Make masks. Set out the art supplies and see who can make the scariest mask with a paper plate, construction paper, yarn, and markers or paints.

11. Create a family costume. Come up with a costume theme that the whole family can participate in. One year, we were all Star Wars characters. Maybe you will all be people from the Wild West or fuzzy forest animals.

12. Have a pumpkin seed spitting contest.

13. Roast pumpkin seeds. Clean the pumpkin seeds and toss them in just enough melted butter to lightly cover the seeds. (One tablespoon of butter is generally enough for the seeds from a medium sized pumpkin.) Salt the seeds, then spread them on a baking sheet in a single layer. Bake at 250 degrees until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

14. Play Pin the Tail on the Black Cat (or Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin.) Any variation of Pin the Tail on the Donkey is fun for young kids.

15. Make a Scare Tape. Record you and your family members making spooky sounds. All you need is a tape recorder and a little imagination. Include footsteps, slamming doors, creepy howling werewolves, and crazy cackles. Play the tape from your front porch on Halloween.

16. Give each child an inexpensive disposable camera for the big night. This is a fun way to see what Halloween looks like from their perspective. I love to give my kids a blank journal and let them tell the story of memorable events, such as Halloween. This is a great tradition and really helps them to tell their personal stories, which they will cherish for many Halloweens to come.

17. Once Halloween is over, make sure to shop the post Halloween sales for fun additions to your dress up closet, which your young children are sure to enjoy year round.

Happy haunting!

Halloween Activities for Young Children

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Children Do Not Want Fairy Costumes For Halloween

If you know me a little, you already know that I am Belgian.

In Belgium, we always celebrated All Saints Day and the Day of Deaths on 1st and 2nd of November instead of Halloween and I cannot say that they are subjects very funny to write about. In Belgium also, the weather is always rainy, so, since I work in a school, children are often inside rather than outside and I always have to find an activity for them so that they are not bored. This week I also had to find some Halloween subjects to write about.

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So, I found the solution: instead of writing an article dedicated to Halloween and called "top 10 Halloween Kids Costumes" based on articles and information written by adults, I asked the children what are the Halloween costumes they would like to dress on October 31st.

I must acknowledge that I was terribly disappointed. When I was a child, I adored being dressed up as a princess, baroness, White-Snow, etc. For Carnival, the boys were all dressed like Robin Hood, The prince of Arabian Nights, cow-boy, indian, musketeers...

But what kind of costume do the 2007 children like? I asked the children at school what kind of costume they want to dress for Halloween. The answers were diversified even though they did not have much of magical touch.

"What kind of Halloween costume would you like for Halloween, Sylvie?"

"Scream's costume including the mask of course, Madame Domi!" She is only 10 years old! I thought that her answer would be a Cinderella or Esmeralda costume. It was not! She wanted to dress the Scream's murderer costume. Why? Because Scream was the most interesting movie she saw!

Anaïs answer was the following one:

"I want to dress a rich witch costume, with a pointy hat, a black wig, a large hooked nose with a big button on it, long nails like claws and pointed shoes".

Agon hesitated between the Devil's costume: the same as in the bible, with a tail, a fork, horns... or a pirate costume.

"As Johnny Depp in Pirates of the Caribbean?" I asked to him.

"No, sometimes pirates are skeletons and I want to be a skeleton-ghost-pirate."

Another one answered:

"I want to dress the Monster Mash costume, Madame".

The kid probably heard talking about the Monster Mash when he watched The Simpsons' Halloween show. I love the Monster Mash song but never saw the Monster Mash in person and I do not think that someone saw this monster and knows what kind of costume he dresses.

The youngest children interviewed want to dress a Superman or a Batman costume.

My greatest surprise was Cynthia answer, who we call Brutus because she is not a delicate young girl. Cynthia wants to dress a princess costume.

So, the top 5 Children Halloween Costumes are:

Scream's murderer costume,
Witch Costume,
The Devil's costume,
Pirate costume,
Spiderman or Batman costume.

I will interview my +40 years old friends on what they would like to dress as Halloween costumes!

I think I will be surprised!

Children Do Not Want Fairy Costumes For Halloween

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Buy the Lelli Kelly Shoes For Girls and Children

If you are looking for shoe brands that are extremely stylish and at the same time, comfortable to wear, the Lelli Kelly shoes are the right option for you. In fact, because of its style, this brand of shoes is so much adored by the girls. What's more, when you buy the Lelli Kelly shoes, you will get a gift for each pair. Certainly, this is another reason why you should buy these shoes. And as a parent you would love to ensure that the shoes for your little girl will keep her tender feet safe and healthy. Here again, the Lelli Kelly shoes have a point to prove. So, every way you look at it, it seems to be the best option that you have for your girl.

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Kids always love to wear shoes that are beautiful and comfortable. In this regard, the Lelli Kelly shoes are sure to appeal to their imagination. For, they have a unique sense of style and their designs add to the exclusiveness of these shoes. In fact, their shoes are especially designed while keeping in mind the special needs of the kids.

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This is one of those brands that understand exactly what the kids want for their shoes and make sure that they get it from these shoes. At the same time, they understand the concern of the parents over the quality of the shoes as well.

One great thing with this brand is that they always use the best quality produce to ensure the highest level of comfort for the little feet. Also, these shoes are especially designed to remove the bacteria and fungi from the shoes. So, with the Lelli Kelly shoes, you know that your kids' feet are in safe places. Also, these shoes use special technologies to ensure that the feet of your kids remain dry and soft even after using it for a long time. So, you don't have to worry about the comfort of wearing these shoes anymore.

What's more, these shoes are especially designed while keeping in mind the activities that the kids often find themselves in. So, whether they are playing or running, these shoes are sure to give them the highest level comfort for sure. Now, while you are more busy with the safety of the kid's feet inside the shoe, Lelli Kelly never overlook the question of style as well. In fact, this brand is often considered one of the best manufacturers of the most stylish shoes for kids. They have uniqueness in their look that is sure to make an appeal to all the kids and adults alike.

Buy the Lelli Kelly Shoes For Girls and Children

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