The spookiest day of the year is fast approaching and families will be looking for Halloween activities to do with the children.
Whether or not they go out guising, your little ghosts and ghouls will have great fun trying these spooky crafts and games this witching weekend
Education expert Richard Evans, of the tutoring agency The Profs, gave us these suggestions and explained how to do them.
1. Make pumpkin guts slime
What you need: A container, 5 oz bottle of of clear glue, ½ cup water, ½ tsp baking soda, 1 tbsp contact lens solution, pumpkin seeds, food colouring.
What to do: Pour the glue into a bowl, add the water, baking soda, and stir. Mix a few drops of orange food colouring and add the pumpkin seeds. Next, add the contact lens solution and knead the slime until it is no longer sticky.
2. Recycled pumpkin golf course
What you need: Pumpkins left over from Halloween, tools to carve them and a mini golf set
What to do: Before you dispose of your carved pumpkins reuse them to create a mini golf course in your garden. Carve a few with mouths big enough for golf balls. Dot the pumpkins around and let your children and their friends play.
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4. Organise a Halloween scavenger hunt
What you need: Paper or card for clues and sweets or small toys for a prizes
What to do: Design the game based on your knowledge of Halloween ghost stories and hide a series of clues for children to solve to find the next one. You can also ask them to complete Halloween-themed tasks to earn treats.
5. Read Halloween books and act out parts
What you need: Access to your local library or book shop
What to do: All children love hearing stories, and many famous tales are perfect for Halloween, such as the Harry Potter series, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow or Hansel and Gretel. Give your children roles and have them act out scenes.
6. Discover the origins of Halloween
What you need: Access to the internet or your local library
What to do: Halloween started as a pagan holiday and evolved into what we celebrate today. Although the traditions vary from one country to another, they are so diverse and captivating that will not only manage to keep your kids entertained but also expand their knowledge. Do some research together about the festival of Samhain in ancient Britain and learn more about the origins of what we now know Halloween represents.
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