BOO! Halloween Fun!

Anyone that knows me knows I love all things scary…horror movies, scary books (hello Stephen King and Dean Koontz!).  So it should come as no surprise to you that I’ve always loved Halloween.  Even as an adult (before children) I decorated my home and couldn’t wait for the trick or treaters to come around.

So when our children came along I was quite disappointed that Halloween wasn’t big in Australia.  Even so, each year I let the children dress up in costumes (usually ones we made ourselves) and took them to all the nearby relatives to go trick or treating!  And each family received Halloween cookies from me.

As the years have passed Halloween has become quite popular here in Australia.  But living in the country can make it a bit difficult for kids to go trick or treating.  So about five years ago I decided to host my first Halloween party for our friends’ children (my children were teenagers by this point).   Initially it was difficult to find appropriate decorations, so I turned to Pinterest where I got plenty of inspiration and did a bit (quite a bit!) of DIY crafting.

Gradually more and more Halloween decorations and paraphernalia became available and each year my decorations and parties got a little more elaborate.

https://easyday.snydle.com

Food, of course, is a big part of any party.  So I always like to make sure there is plenty and that it’s a mixture of healthy and ….. not so healthy.  And of course there is always the obligatory candy!

http://llk-c.com

https://amyshealthybaking.com/2012/10/28/candy-corn-rice-krispie-treats/

http://recipebang.com

It’s always fun for the kids to have games and activities to participate in at parties and Pinterest has loads of fantastic ideas.  One really hilarious game is having them put their hands into creepy mystery boxes full of “brains, witches’ tongues, eyeballs and monsters’ ears”.  The more gross it feels, the better!  Another activity is bobbing for apples.  It’s an oldie, but a goodie!  Last year we added the American favorite to the party repertoire…S’mores!  Although by the time it got dark enough to sit around the firepit and make the S’mores most of the kids were full and pooped!

https://christinasadventures.com

Sadly a few of the children that have been attending our annual Halloween parties are getting a bit too old.  But there is another generation waiting to share this tradition with us and I’ll be ready with my witch’s hat in hand!