Halloween Ideas

Fall leaves, pumpkins, haunted houses-Halloween is a great time of the year to make family traditions. You probably already have traditions for the season, but if you're thinking of adding a few more or trying something different, here are a few ideas to get you started.

• Go to a pumpkin patch on a beautiful afternoon. Let everyone pick a pumpkin from the field. Get apple cider and go on a hayride, or go for a drive in the country afterwards and have a picnic under the beautiful fall leaves. Make a day of it.



• Set aside some time to clear off the kitchen table and carve jack-o-lanterns together. Let the kids draw patterns and help them with the carving. After you finish, set the pumpkins up outside, light them, and admire them as a family.



• Decorate the house as a family inside and out. Put up fake cobwebs, window decorations, spooky lights, and make a creepy scarecrow with hay to sit on the front lawn for the season. ~Set up a mini-haunted house for trick-or-treat night, or volunteer as a family to help at a local haunted house for a good cause.



• Make semi-handmade costumes or buy interchangeable masks and accessories and let everybody help. Somebody can do face makeup, somebody can sew, somebody can spray paint hair-get everybody involved.



• Dress up with your kids to take them trick-or-treating. Let them pick your costume and get you ready to go. They'll love to see mom and dad getting in on all the fun.



• Have a Halloween party. Send invitations and turn the backyard into an obstacle course. Put the kids on teams and make up a scavenger hunt for prizes. Maybe somebody has to reach into a cauldron of "brains" to find a spider marked with their team colors, or you could have your own monster mash. Get creative and your family will have a great time.