Anyone else got that Halloween-half-term feeling?
We've already had one blood bath this morning when the eldest chucked himself over the handle-bars of his scooter en route to school today - but enough about spectacular parenting skills ... on to becoming a 'Spooctacular' parent!
Here's 10 things to do with the kiddos that won't break the bank but will keep them mildy entertained ...
1. Make room for more!
Do your kids have their own snack drawer or sweetie stash? Then get them tidying it, chucking all the open packets and jellies gone hard and binning all the tinfoil clutter to make room for the in-coming Halloween treats.
Not into snacks? Why not make a start on their toys instead for when the big guy delivers cos you know as soon as Halloween ends we’ll be talking the ‘C-Word’ ... hey they might even find some smaller toys they could give away as 'treats' (let's not be giving away broken stuff as 'tricks' though!).
2. Go for an Autumnal walk
Hit the woods – it’s beautiful out there in Autumn so soak it all in and if it’s a bit chilly why not warm up with a Halloween Hot Chocolate when you get back.
Our Halloween Pumpkin Mugs are a perfect treat at the end of a chilly day
If you’re crafty you could always gather some leaves for a later activity but DEFINITELY pick up some sticks – we’ve got a great ideas for them later ….
3. Make some Halloween snacks
They're truly horrible but also brilliant at the same time - grab yourself some hotdogs and buns and make a gory witches fingers snack ... who can make the most real looking finger?! And let's be honest you can hardly get a cheaper lunch!
These ideas from Ye Olde Oak are the best witches fingers we've seen
Truly awful - your kids will love them!
4. Make a pumpkin but from lego
Why not set your kids some Halloween lego challenges ... sift out all the orange, green, purple and black first and see what spooky ideas they can come up with ... (then while they're on quietly with that you could always hide some of those tiny bits in their bedroom floor carper as a trick! Ssssshhhh!!! we won't tell) .
Best Jack-O-Lantern idea wins ... something!
Find that orange lego and get going!
5. Watch a halloween movie
We love halloween movies at Not Just a Print - the original Hocus Pocus is by far our favourite in the studio
We are obsessed with this Hocus Pocus quote mug!
If your kids are a bit young for that why not try some of these instead:
- Coco
- The Witches
- Monsters Inc.
- Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit
- The Addams Family
- Hotel Transylvania
Or go for a classic ...
- Chitty Chitty Bang Bang (that Child Catcher is certainly scary!)
- Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (either of them are certainly weird!)
- Anything Harry Potter (witches, wizards, spells ... it's a different Halloween film angle?)
6. Play some halloween games
We've started you off with a freebie! Download our 'pin the tail on the cat', free Halloween game, print it out and off you go ...
7. Make some Halloween decorations
We love this idea of halloween bunting - so simple even the kids can do it!
8. Paint some Halloween rocks
Get the paints out and let yourself go ... the options really are endless - there's some great ideas to get started from Artistro here.
9. Do a 'Draw with Rob'
Rob Biddulph an absolute saviour when it comes to entertaining the kids - why not do a 'Draw with Rob' we love his pumpkin ideas - there's load to choose from too in his newest book - Draw with Rob at Halloween.
Check out Rob's YouTube channel for new ideas to follow along with - why not start with this Halloween Pumpkin design ...
Watch along and Draw a Jack-o-lantern design with Rob
10. Make a spiders web
No instructions for this one but we love this really simple idea of making a spiders web out of wool and twigs ... you never know the torture of it all might give you kids a new found respect for the spider family!
Bonus ... Have a Hallo-wine
After all that grab yourself a Wine, stick some olives in it and call them eyeballs! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-haaaah!
Happy Halloween-Half-Term!
For more Halloween gift ideas be sure to check out our full range here