Family participation during Halloween's trick-or-treating is fun. Make decorations, design a jack-o-lantern, sport costumes and painted faces.
On the eve of Halloween, October 31st, the neighborhood streets are filled with parents and excited children dressed up in their favorite costumes.
Ghosts, goblins, witches, clowns, space creatures, movie heroes and villains are some of the disguises worn for fun by the trick-or-treating children.
Although trick-or-treating is the main activity at Halloween, the whole family can participate in other fun activities in preparation for the night of canvassing door-to-door for candies. Both young and old can enjoy the fun at Halloween.
Begin the Halloween preparations by decorating the exterior of your dwelling, in particular the area you wish the costumed children to visit.
Decorations are easy to make and something every member of the family can participate in.
* A carved pumpkin: the family jack-o-lantern.
* Cardboard tombstones: a teen or adult can precut sheets of cardboard in the shape of a tombstone and younger children can decorate them with gray and black water paints.
* Mini ghosts: use 12" squares from a white bedsheet or plastic grocery bags. Crumple a ball of newspaper and place it in the center of the square. Join the four corners and bring the ends together as you tie a string around the base of the ghost's neck. Leave the string long enough to allow you to hang the ghosts from tree branches.
* Paper jack-o-lanterns: all members of the family can decorate pumpkin shapes cut from orange construction paper.
* Black bats: cut from black construction and either taped to the windows or strung from tree branches.
Ideally it would be great fun if the whole family could go trick-or-treating together. Try to recruit a member of your extended family to be the doorman (handing out the candy to the trick-or-treating children that visit your house). Offer to disguise the willing participant with face paint and a costume for added fun. Not only will the doorman enjoy handing out the treats, but also he will pleasantly surprise the costumed children who come trick-or-treating to the door.
Have all of the family members wear a costume, including any young children too small to walk and the parent(s) out walking with the kids. Painted faces are safer than masks and light colored costumes are more visible to cars than dark colors.
Adults need not fear they have nothing to wear. Mom can wear Dad's business suit, sporting equipment or pajamas. Dad can wear Mom's hair rollers and housecoat, dress and high heels or bikini bathing suit. Check out each other's closets for great costume ideas. By dressing up you will remember your childhood Halloween fun and encourage your children to enjoy this evening activity of trick-or-treating.
When you are ready to head out into the streets, remember of bring flashlights and to make yourselves visible to cars. Most importantly, have fun as a family.
