Five fun ideas for Halloween with kids

1. Carve the ultimate Jack O'Lantern

image credit: LifeHacker

We're so pleased that British families have finally started to adopt the North American tradition of carving ghoulish faces into pumpkins to celebrate Hallowe'en.... it makes Hallowe'en so much more fun! Unless you have some hitherto hidden talent for carving gourds, you might want to take a peek at these jack-o-lantern stencils, or for something really simple, turn a small butternut squash upside down and carve it into a skull. For some excellent tips on carving the best pumpkin ever, you must read this post on LifeHacker.

2. Make some tasty, sticky no-bake Hallowe'en Ghosts

image credit: Kellogg Company

Remember the Rice Krispie squares you used to make with your mum? OK, so these are like ghostly little  versions of those - totally cute, yummy, sticky, and great fun. Nuff said.  Click here for the recipe.

3. Get crafty with your children

Why buy Hallowe'en decorations when you can make something at home? Okay, it won't be quite as attractive... but making your own decorations is a great way to keep the kids busy indoors if the weather isn't cooperating, and the end result will be a nice keepsake. We like this really simple Halloween Pumpkin Mobile - it's simple enough even for toddlers, and super cute.

4. Gross them out with Halloween Feel Boxes

The idea here is to let the kids reach their hands (without looking) into containers filled with things that feel like body parts. Shudder-inducing, we know, but believe us, they will love it. For eyeballs, try some peeled grapes, and a good one for guts or chopped brains are cooked noodles. For extra un-appeal, try the really thick noodles (like Udon) and toss them in the tiniest bit of olive oil to make them a little slimy. This article suggests soft corn flour tortillas smeared with a little olive oil for skin - the very thought of it is so vile that we can totally imagine your boys laughing and trying to stick it to each other.

5. Make a Hallowe'en inspired dinner

For dinner, why not make a few dishes inspired by your Feel Boxes and let the kids draw some scary menus while you cook? Start off with a nice warm bowl of blood (tomato soup), move on to some brains (macaroni and cheese) and some cockroach-infested salad (salad with raisins scattered in), and for dessert you can dish up some mud and maggots (a chocolately rice pudding). To wash it all down, enjoy some murky swamp juice (orange juice with a touch of blue food colouring or blueberry juice), sucked up through a licorice straw, or try this recipe from Family Fun magazine.

Got any other ideas you'd like to share? Post them below or on our Facebook page!

Happy Hallowe'en!