Halloween and Fun Things for the Month of October

Photo taken by Jessa Balough of my little- Facebook page

It's that time of year again. Isn't that a funny saying? Like, isn't it going to be that "time" of year every year because you can't really skip it? Ignore it maybe, but not skip it. Well, that did not take long for me to get off topic! It is HALLOWEEN time! I love the beginning of the Holiday season and I am always looking for things to do to get excited and celebrate the joy of holidays all month long! Here are just a few things we have done with my family in the past and look forward to doing in the future.

1. I like to always start off with putting out the decorations or even adding to them! I think it would be a lot of fun to do a Halloween decoration project every year. One year you could make a ghost tree, the next year make a wooden pumpkin to re-use, or just whatever idea strikes you or your children s fancy.  This year, my little and I will be decorating the fridge with her Halloween coloring pages.

2. Bake Halloween cookies, make Caramel Apples, or even just have a Halloween "date" with your children if you are not in the cooking mood. Starbucks makes an AMAZING Hot Apple Cider drink. You can also make home made Apple Cider...with Cinnamon and whip cream on top..YUM! Just enjoy tasting the fall season in some way!

3.Go enjoy the fall weather somewhere new or start a new tradition with a certain place to go! Go for hay rides, pick a pumpkin out of a pumpkin patch, visit a haunted house, or go to a fall carnival or harvest festival. Our church put on a Harvest Festival this year and it was a really fun day.If you do not want to spend money then you could even just go on a nature hike. It is an absolutely beautiful time of year with the leaves turning color and falling slowly down on nature trails. We just did this a week or so ago and it was wonderful! See the picture below.

4. Participate in a Pumpkin contest or invite your friends over for some contest and party fun! Have a pie baking contest, pumpkin carving contest, coloring contest, and play some fun fall games! You could also do this at church or school for those teachers like me out there! :D

5. Go to special places with Halloween decor/events. Here in St. Louis we have the Zoo, many churches hold/host Trunk or Treats, and in Kimmswick we have Witches Night Out and Goblins Day. My friend Nina and I go to Witches Night Out if we can each year and this year I plan on taking my daughter to Goblins day. Here is a link to Kimmswick's events.

6. Get out those Halloween books at the beginning of October and read read read the whole month! There are a lot of really great books out there for children and for your family to enjoy!

7. Halloween movies! I love watching movies and so this one is a really big one for us. We have already been working on a few. Watching "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" with my dad the night before Halloween was always fun and is a tradition I will be doing with my children. I also enjoy saying "...I got a rock" after any child near me says they received some kind of candy. Hey, it is fun!

My little having fun with her best friend on her first Hay-ride! 

8. Do something kind for someone. During every holiday season I try to be thankful for all of the wonderful people and things in my life and try to spread cheer to others. You could share some of those fall treats you made with neighbors, firefighters, police officers, Veterans, teachers, or many others. This year I also found out about the Teal Pumpkin Project which is basically a national campaign started in 2014 to raise allergy awareness and promote the inclusion of all trick-or-treaters. In other words, having another option for children with food allergies would be really great for those children that can not have/eat candy. You can have bracelets, bouncy eyeballs, or just a fun little toy as an option on the side for children that can not have candy. If you want to know more about the Teal Pumpkin Project here is a link.

9. Do a Halloween Camp! Camping in the fall is always a fun thing to with family and especially if you can invite some friends along. At night you could have a scary (or not so scary) bout of games like glow in the dark hide & seek (every one wears glow sticks or necklaces and play) or if you have enough people you could play a game like mafia or townspeople around the bon-fire. You could also decorate your tents in Halloween decor and have a contest.

 Halloween last year before Trick-or-Treating

10. Picking out a costume/making a costume. I always have fun going to Goodwill or other thrift stores and trying on really ridiculous things as costume ideas. It is a lot of fun and you never know what you will find.

11. Come up with jokes for Halloween! This is a newer one for me because in St. Louis they have a tradition that in order to get a piece of candy you must tell a joke. We always look up a few great jokes before we head out to get candy on Halloween. :D

12. This one is kind of obvious. Go Trick or Treating! Even if you go to a mall, zoo, or just walk around your neighborhood this is always the pinnacle, the finish line, the best of Halloween! Well, the candy is. If you are not going out to get candy then dress up, turn on that porch light, and have fun handing it out!

Those are a few of the fun and strange things my family and I do for the month of October and Halloween. I hope they were helpful or, at the very least, fun to read! Have a Happy October and Halloween! :D