6 ways to get creative: Trick or treats / Halloween costumes

This post was written in collaboration with Nannies Inc., one of London’s premier nanny agencies. The company says that

”Halloween can be great fun for the entire family. However, as our lives get busier and busier, our clients love the fact that our qualified live-in nannies can always ensure that their kids never miss out on the fun, even if they have to”

With October now in full swing, it’s time to start thinking about how you’re going to prepare for the big day. Whether you want to wow the neighbourhood with a spectacular Halloween costume or delight expectant door knockers, we’ve come up with a few ideas that are guaranteed to get you inspired!

Creative costumes

Halloween is traditionally associated with ghosts, ghouls and all things scary. If you want to get creative with this year’s spooky get-up, why not try your hand at hand painting a plain pants and top combo with a skeleton motif. Let the kids colour in the bones and you’ll soon have a costume that’s creepy and colourful!

If you’ve got a little girl, the chances are that she’s going to shun the spooky options and insist on dressing up like a fairy-tale princess. And so she should! Princesses Elsa and Anna from Disney’s hit flick Frozen are undoubtedly this year’s most popular characters.

Rather than order pre-made costumes online, try getting creative with fancy fabrics and stick on jewels. You’ll have hours on end of fun and end up with a costume that’s 100% original.

However, if you are looking for the less scary costumes for the kids, then look no further than this amazing round-up from Super Mommy Club; if you don’t find something to suit within this lot, you never, ever will!

Trick or treat?

What’s the point in squealing ‘trick or treat’ if you don’t have a good joke up your sleeve? Egg throwing is definitely out but there are plenty of pranks that are completely harmless. Using silly string is always fun, buy some toy creepy crawlies and show them to those who say ‘trick’. Or get out the party poppers and let things go crazy and messy.

Get baking!

Chances are that you’re going to have a few groups of kids knocking on your door in search of a tasty treat or two. Rather than offer them store bought sweets, why not spend the afternoon baking up a storm with your little ones? Kids will love decorating cookies and cakes with a spooky theme. Why not try making Dracula’s blood punch or cheesy popcorn brains. Making and eating can be enjoyed by everyone and putting together some treat bags is another great idea for the kids to get involved in.

If you are struggling for a bit of inspiration, then head on over to Pinterest where there is plenty to look at; take Pink When‘s great ideas for desserts…you must be able to draw some inspiration from here.

Dress up the pets!

Why not get the whole family involved. If you’ve got a pooch, why not spend some time making it a super cute trick or treat costume that will have the whole street going “AWWWW!”

Bring on the science

Halloween is an amazing time for learning too, so why not get the lab coats on with the kids, and do some amazing experiments too? Science Sparks is a favourite of mine for finding inspiration here, and her post on Halloween Science is a great place to start.

If you are still struggling for ideas, then head on over to Pinterest, and explore our Halloween kids board, for some more great activities, or ask your Nannies, inc nanny! ;-)

Follow Helen Neale – KiddyCharts’s board Love Halloween with kids on Pinterest.

Helen

Helen is a mum to two, social media consultant, and website editor; and this site is (we think) the only Social Enterprise parenting magazine!Since giving up being a business analyst when juggling travel, work and kids proved too complicated, she founded KiddyCharts so she could be with her kids, and use those grey cells at the same time.KiddyCharts has reach of over 1.1million across social and the site. The blog works with big family brands (including travel) to help promote their services, as well as offering free resources to parents of kids under 10.It gives 51%+ profits to Reverence for Life, who fund a number of important initiatives in Africa, including bringing running water and basic equipment to a school in Tanzania.Helen has worked as a digital marketing consultant (IDM qualified) with various organisations, including Channel Mum, Truprint, Talk to Mums, and Micro Scooters. She loves to be creative in the brand campaigns she works on.Get in touch TODAY!