Celebrate Halloween

Halloween only comes around once a year, so why not go all out? If you like scaring people, do it! If you don't, it's just an excuse to party and celebrate! Celebrating Halloween is more fun when you decorate the outside of your home with lots of stuff to scare those who dare walk up to your door. All lit up at night, a decorated home welcomes all the little Ghosts in a Dirt Graveyard, ghosts and goblins. With the addition of some scary music, the little ones will giggle with delighted terror as they knock on your door, yelling, "Trick or Treat!" Let this article spice up Halloween for you!

Steps

For Children

  1. Buy a new costume each year. Shop around until you find the costume you're looking for -- there are literally hundreds to choose from. If you can't find what you're looking for in your area, try online. Some places will get you your costume in as little as a few days. Remember to ask your parents first!
    • If you're handy with a needle and thread (or mom is), having a costume that no one else will have is always better. Make your own. And if you're not, all you have to do is think outside the box. Want to be Katniss Everdeen? Grab a green button-down, some cargo khakis, and a bow and arrow. Bruno Mars? A fedora and a mic. The more accessories, the better.
  2. Carve a pumpkin. One of the quintessential American traditions of Halloween is pumpkin carving. Grab mom or dad and go the pumpkin farm or a regular shop to pick out your next pumpkin victim. Do you want to do a spooky face? A friendly face? Maybe not a face at all?
    • If you want to do something different, think of your carving as a shadow. The light behind it will illuminate it. The part you carve out will surround the silhouette. Maybe the shadow of a ghost? Skeleton? Tombstone?
    • Have an adult help you with the carving and gutting out of the pumpkin. And you can keep the pumpkin seeds for roasting!
  3. Celebrate the holiday with friends or family. Halloween does not just have to be trick or treating. A night or two before, get your friends and family together, go bobbing for apples, stick in a scary movie, and load up on the popcorn and salty party foods -- you'll be eating chocolate, chocolate, chocolate for the next two weeks!
    • See what's available in your area. Maybe there's a haunted house or a pumpkin farm hayride near you. If the weather permits, it's a good tool to get you in the spooky mood. If that's not an option, celebrate at home all week long -- make homemade decorations to get in the spirit.
  4. Go trick or treating! Do Goblin Makeup for Halloween and join the ghosts and witches saying Trick or Treat! (Smell my feet, give me something good to eat!) But remember only to visit those with porch lights on or those with Halloween decorations. It's usually pretty easy to tell. If they have lights on and decorations up, these are clearly people happy to celebrate (and give you something!) and this is where the Halloween spirit explodes with vitality.
    • Take a very big bag along or an even larger empty plastic pumpkin bucket to carry all the goodies that you get from every house. If these are unavailable, a pillowcase will do the job.
    • Ask mom or dad about trick or treating for UNICEF. In addition to going house to house asking for candy, the people you visit can donate their spare change to you to give to UNICEF to help children all over the world. All you have to do is order your box ahead of time![1]
    • Don't go alone! Make sure you're in a group of friends or have a parent with you. Halloween's scary enough as it is!
  5. Look at all the candy that came out of your bag This is the best part of Halloween: checking out the goodies to stuff yourself with. Also check the candy -- make sure it's all fresh and safe to eat. Watch out for hard candies; these can break your teeth if you bite too hard. And make sure that you take out any candy with ingredients you're allergic to. If you're not sure, don't eat it. Better safe than sorry.
    • Some people will give you small toys instead. Don't eat those!

For Adults

  1. Set jack o' lanterns in your windows. If you're feeling gutsy, place them lining your sidewalk; however, know that if they're outside they risk getting smashed and ruined. You can buy pre-made, decorative jack o' lanterns at any big box store or at craft supply stores. But making them yourself is always better!
    • Carving your own jack o' lantern can be very messy, but great fun. All you have to do is hollow out a pumpkin, trace on a face, and cut it out. Then place a tea light or an LED light inside to light the way for your trick or treaters.
  2. Load up on candy. Have a good stock -- you never know how many children will be knocking on your front door. If you have any left over, well, all the more for you!
    • You may want to have some spare change available. Since about the 50's, UNICEF has started a trick or treat program where children collect spare change to help children in need in over 190 countries all over the world.[2] If any come to your door with a small orange box, that's your first clue. Make sure it says UNICEF on it, though!
  3. Decorate your house in the spirit of Halloween. You can choose a theme (like a haunted house or cemetery) or you can just swallow your house in orange, black, cobwebs, and stuffed witches, like many choose to do.
    • If you're going for the haunted house feel, make sure to keep dim lighting inside and out. Line the walk, but little else. Play Halloween noises and cover your entrance in fake cobwebs. If you can, have someone in costume outside your house, beckoning the children to your door.
    • If you'd like to try turning your house into a cemetery, put gravestones throughout your yard. Dead flowers are a nice added touch. Fake crows, hands clawing out of the dirt, coffins, screams playing in the background, and fog rolling in will seal the deal.
      • Of course, if you're handing out candy, you have to dress up too! You're part of the show as well. It's not complete without you.
  4. Have a Halloween pre-party. Why only have your decorations up only for kids 2 or 3 hours one day a year? You went to all that work -- might as well put those fake skeletons and dry ice to good use. At your party, have halloween games, finger foods, drinks, and music. Not every party has to be scary, but you certainly can add a "room of horror" if you so choose.
    • One annual game for the holiday is bobbing for apples. This is only advised if you're not having a costume party -- or all the makeup will run off! Grab a huge bucket or barrel and fill it with water and some apples. Tie guests' hands behind their backs while they duck their heads into the water, trying to catch the apple with their teeth.
    • Halloween food decorations get better and better each year. Buy eyeball candies to place on Red Velvet cupcakes with white icing for the blood vessels. And sugar cookies can easily be molded into witches' fingers (think of an almond slice for a fingernail).
    • Make dry ice (or buy some) to perfect that witch's cauldron. Your drinks will be smokin' in no time.
    • If you're really intense, you could always stage a blackout or, with enough tight-lipped friends, a zombie attack (blood capsules will come in handy). Halloween is a great excuse to fulfill your strangest fantasies. (But don't let your guests in with weapons.)
  5. Welcome in the trick or treaters. The time has come. Make sure all the right lights are on, the music is playing, you're in your costume, and the candy is ready. You'll probably get a few that come before your city's designated time, so stay on the lookout.
    • If you run out of candy and have no substitutes (and can't go out for more), turn your lights off. Do this as a courtesy to the children so they know that your home is off the Halloween market.This time comes only once every year, be nice to them and give them open heartedly. Children are going to love you for that! Make your Halloweens magical by just following few steps!

Tips

  • Always inspect your children's candy collection when they return from trick-or-treating; some people give out strange things.
  • If bobbing for apples, take care that the players do not cut their mouths or otherwise hurt themselves while they try to grab apples with their teeth. This is not the safest, nor most hygienic, of games.
  • Please carry a flashlight or a reflective item with you if you're going to stay out late. A lot of car accidents occur on Halloween, so please stay aware and make sure that you stay safe.

Warnings

  • Make sure that the candles you use in your jack o' lantern (or any other candles) do not cause a fire.

Related Articles

Sources and Citations

  1. ↑ http://www.trickortreatforunicef.org/order
  2. ↑ http://www.trickortreatforunicef.org/
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