The holiday season can be difficult on a budget, which is exactly why we want to help you make the season magical for as little as possible.

Fall is such a special time of the year, as the leaves fall, a new season and a new chapter begins! Halloween is a time where you can be yourself, no matter how strange or unusual. It’s a time for life to get a little more magical with twinkling lights, tricks (and treats!). It’s a time for costumes, make-believe, and play for children and adults alike.

In today’s world, it’s easy to get lost in the routines of our day-to-day lives. With work, school, taking care of a family, it’s easy to lose your whimsy. But, this is the one time of the year meant to bring that magic back into your life.

Today, we would like to give you some craft ideas, costume ideas, and even some movie recommendations for the family this holiday season to bring the whimsy back into your home.

Kid-Friendly Halloween Crafts

Easy Paper-Plate Pumpkins, Spiders & Black Cats

Materials Needed

• Paint
• Paper Plates
• Pipe Cleaners (Spiders!)
• Googly Eyes
• Hot Glue Gun or Elmer's Glue
• Construction Paper - Your choice of colors
• Safety Scissors

Step-By-Step Overview - Spiders

1. Paint the paper plate black.
2. Attach 8 pipe cleaners to the paper plate as legs with glue.
3. Glue on googly eyes - however many you would like!

Step-By-Step Overview - Pumpkins

1. Paint the paper plate orange!
2. Use markers or construction paper to decorate the pumpkin!
3. Glue down the decorations

Step-By-Step Overview - Cats

1. Paint the paper plate a base color - any color is fine! Could even be purple like the Cheshire Cat!
2. Use construction paper for the nose, whiskers, and the mouth!
3. You can create the eyes out of construction paper or use googly eyes!
4. Glue the construction paper down

Handprint Ghosts, Spiders & Witches

Materials Needed

• Washable Paint - Black, White
• Construction Paper - Dark-Colored, Black, White, Orange, Green
• Black marker or googly eyes
• Paintbrush 
• Glue 
• Pen or Pencil

Step-By-Step - Ghost

1. Use a paintbrush to cover your child's hand in white paint.
2. Press their hand firmly onto the black construction paper, with the fingers pointing down. Be sure to press down on the palm and fingers to get a clear print.
3. Carefully lift the hand off the paper.
4. Once the paint is dry, use a black marker or small black paper cut-outs to draw a face on the palm area. For extra fun, add googly eyes. 

Step-By-Step - Spiders

1. Paint your child's hands black, making sure to avoid their thumbs.
2. On the paper, press the first handprint with fingers spread out, pointing away from the center.
3. Overlap the palm with the second handprint, again with the fingers spread and pointing outwards.
4. Let the paint dry.
5. Glue two or more googly eyes onto the palm area of the prints. 

Optional marble-painted web: To create a web for your spider, place a piece of black paper inside a cardboard box. Dip a few marbles in white paint, drop them into the box, and shake to create a swirly web design. 

Step-By-Step - Witches

1. Create the handprint shape: Fold a piece of green construction paper in half. Place your child's hand on the folded paper so their wrist hangs over the folded edge. Trace their hand with a pencil and then cut it out. When unfolded, the handprint will create a symmetrical witch body and head.
2. Add hair and hat: Cut thin strips of orange paper for the witch's hair and glue them to the sides of the head area. Cut a witch's hat from black paper and glue it to the top of the handprint.
3. Decorate the face: Glue on googly eyes and use a marker to draw a pointy nose and a smiling mouth.
4. Add a broom (optional): To make a broom, cut a thin strip of brown paper for the handle and another strip of brown paper with fringe cut into one side for the bristles. Roll the bristled strip around the handle and glue it together. Then, glue the broom onto the witch's hand. 

DIY Trick-Or-Treat Bags

Giving foster children a sense of control through their choices and decision-making is crucial for their emotional well-being, as it helps with the effects of trauma and helps a child whenever they feel powerless.

A great way to give a child that sense of control is through DIY crafts! It helps them in feeling a shared power, can calm them down, and help them with building self-regulation skills!

Materials Needed

• Brown Paper Bags
• Markers or Paint
• Glue
• Whatever you have!

Step-By-Step Overview

The beauty of DIY treatbags is that you can decorate them however you wish! Kids can draw their favorite characters, color their bags with paint, markers, or they could even cover them in googly eyes!

Give them full freedom to be creative and do whatever they would like with their bags, and even make your own and join them!

Halloween Slime

Materials Needed

• 8-ounce bottle Elmer’s white school glue
• 1 1/2 – 2 Tablespoons contact saline solution, more as needed! You can also use slime activator is you have it.
• 1 Tablespoon baking soda
• Food coloring, optional - Orange and Purple
• You can also add glitter, shapes, styrofoam balls, or scents! Whatever you think would add more magic to the slime!

(Will create one cup of slime)

Step-By-Step Overview

1. Add glue and food coloring to a bowl! (Make sure to wear clothing that is easy to get stains out of, and put any stray hair back out of the way!) Make sure the coloring is correct before you add the saline, as it's difficult to adjust color after this step!
2. Mix in saline solution. Add 1 1/2 Tablespoons saline solution and mix until combined. If the slime is too sticky, add 1/2 Tablespoon more solution at a time. As you add more saline solution, the slime will get thicker.
3. Using your hands, knead the slime together.
4. Store slime in a container with a lid, or within a ziploc baggie to prevent it from drying out.

Craft Station

Crafts can get messy! If you have a free table, make sure to tape down newspaper to collect any glitter, glue, or mess made! Remember, you just want to make crafts for Halloween, you don't want to be haunted by glitter until New Years!

Trick-or-Treating Safety Tips

Before you go out trick-or-treating this year, there are some things you should keep in mind!

Make sure that your costume is visible if you are in a high-traffic area! If your children are wearing all black, they are not visible to cars. You can make them visible with something as simple as glowstick bracelets, or making sure they have flashlights!

Before going out, plan a trick or treating route, and put time limits in place! If you are separating from your child, make sure they have a set-time to get back with you and a meeting place.

While out, make sure to remind your kids to stay on the sidewalks, and if crossing in traffic to check both ways before they cross, and to follow street signs, stop-lights accordingly.

In addition to this, no one should be outside alone on Halloween. Every child and adult should have a buddy system in place, even if it's someone their own age, to keep an eye on them!

While a lot of people at this time of the year are here to have fun, some of them could have tricks in mind! Make sure to remind your children about stranger danger, and to keep a safe distance away from people who could have poor intentions.

After Trick-or-Treating make sure to check your children's candy for any allergies, or anything that they should not be eating! We have all heard the horror stories about Halloween and trick-or-treating, so just keep those in mind and make sure you check their candy if they went to any unfamiliar locations! And of course, make sure they have candy in limits!

Local Trick-or-Treating Spots & Events

Since the pandemic, trick-or-treating has looked different in every community! Make sure to check your local Facebook groups to find dates for mall trick-or-treating, community Halloween events, and Trunk-Or-Treat locations in your area!

If you are doing traditional trick-or-treating, the best time to go is 6PM - 8PM in most areas!

Halloween Costumes

This years trending costumes :

• Superhero's - Superman, Spiderman, Ghost Spider Avengers
• Villians - Disney, Marvel Villains
• Movies & TV Shows - Lilo & Stitch, ZooTopia, Toy Story, Ghostbusters, Kpop Demon Hunters, Tinkerbell,
• Video Games - Minecraft characters (Steve, Endermen, Creepers, etc.), Pokemon characters

and many more available here :

https://theeverymom.com/halloween-costume-ideas/

If you're cutting it close for getting Halloween costumes this year, here is a list from Buzzfeed of 160+ Last-Minute Costume Ideas! (There's even costumes for grown-ups!)

https://www.buzzfeed.com/laurafrustaci/easy-last-minute-halloween-costumes

In Pennsylvania, temperatures are dropping and we have had our first snow fall! As you are helping your children with picking their Halloween costumes, keep this in mind and think of a way to adapt their costumes for cold weather! Perhaps a colored jacket, long-sleeves, or wearing layers underneath the costumes!

In addition to this, if your child has sensory issues when wearing certain clothing items for too long, keep that in mind when picking costumes! Make sure the child has no latex allergies, and costumes are not scratchy, or rough textured. They have to be able to wear it for two or more hours after all!

Family-Friendly Halloween Watch List

Movies for little ones (ages 3-6):

• It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown
• Room on the Broom
• Pooh's Heffalump Halloween Movie

For elementary-aged kids (ages 7-11):

• Hocus Pocus
• Casper
• Hotel Transylvania series
• Halloweentown

Mildly spooky for preteens (ages 10+):

• Goosebumps series
• Coraline
• The Nightmare Before Christmas

Time to Get Spooky!

Halloween is all about creating memories that you can remember for years to come! And as a foster or adoptive parent, you could be creating the first ever holiday traditions for a child!

Remember, stay safe this Halloween and make the best of it, no matter what activities you do!

What are your family's favorite Halloween traditions? Share with us on Facebook!

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