10 Halloween Traditions for Kids

Holiday traditions are such an important part of childhood.  The things you do every year as a child are often the things you remember as an adult.  So, today I am sharing 10 of my family's favorite Halloween traditions.

1) Pumpkin Patch - Our annual trip to the pumpkin patch is something my boys really enjoy.  It is always lots of fun to watch the boys pick out the perfect pumpkins... and it's always a great photo op.  You can read about our pumpkin patch adventures here.

2) Booing - "Booing" involves leaving secret treats for the neighbours.  It is a fun tradition that my boys love!  You can download the free signs and instructions here.

3) Carving pumpkins and planting magic pumpkin seeds - Carving pumpkins is always a fun Halloween activity, and planting the "magic" seeds is something my boys have been doing for a couple of years.  You can read all about the magic here.

4) Halloween crafts - My boys love making seasonal crafts, and Halloween is no exception.  You can find tutorials for:  my Countdown to Halloween here and my ghost puppet here.

5) Halloween treats - My boys love to bake... and every year they love making yummy Halloween treats.  You can find 5 ideas for easy Halloween treats here.

6) Decorating for Halloween - Every year, the boys and I dig out our Halloween decorations and make our house spooktacular!  I let the boys pick out a few new things from the dollar store and they make a couple of things too.  If you are looking for a simple decoration for the kids to make, you can find the tutorial for this googly eye vase here.

7) Treats for classmates - Every year, my boys like to bring a special treat to school to share with their friends.  You can find a collection of 10 of our favorite Halloween class treats here.

8) Special lunches - I always pack a special school lunch on Halloween.  I add some cheesecloth and googly eye treats and include fun lunch box notes.  You can download some Halloween joke lunchbox notes here.

These pretzel brooms are cute too!

9) Book fairy - After trick-or-treating, the boys have a "candy draft", and then leave the remaining treats for the "book fairy".  You can read all about it here.

10) Pumpkin pizza for supper - The boys are always in a hurry to get in their costumes and head out the door, so a quick Halloween supper is a must.  This pumpkin pizza is easy... and lots of fun!

These are our 10 favorite Halloween Traditions.  I'd love to hear how you celebrate with your little ones.

♥

Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

10 Halloween Class Party Treats

My boys love bringing treats for their classmates.  Sometimes the treats are edible, and sometimes they aren't, but they are always easy, inexpensive and fun.  Here are 10 of our favorite Halloween Class Party Treats.

1)  Mummy wrapped treats - Use cheese cloth and googly eyes to transform boring treats into something spooky and special.

2)  Graham cracker bandaids - Cut up some graham crackers, add some white frosting for gauze, and finished with a smear of red gel icing blood. Simple, fun... and a little gross!

3)  Treat bags with special tags - Make traditional treat bags extra special by adding a customized tag.  Click here to find out how I transformed pictures of my boys to make these tags.

4)  Googly eye glasses - These googly eye glasses make great alternatives to candy.  You can find the full "how to" and a free downloadable bag topper here.

5)  Cookies with candy corn or candy eyeballs - For a simple treat, make your favorite cookie recipe, and add a piece of candy corn to the top.  It doesn't get any easier than this! You can find the recipe for our favorite Halloween cookie here.

6)  Photos with treats - For another candy free treat, try pairing pictures with little toys or pencils.  You can find the full tutorial here.

7)  Ghost Pops - Ghosts are always fun for Halloween, and we have two favorite ghost treats.  To learn how to make our Oreo Ghost Pops, click here.  To make the sucker ghosts: cover a sucker with a piece of tissue paper, secure with an elastic, and add a face with googly eyes and a marker.

8)  Cupcakes with rings - To make these simple cupcakes, just bake mini cupcakes and insert a plastic ring (after washing, of course).

9)  Wormy cupcakes - These are an annual favorite around here.  Bake cupcakes, frost with chocolate icing, dip in dirt (Oreo cookie crumbs), and insert some gummy worms.

10) Cookie pops - To make super-easy cookie pops, just add some sticks to some "ready to bake" cookies.  Isn't everything more fun on a stick?

Bonus.... How about a few "eyeball" treats?  You can find the full instructions for this eyeball cake here and the Halloween candy bark here.

What is your favorite class party treat?  Did it make my list?

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Don't miss out on any of the fun... follow me on social media here.

     

PS... Don't forget the teacher.  Click HERE for all the cute DIY details of this cute teacher treat!

AND... you can find OVER 50 more Halloween ideas here. I LOVE the mummy door and the pumpkin prize punch!

Easy Family Picture Arrangements

In June, we had some family pictures taken, and I have been planning on framing them for a few months.  This weekend, I finally put them up, and I thought I would share my tips for hanging groups of family photos.

Here's what I do:

1)  I collect a bunch of pictures and picture frames that work well together. 
2)  I arrange my pictures on the floor until I get an arrangement I like.
3)  I make paper templates for the pictures, and arrange them on the wall.
4)  I do some final measurements, and hang the pictures.

I just love surrounding myself with pictures of my family, don't you?

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Elf on the Shelf Halloween Greeting...free printable

Those of you that follow this blog know that my boys love their Elf on the Shelf, and they miss him a lot when he is at the North Pole.  Luckily our thoughtful Elf ("Elfie") sends us greetings throughout the year.  Here is his Halloween postcard.

Isn't he cute all dressed up for Halloween?  You can download a free copy of this 4X6 picture (without the watermark) here.  Feel free to print it, pin it, and share it with your friends, but please link back to this post... not directly to the download.  Thanks so much!

Does your Elf on the Shelf keep in touch throughout the year, or does he just come at Christmas?

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Spooky Pictures and Fun Frames for Halloween

It is no secret that I love being surrounded by pictures of my boys, so this year, I thought it would be really fun to use their pictures as part of our Halloween decor.  The result was frightfully adorable!

I started by "turning my boys into vampires" using Picmonkey.com (which is free and really user-friendly).  You can see the before and after pictures of my boys below.

Cute, right?

Then, I needed some inexpensive frames for the pictures.  I found plain purple frames at Walmart (3 for $3), and I added some glittery spiders with hot glue.  I just love the combination of purple and black when decorating for Halloween, and I am really happy with how these frames turned out.

This is a great DIY Halloween Decor project, and it's a lot of fun for the kids.  Do you think you'll give this a try with your little ones?

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Halloween Toilet Paper Holder

While browsing through Pinterest, I came across this simple idea here, and I knew I had to do it for my boys.  All you need is a pair of dollar store stretchy gloves and some kleenex.

Isn't this a fun Halloween decoration?  My boys think it is hilarious!  Here's how easy it is:

1) Stuff some kleenex into the fingers of dollar store gloves.
2) Cut slits in the palms of the gloves.
3) Place the gloves over the bars of the toilet roll holder.

I think this idea is fantastic for Halloween.  It is easy, inexpensive, and lots of fun!

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)

Paper Chain Halloween Countdown

My boys are super-excited about Halloween, and are constantly asking me, "How many more days until we can go trick or treating?"  So, today my four year old and I made an adorable Paper Chain Halloween Countdown.

Isn't it cute?  We started by making a super cute handprint spider.

1)  I painted my son's fingers and palm with black (washable) paint.
2)  I pressed his hand onto a paper plate.
3)  I painted his other hand, and pressed it onto the plate... with overlapping palm prints.
4)  I let it dry, and then my little guy added two googly eyes.

Then, we added a paper chain.

1)  I divided sheets of construction paper into 1 1/2 inch strips, and my four year old cut them out.
2)  We linked the first strip around a slit in the paper plate, looped it around, and stapled the ends.  Then, we added all the links and secured them with staples.
3)  We finished by adding a ribbon hanger to the top of the paper plate.

Didn't it turn out cute?  How are you counting down to the big day?

♥
Gina (aka East Coast Mommy)