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Friday, October 18, 2019

Five Simple and Easy Ways to Make Your Child’s Halloween Extra Special

*This post may contain affiliate links, which means at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through or make a purchase.

I’ve always been a little extra when it comes to the holidays, so naturally, I ended up being one of those moms who enjoys making magic for the kids during the holidays while they’re young.  I figure, they’re only going to be kids for a short time, so I want to make the most of the short window that I have to do all of the special things before they outgrow them. 

That said, there are plenty of moms who aren’t “Pinterest-y” at all and there are plenty moms who love to be over-the-top with homemade recipes and crafts and this-and-that.  I like to think I fall somewhere in the middle, but no matter which mom you are, that’s okay… you do you, Boo!   

Today I’m going to offer some simple and easy things that you can do to make your own magic for your kids no matter where you fall on the Pinterest Mom spectrum.  These things won’t require a lot of time or crafting or elaborate planning.  I promise your kids will appreciate anything, and it’s the little things that are usually the best things anyway!

O N E – Add a Decoration or Two

-          Add these bats to your walls.  They’re only $7.21, they include wall-safe stickers for quick and easy hanging, and they make a huge impression.  I can’t even tell you how much our kids love these.  And they took 10 minutes to put up.
-          Sprinkle a few real pumpkins around the house, or if you don’t want to buy real ones every year, just buy a pack of these and you’ll be set forever.
-          Let your child keep a pumpkin of their own on their nightstand… instant festive-ness in their room!
-          Add a string of Halloween lights or regular string lights to your mantle or countertop.  Lights are always an easy way to set a magical tone with very little effort and money.



T W O – Add Festive Touches at Meal Time

-          Keep a couple of reusable Halloween plates on hand and let your kids use them at mealtime.  I grabbed a couple from the Target Dollar Spot many years ago and they’re still going strong.  These are a really cute option or you could always use paper plates, too.
-          Festive drinking cups make a big impression, too.  This black cat sippy cup is perfect for toddlers and this set is great for all kids... so stinking cute!
-          Pop a black and orange paper straw into your child’s cup for instant magic.  This set is perfection because there are so many options!
-          Include a Halloween napkin in their lunchbox instead of a regular one.  Side note, festive napkins are one of my favorite things to use to decorate our bar cart... these are perfect!
-          Add edible eyes to their sandwiches, yogurt, snacks, etc.
-          Throw a couple of plastic spiders on top of their food.  (Obviously only do this if you are sure your child won’t eat them and choke.)
-          Incorporate special Halloween foods into their meals like Cheetos Bag o Bones or pumpkin-shaped tortilla chips.
-          Include a few pieces of candy corn or these pumpkin spice marshmallows in their lunchboxes for a surprise treat.
-          If you’re really feeling fancy you could send them to school with an orange and black lunch – black olives, blackberries, orange cheeses, white crackers, mandarin oranges, cantaloupe, etc.



T H R E E – Watch Festive Movies Together

-          Hocus Pocus (the DVD is less than $5 and the Blu-Ray is less than $10 right now!)
-          Toy Story of Terror
-          Room on the Broom
-          Spookley the Square Pumpkin
-          Double, Double,Toil and Trouble
-          The Nightmare Before Christmas
-          Casper (the 1995 version so you can see Devon Sawa, my teenage crush, hehe)
-          Spooky Buddies
-          Hotel Transylvania



F O U R – Read Festive Books Together

-          Little Blue Truck’s Halloween
-          Room on the Broom
-          Duck and Goose Find a Pumpkin
-          Princess PumpkinPatch
-          Spooky Pookie
-          Halloween I Spy
-          Bonaparte Falls Apart
-          Goodnight Goon
-          Five Little Pumpkins
-          EEK!  Halloween!
-          Vampirina Ballerina
-          The Roll-Away Pumpkin
-          Where’s MyMummy?
-          Pinkalicious:Pink or Treat!
-          Skeletons ARE NOT Spooky!
-          Gilbert the Ghost
-          Creepy Pair of Underwear
-          Pete the Cat Trick or Pete
-          The Spooky Wheels on the Bus

And if you accumulate a collection over the years as we have, be sure to grab a basket or crate to have a seasonal book bin for the main living area of your home.  You can see more about our seasonal book crate here.




F I V E – Surprise Them with a Small Gift on Halloween

-          Halloween Legos like this vampirethis witch, this ghost, or this bat
-          Halloween coloring books
-          Halloween activity books
-          Halloween stickers
-          Halloween pencils
-          Glow Sticks for trick-or-treating


And that’s it, y’all!  Creating magic for your kiddos shouldn’t stress you out or require hours and of your time or hundreds of your dollars.  The little things are just as special, too!  

Now for some Friday funnies…


Every single year!

But seriously, though.

Happy Halloween, kids!

Well, I'm never late for anything, but the second part is true!  Early bird gets the worm!  Lol.

Every.  Single.  Year.

And ICYMI, this week’s blog posts…



Happy Friday, y’all! 

*Linking up with A Little Bit of Everything for Friday Favoriteand Della Devoted for High Five for Friday.



14 comments:

  1. Super cute ideas. We always loved Halloween books. Your bats are such a hit!!

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  2. Growing up, my mom always made holidays the best! She still does now. Ever since college, we have gotten a little Halloween gift - always in the color scheme of black and orange. It's usually something simple, like trail mix, and then a pair of socks with orange in them (or something similar). It's always such a great little treat!!

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  3. Such cute and simple ideas! I'm making it a goal to intentionally celebrate my people this holiday season with cute and simple ideas like these!

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  4. Lots of cute and simple ideas. I did lots of this sort of stuff with my boys and was kind of taken by surprise when I was informed that no one is dressing up or trick or treating this year-- it does go by fast!

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    1. Oh no, I'm dreading the day that happens in our house! I'll be so sad! It really does go by too quickly.

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  5. I love all of your ideas to make Halloween special! My little one is only one, but I can't wait to create fun memories with her when she is more "into" the holidays :) Happy Friday!

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  6. As Sophia gets older I hope to add some more fun into every holiday! I've seen the bats a ton this season - very cool! xo, Biana -BlovedBoston

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  7. I completely agree, they're only small for a short of amount of time so making things fun, memorable, and magical for them can be so fun! I love the bats around your fireplace. My sister did them as well and they look so cool. I might need to get these for next year. We typically just decorate for fall in general, but the bats are fun. Hope you have a great weekend!!

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  8. Happy Friday! These are such great ideas. I have not bought my candy yet so that I will not eat it all! I am going to have to pick some up this weekend and I will have to hide it, hee hee!

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  9. I bought some Halloween lights last year after Halloween on major sale, and just love how they look!! I can't wait to see what deals I can find this year. Although, if I'm not careful we are going to end up with way too many bins of decorations....

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    1. Don't lights just make everything so fun?? And yes, we actually have an entire closet just for decorations. Haha. It's kind of crazy actually.

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  10. I love these ideas! Definitely will be surprising my littles wth these!

    Thank you for linking up w us at Creative Muster! We are pinning this! Many blessings to you. xoxoxo Sharon

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    1. I'm so glad you love it! Thank you so much for hosting the link-up and thank you for pinning! I really appreciate that! XO

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