Top 10 Halloween Activities For The Kids
What to do with the children over October half term? Don't panic, there are plenty of activities to keep the children busy with great events happening in Winchester and easy crafty activities for the evenings!
Pumpkin carving
Halloween is not complete until you've zigzagged a scary face into your pumpkin and had it glowing through the night! Get the children to draw on the faces and then the adults can do the carving. Keep the seeds and grow your own pumpkins next year! Head to the Farmers Market to get your pumpkins.
Winchester Treasure Trail
Take the Winchester Treasure Trail to a new spooky level and put on your most spooky zombie outfit. Rise from the grave and shuffle round this 1.6 mile treasure trail discovering Winchester and the spooky happenings around town!
Witches hat ring toss
Turn the Halloween costumes into a fun game and use a witches hat as a cone to throw your rings on to. Grab some thick card and a pair of scissors and cut out large rings. The children can throw the rings at the point of the witches hat, first to 5 wins!
Make scary potions
Grab the blender and make a scary orange smoothie! Add 1 banana, some frozen mango, frozen pineapple, a thumb sized piece of ginger and a cup full of carrot juice and blitz up for some scarily healthy but delicious drinks.
Pumpkin prints with apples
A super easy crafty evening can be had with some orange and green paint and some apples. With the apple stalk pointing upwards, slice the apple in half and dab the juice off with kitchen roll. Dip the apple in some orange paint and print onto paper. Add a green stalk and a scary face to make some apple pumpkin prints! Make a pumpkin post card and send home to friends of the family!
Boil a Cauldron of Pumpkin Soup
Boil down your cubed pumpkin, drain and blitz to make a pumpkin puree. Head to All Recipes website for a simple, quick and easy pumpkin soup recipe! Allow it to cool for a bit before giving to the children. Grab a thick loaf of fresh bread from Reeve The Baker in the centre of Winchester for a delicious fresh wedge slathered with butter to dunk your soup.
Race your pet spiders
Head into Winchester town centre and grab some straws and some spooky plastic spiders. At home, layout a race course the children can race the spiders around. The children can blow through the straws at the base of their spider to make them move. The winner gets a slice of Mum's homemade pumpkin cake?
Grab your Nimbus 2000 and fly to the Wizard Weekend
The Watercress Line becomes magical over the Halloween half term weekend. Dust of your wizard cloak because there is a fancy dress competition for the scariest costume. Enjoy unlimited rides on the Wizard Express steam train and even sit in one of the Harry Potter coaches featured in the films! It's a great day out for the whole family, take a look at their website here.
Boo at the Zoo
Head to Marwell Zoo and get up close to the animals. A great educational day out and don't forget to book them in to their flying lessons to get their Level 3 broomstick licence. Spooky stories will also be told at the Haunted Hall with Esme the witch.
Scary Face Painting
Here are some spooky Halloween ideas for some scary face painting: cauldron stirring witch, bag'n'bones skull, day-of-the-dead zombie, petrifying pumpkin, hair-raised black cat, lost soul ghost, ancient Egyptian mummy, hooting owl or perhaps a blood-thirsty vampire takes your fancy?