You really don't need to spend a lot of money to enjoy Halloween. I remember the fun we had taking our kids out for TOT. Watching scary movies is a ritual at our house on Halloween night. What have you done in the past? You can put up some modest decorations a couple weeks before, letting the kids help makek a "spooky house". A stuffed dummy with a kmart mask makes for a good prop. A couple of inexpensive tombstones from Walgreens or walmart help fill the scene out. Don't forget to carve a couple of pumpkins. Heck, I'd say that makes for a great Halloween. Enjoy what you have to work with and enjoy the time with your kids.
A Poor boy's Halloween!!
Because of circumstances I will not be able to Spend much money on Halloween this year. I am looking for suggestions on what my family can do this Halloween with little money. We are planning on taking the kids trick or treating and watching scary movies throughout the day/night, but I am looking for other ideas on top of that.
Ideas needed.....I want to get the maximum fun possible out of that day..
Ideas needed.....I want to get the maximum fun possible out of that day..
1 - 17 of 17 Posts
How old are the kids?
A camp out in the backyard and watching scary movies in the tent at night would be fun.
Of course you gotta to play 'ghost in the graveyard' with the kids!
Pumpkin carving and gourd painting. Making small paper mache skulls and small cheese cloth ghosts.
Ohhhh...and making huge piles of leaves and jumping in them!
Davy2 just posted this for some free paper tombstone models to build: more paper models
Same here at ravensblight.com: ravensblight
Making a scarecrow with old clothes stuffed with leaves and mounted on a 2x4 stake pounded into the ground.
IMO it's not how much money you spend, it's how much fun you have with the kids. Keep them involved and excited and it'll be the best Halloween yet!
A camp out in the backyard and watching scary movies in the tent at night would be fun.
Of course you gotta to play 'ghost in the graveyard' with the kids!
Pumpkin carving and gourd painting. Making small paper mache skulls and small cheese cloth ghosts.
Ohhhh...and making huge piles of leaves and jumping in them!
Davy2 just posted this for some free paper tombstone models to build: more paper models
Same here at ravensblight.com: ravensblight
Making a scarecrow with old clothes stuffed with leaves and mounted on a 2x4 stake pounded into the ground.
IMO it's not how much money you spend, it's how much fun you have with the kids. Keep them involved and excited and it'll be the best Halloween yet!
Thanks for the reply. We usually do everything you mentioned, except for the kids making props idea. The kids ussually help me carve pumpkins, but I will try to think of a prop they can make.You really don't need to spend a lot of money to enjoy Halloween. I remember the fun we had taking our kids out for TOT. Watching scary movies is a ritual at our house on Halloween night. What have you done in the past? You can put up some modest decorations a couple weeks before, letting the kids help makek a "spooky house". A stuffed dummy with a kmart mask makes for a good prop. A couple of inexpensive tombstones from Walgreens or walmart help fill the scene out. Don't forget to carve a couple of pumpkins. Heck, I'd say that makes for a great Halloween. Enjoy what you have to work with and enjoy the time with your kids.
Thanks! I love the movie in the tent idea. Someone just gave me a tent earlier this year.How old are the kids?
A camp out in the backyard and watching scary movies in the tent at night would be fun.
Of course you gotta to play 'ghost in the graveyard' with the kids!
Pumpkin carving and gourd painting. Making small paper mache skulls and small cheese cloth ghosts.
Ohhhh...and making huge piles of leaves and jumping in them!
Davy2 just posted this for some free paper tombstone models to build: more paper models
Same here at ravensblight.com: ravensblight
Making a scarecrow with old clothes stuffed with leaves and mounted on a 2x4 stake pounded into the ground.
IMO it's not how much money you spend, it's how much fun you have with the kids. Keep them involved and excited and it'll be the best Halloween yet!
One other thing...what's "ghost in the graveyard"?
here's a link to the rules of ghosts in the greaveyard which can explain it much better than me. And I'm sure there are many different variations of the game as well.Thanks! I love the movie in the tent idea. Someone just gave me a tent earlier this year.
One other thing...what's "ghost in the graveyard"?
rules for ghosts in the graveyard
ravensblight is great for free projects!
Depending on your kids ages, you could find some great craft projects for them to do, that would be very cheap. Some of my favorite decorations are the cheapest to make.
I LOVE my witch potion bottles, you can use them to decorate kitchens and bathrooms. You can re-use bottles from around the house, and print the labels from here or other sites, or even use the ones at the dollar tree.
My head in a jar is one of my faves, and basically didn't cost me anything to make.
How to Make a Head in a Jar (with pictures) - wikiHow
Flip thru a family fun magazine and you'll find great ideas for younger ids too. I wanted to make pumpkin faces for the windows with my kids, you use cardboard and orange tissue paper.
You can paint pumpkin faces on rocks.
It's all about spending time together and having traditions, for me anyway. I don't think you have to spend a lot to have a great Halloween!
Depending on your kids ages, you could find some great craft projects for them to do, that would be very cheap. Some of my favorite decorations are the cheapest to make.
I LOVE my witch potion bottles, you can use them to decorate kitchens and bathrooms. You can re-use bottles from around the house, and print the labels from here or other sites, or even use the ones at the dollar tree.
My head in a jar is one of my faves, and basically didn't cost me anything to make.
How to Make a Head in a Jar (with pictures) - wikiHow
Flip thru a family fun magazine and you'll find great ideas for younger ids too. I wanted to make pumpkin faces for the windows with my kids, you use cardboard and orange tissue paper.
You can paint pumpkin faces on rocks.
It's all about spending time together and having traditions, for me anyway. I don't think you have to spend a lot to have a great Halloween!
I always loved/love to go around and check out all the decorated houses. Driving to different neighborhoods would cost a little money for gas, of course, but it's a relatively cheap way to spend an evening. Plus you could always trek out and see how far you want to walk to explore.
There's also reading stories or making them up, playing games, making homemade decorations, local community events that may not cost much (or anything), shopping for goodies at thrift stores, throwing a potluck party...
There's also reading stories or making them up, playing games, making homemade decorations, local community events that may not cost much (or anything), shopping for goodies at thrift stores, throwing a potluck party...
Check out your local library for Halloween get togethers, stories, crafts and movies for the kids.
Do you have any dollar store type businesses around you? You can get cheap props and supplies there.
Go to the mall. There's always something cool going on at the mall if you don't have any other plans.
Wow, those are sure different rules than I grew up playing...here's a link to the rules of ghosts in the greaveyard which can explain it much better than me. And I'm sure there are many different variations of the game as well.
rules for ghosts in the graveyard
Yard Game: Ghost In The Graveyard/Sardines
We played that one too except we used a flashlight when it was dark. Lots of funWow, those are sure different rules than I grew up playing...
Yard Game: Ghost In The Graveyard/Sardines
G
The ultimate Halloween can be achieved with little money. Don't worry about not having 'fabulous' stuff. I often think I had a funner Halloween when it was more about fun and less about acquiring stuff!
We always made our costumes out of old clothes, cheap fabric, and Mom's makeup. Old hats, funny shoes, etc.
You could stuff some plastic grocery bags with leaves and then use the bags to stuff a set of old clothes to make a scarecrow. I made a scarecrow that way, and used an old pair of shoes stuffed with newspaper to give him feet. If you don't have tools or supplies to put the scarecrow in the ground, let him sit in a chair in the front of your home. You can put an old hat on him. Get some trees out of the woods and prop the trees around him....gather some rocks and do the same thing. A bag of fake spider webs goes a LONG way!
One year I got old metal cans and washed them out, and filled them with water. Freeze the cans until they are rock solid ice, and then get a nail and a hammer. Draw a pattern of any kind and use the nail to carefully punch holes in the can. When you are finished, you will have a free luminary/lantern if you have some candles to put in them! If you can get a can of spray paint at Walmart very cheaply, and paint the outside black, brown, white, etc. Be warned, the nail and hammer part will take awhile, and the kids should probably just draw the design and an adult do the labor. Simple designs are best.
Also, the icky Witch's Kitchen or Mad Scientist's Lab: Bowls of frozen, peeled grapes, shelled hardboiled eggs, cold cooked spaghetti, perhaps mini whole pickles...you can use anything!
Tell the kids that a witch or scientist left some specimens/experiments in the kitchen, and blindfold all of the kids. lead them in to a darkened kitchen, with spooky music playing. One by one, lead them to each dish of cold and creepy food, and make up an icky name for each dish ahead of time/ As you slowly plunge their hands in each dish, make sure you tell them what they are supposedly touching- intestines...worms...baby alligator tails....anything you can think up. When they all have felt the icky, take their blindfolds off and have a good laugh.
Don't forget apple bobbing. Walmart has seasonal plastic tubs for less than 5 bucks- or find a container around the house. A few apples, and you are in business!
Have a great Halloween!
We always made our costumes out of old clothes, cheap fabric, and Mom's makeup. Old hats, funny shoes, etc.
You could stuff some plastic grocery bags with leaves and then use the bags to stuff a set of old clothes to make a scarecrow. I made a scarecrow that way, and used an old pair of shoes stuffed with newspaper to give him feet. If you don't have tools or supplies to put the scarecrow in the ground, let him sit in a chair in the front of your home. You can put an old hat on him. Get some trees out of the woods and prop the trees around him....gather some rocks and do the same thing. A bag of fake spider webs goes a LONG way!
One year I got old metal cans and washed them out, and filled them with water. Freeze the cans until they are rock solid ice, and then get a nail and a hammer. Draw a pattern of any kind and use the nail to carefully punch holes in the can. When you are finished, you will have a free luminary/lantern if you have some candles to put in them! If you can get a can of spray paint at Walmart very cheaply, and paint the outside black, brown, white, etc. Be warned, the nail and hammer part will take awhile, and the kids should probably just draw the design and an adult do the labor. Simple designs are best.
Also, the icky Witch's Kitchen or Mad Scientist's Lab: Bowls of frozen, peeled grapes, shelled hardboiled eggs, cold cooked spaghetti, perhaps mini whole pickles...you can use anything!
Tell the kids that a witch or scientist left some specimens/experiments in the kitchen, and blindfold all of the kids. lead them in to a darkened kitchen, with spooky music playing. One by one, lead them to each dish of cold and creepy food, and make up an icky name for each dish ahead of time/ As you slowly plunge their hands in each dish, make sure you tell them what they are supposedly touching- intestines...worms...baby alligator tails....anything you can think up. When they all have felt the icky, take their blindfolds off and have a good laugh.
Don't forget apple bobbing. Walmart has seasonal plastic tubs for less than 5 bucks- or find a container around the house. A few apples, and you are in business!
Have a great Halloween!
Bobbing for apples, make caramel apples, visit an apple orchard or pumpkin patch, make s'mores in the backyard and tell scary stories around a campfire.
Dave Lowe has a nice tutorial on making tombstones from Fed-Ex boxes: http://davelowe.blogspot.com/2010/10/14-days-til-halloween-shipping-box.html
If you have a Dollar Tree near you they have amazing stuff for very little money. You can also make your own stuff. Most of my props are homemade
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