Get into the Halloween spirit with these activities

This year's Halloween is probably going to look a lot different for most kids. Without the classic trick-or-treating, school dances, or local community events, it might be hard to get into the Halloween spirit (and let's be honest, we could all use a day to dress-up and have a break from reality). To help bring some of the silly and playful Halloween energy into your home, we've spent some time combing through the internet to find some fun activities that you can do with your kids.

Halloween Paper Garland

Nothing gets me more into a season than decorating my apartment. Whether it's hanging a wreath on our front door in the spring or stringing twinkle lights everywhere for Christmas, it's the little things I see everyday that put me into the mood. One Little Project, a craft-making blog, came up a great tutorial on how to make paper garlands in the shape of bats, spiders, pumpkins, ghosts, and even black cats. This is a great activity for younger and older kids to use their motor and detail-oriented skills. You can follow along with the video below or check out the instructions here.

Monster Mash Dance Party

Take a break from studying or online schooling and get you kids jumping and dancing around with some spooky songs like: "Monster Mash," "Ghostbusters Theme Song," "Thriller," "The Purple People Eater," and "This is Halloween."

Switch-up the Bedtime Stories

There are lots of Halloween themed children's books out there that you can incorporate into your kids' bedtime routine or even have on-hand for downtime during the day. You can either rent them out from the nearest Calgary Public Library branches or follow along with these interactive videos:

Eek! Halloween! (2016) — Written and illustrated by Sandra Boynton

Goodnight Goon: A Petrifying Parody (2008) — Written and illustrated by Michael Rex

The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything (1986) — Written by Linda Williams and illustrated by Megan Floyd

Big Pumpkin (1992) — Written by Erica Silverman and illustrated by S.D. Schindler

Carve Pumpkins

This activity is sticky and messy — so, make sure you lay down some newspapers — but it gets the creative juices flowing. If your kids are too young they may need your help carving, but they can have total control over the design. The finished pumpkins can be placed on your front step and lit every night. You can pick-up some pumpkins from your local grocery store or supermarket and follow along with this tutorial.

If you and your kids are not fans of pumpkin carving, we've designed some pumpkin colouring pages you can do instead. One has a face drawn onto it while the other design is empty.