There’s no trick to making your Halloween a treat. With a little planning, you can build in some safe and fun activities to amuse your kids and teach them a little science at the same time.
Where does a ghost do experiments? In a la-BOO-ratory!
Halloween is so much more than costumes and candy. It’s one of our oldest holidays that has incorporated myths and traditions from around the world. It’s also a time of year when there are limitless opportunities to do creative and fun projects with your children. That includes turning your home into a la-BOO-ratory for our Spooky Science Experiments.
Children will love doing these experiments with you or another supervising adult. They’ll create things that are slimy and bubbly, with ghostly glows and spine-tingling twitches. The experiments are easy, inexpensive, safe and most of all FUN. The eerie experiments are:
Glow-in-the-Dark Mad Scientist Jars – Use child-safe, non-toxic, glow-in-the-dark paint and water to make glowing specimen jars for Halloween trinkets.
Creepy Slime – Make gooey slime using cornstarch, water and food coloring.
Bubbling Potion – Create an oozy eruption using baking soda, water and powdered fruit juice.
Ghost Writing – Use lemon juice to write an invisible message that eerily appears when you heat it up.
The Ghostly Glove – Make a latex-free glove “come to life” with baking soda and vinegar.
You can download the directions, supply list and information about the science behind the experiments here.
Halloween Safety Tips
Halloween can be such a fun time for children. At Kiddie Academy® Educational Child Care, we want your children to remember it as a time of fun with family and friends. There’s no trick to making your Halloween a treat. It simply takes planning and good parenting to ensure it’s a safe and healthy experience for everyone.
Here are a few tips to help.
Make sure your child has a safe costume.
Since many Halloween activities take place after dark, you want to make sure your child is easy to see by motorists. Most store-bought costumes have reflective materials built in. If it doesn’t or the costume is homemade, you can add reflective tape to it. Children can also carry glow sticks or flashlights to make it easier to see them. The costume should fit properly so that it’s not so long that the child could trip and so that their vision isn’t obscured by the mask or a wig. And, of course, make sure the costume is flame resistant.
Respect your child’s fear.
For most children, Halloween means fun and candy. But with all the ghosts, witches and monsters going door to door, masks and costumes can be sources of fear and anxiety, especially for younger children. Masks and makeup obscure facial expressions, so it’s especially hard for toddlers to tell if someone is mean or friendly. If a child gets scared, don’t force them to confront their fear or shame them for their feelings. It could make the situation worse in the long run.
Provide adult supervision.
Whether it’s handling the jack-o’-lantern carving duty or going door to door with your trick-or-treater, being an involved Halloween parent helps ensure your child stays safe. Children under 12 should be accompanied on their rounds by an adult. Make sure your home is safe for Halloween visitors – well-lit, cleared of anything a child could trip over and that pets are kept indoors or on a leash.
Make it a healthy Halloween.
For many, the treats are the highlight of Halloween. But, as with most good things, moderation matters. If you can get your child to eat a good meal before trick-or-treating it helps discourage them from filling up on candy. Have children wait until they get home before sorting and eating the candy. And don’t let them eat it all at once. Be respectful of food allergies, both for your children and others. Look through your child’s candy for anything they’re allergic to. And for the treats at your house, think about passing out non-candy treats such as coloring books to any visitors you might have who have allergies.
More Ideas
If you’re looking for more Halloween family activities, here are some great ideas from our partners at PBS Parents:
“Halloween-Themed Learning Activities”
Thank you for reading along, as we work together in raising the next generation of amazing kids!
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