Several years ago I was wandering the aisles of a local bookstore looking for a few new books to add to my ever-expanding collection of Halloween related reading. Since my boys have cultivated a true love for this magical time of the year I wanted to make sure that I had something that they could enjoy while I happily carved pumpkins, made costumes and turned our normally happy home into a haunted, spooky castle. A clerk recommended the Halloween Fun Activity Book after I mentioned the age range of the brood and their love of Halloween. Even after being used for the past three years, this is one of the few books that they ask me to dig out when October rolls around.

If you have several Halloween craft books chances are most of what is covered in this book with already be common knowledge to you. One thing to keep in mind is that this is geared for children and it’s presented in a manner that they can understand and relate to. Some of the more common projects are making masks, turning brown paper sandwich bags into scary puppets and making ghosts out of cheesecloth. All of the projects and activities covered in the book are simple, require a minimal amount of artistic skills and take less then a half hour to complete.

Projects

I was really surprised at the number of fun projects that the book presented. If you ever wanted to know how to make a Hunted Punch Bowl or Frozen Fingers – this book will tell you how. One of my favorite treats to make is the Jell-O Fingers! Simply take a regular vinyl glove [not latex] and slip it over a measuring cup. Pour the cooled but not yet set Jell-O mixture into the fingers of the glove and refrigerate until they are firm – preferably overnight. To remove them just peel the glove off the Jell-O Fingers and store them until you are ready to serve them. You might need to cut the bottom of the fingers to get them to stand up but it’s well worth the effort. These are great if you are making a haunted cake and need a few special touches – they look great if you add a few of them to the sides.

Another fun project that we have been doing for the past few years is the Haunted Punch Bowl. This is a mixture of three flavors of Kool-Aid packets [unsweetened] and ice cubes. Go to any party supply store, craft store or Spencer’s and pick up small spiders and insects. These are dropped into ice cube trays and frozen – simply drop them into the punchbowl and watch your guests scream with frights when they take their first sip. Extreme caution should be used is you will have small children at a party or gathering – one of the little monsters could mistake this for an edible treat.

What kind of a Halloween project book would be complete without some information in carving pumpkins? There is a very nice introduction on how pumpkins and jack-o-lanterns came to be and much like the history of Halloween, this is explained in such a way that kids will be able to relate to it. Smaller kids might get scared by the historical aspect of why pumpkins were carved so you might want to water it down a little for them. In case you are wondering about how pumpkin carving became synonymous with Halloween – here is the four sentence breakdown. According to legend a man named Jack asked the devil to join him for a drink and then Jack refused to pay for it. He tricked the devil several times over the course of several years and when Jack died his soul was rejected by both heaven and hell due to his conniving trickery. The devil had his revenge when he denied Jack an entrance to hell but sentenced him to wander the earth with only a lump of coal to help him along the way. Since then people have carved out gourds, vegetables and pumpkins and placed candles in them to scare off Jack and any other spirits that might be wandering around.

All totaled there are well over twenty projects – some take a few minutes to complete and a few of the more involved ones can take up to a half hour. Be sure to read through some of the projects that you think you child might be interested in and look at the items that are needed before you start. Some of the more common items are cotton balls, garbage bags, Q-Tips, markers, food coloring, scissors, glue, string and assorted food items. Making a checklist of items to purchase before you start will cut down on the confusion and frustration and insure that a fun time is had by all.

Games & Activities

Scattered through the book are small activities and jokes that will have the younger crowd in stitches. Most of the jokes that appear at the top and bottom of selected pages are older than dirt but still - this is for the kids’ entertainment. There are a few mazes, riddles and puzzles but the bulk of the book centers around having your child use his or her imagination to create things. If you are looking for an activity book I suggest checking out the following books: Little Halloween Activity Book by Anna Pomaska, Create Your Own Halloween Greeting Cards by Maggie Kate or Monster Stencils by Paul Kennedy. These are all inexpensive books that will keep your child laughing, giggling and in hysterics.

Background Information

The few pages that are dedicated to the history of Halloween are easy enough for most kids to read on their own and more importantly – for them to comprehend. The book presents the history of the season and how it has changed over the years. It presents several historical looks at how the ‘holiday’ came to be including the Celtic celebration of the end of summer as well as how the haunted day took root in the rest of the world.

One thing I found interesting was the inclusion of the term “soul cakes” – a term I hadn’t heard since I was a small child. A soul cake was something that was given freely to those who were poor or would go door to door begging for food. The person accepting the cake would agree to pray for the persons loved one who had recently died or was close to death. This might be a very strange concept for smaller kids to understand, especially if you are raising your children in a non-religious household or environment.

Age Recommendation

This would be a great book for kids between the ages of five and nine. The younger kids can help with the simple tasks like mixing the ‘magic potions’ or making the paper masks but a majority of the projects are geared for kids in the five to nine year age group. If you have younger kids I suggest picking up the book Little Ghosts by Amy Becker which features simple projects like making cotton ball ghosts, macaroni monsters and personalized treat bags. These projects are perfect for kids aged three to six and will allow them to join in the spirit of the season.

The Bottom Line

Even though this is a small project book I found it to be jam packed with great projects, ideas and fun activities for the brood. Since Halloween is more than just a day to dress up and go trick-or-treating we rely on out small library of books and videos to create fun, safe and scary items for decorations or gift giving. Some of the ideas that are presented in the book aren’t new but they are explained in detail and have step-by-step instructions that allow a child to feel in control of his or her chosen activity.

As I mentioned earlier, I picked up this book several years ago and it is still extremely popular with my boys. Don’t worry about your child growing out of the activities because they are so fun they’ll want to recreate them every year!


Stats

Name: Halloween Fun Activity Book
Published By: Troll Communications
Author: Judith Stamper
Pages: 48
ISBN: 0 81672 9050
Price: $ 4.95


As always, thanks for the visit…

~^V^~ Freak ~^V^~

© 2006 Freak369


Other awesome Halloween books for kids!

Halloween Fun Activity Book, Halloween Tattoo Art, Little Halloween Activity Book, The Hallo-Wiener, Halloween Night on Shivermore Street, Rookie Read-About Holidays: Halloween, Aunt Eaters Mystery Halloween, Minnie And Moo Meet Frankenswine, The Halloween House, Let’s Celebrate Halloween, Fluffy's Happy Halloween, The Pumpkin Fair, In The Haunted House, Poultrygeist, Big Pumpkin, The Thirteen Days of Halloween, One Witch, The Story of Halloween, The Best Halloween Hunt Ever, The Vampire Rabbit, In A Dark, Dark Room, Peek-A-Boooo!, Witches, Pumpkins, And Grinning Ghosts, Algernon Graeves Is Scary Enough, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Haunted Halloween Carnival, Boo Whoo? A Spooky Mix And Match Pop Up Book, Scooby-Doo And The Legend of The Vampire






Recommended: Yes