tips, crafts + tunes

CHILD'S PLAY
Save your energy—and let the kids exhaust some of their supply.

Play (partial) dress-up.
They can’t wait to put on their costumes, huh? Give in...a little. Let them stay in their pajamas and put on one or two pieces at breakfast.

Invite kids to help with party decorations.
In fact, have that be the first activity of the day. Ask for volunteers to help set the table, scatter the balloons, and fill bowls with candy or other treats.

Extend activities.
Set up games in which they can watch each other take turns. One idea: Pin the body parts on the monster. Print a free image of a monster off the Web, then cut the limbs off its body. Tape the body to a wall and let blindfolded kids try to tape arms and legs in the right places.


EYE CANDY
Instead of draping fake cobwebs all over the house, hang eyeball balloons from the ceiling. Using double-sided tape, attach construction paper circles to inflated white balloons. Finish the look by drawing a few squiggly veins with a thick red marker.


FACE TIME
Make jack-o’-lantern juice glasses by cutting the eyes, nose and mouth out of 3-inch pieces of black construction paper (use an X-Acto precision knife), then taping the paper to clear tumblers.


UNDER THE SPELL
Kick-start the morning with our haunted Halloween playlist.

Walking with a Ghost, Tegan and Sara
I Put a Spell on You, Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
Little Ghost, The White Stripes
Frankenstein, The Edgar Winter Group
Purple People Eater, Sheb Wooley
Wolfman’s Brother, Phish
Werewolves of London, Warren Zevon
Thriller, Michael Jackson
Witch Doctor, Alvin and the Chipmunks