Halloween, as we all know, is widely celebrated overseas and is growing in popularity in South Africa. Over the past few years I’ve seen a few ‘haunted houses’ and seen a few emails in our complex that children will be trick-or-treating in thhe area. If marking this traditionally American holiday is new to you, M&M’s and Skittles have devised an easy ‘How- To-Halloween’ guide to a fang-tastic time:
M&M’s and Skittles sent me the ‘scariest’ little desk drop last week. It was a little coffin, filled with all my favourite M&M and Skittles treats. Now that’s a clever play on ‘trick or treat’ and M&M’s for me are certainly a treat that does the trick. Being a chocoholic and all…
Get into the spirit of Halloween by seeing what your local community is doing:
Check community groups on Facebook for events in your area to attend with friends and family, such as the Zombie Walk, Haunted Harbor, or Haunted Forest. Taking place in Cape Town and Johannesburg this year. I can’t wait to see how these events unfold on social media…. they’re sure to be a nightmarish experience for viewers alike.
Keep calm and get your Frozen on:
Whether you’re hitting the town or celebrating Halloween at home, there’s nothing like a ghoulish costume, or something really clever and sweet to take the occasion to the next level. Spooky, funny or creative costumes give you an opportunity to be someone different for a day. Find your closest mall that sells party dress up accessories to purchase a costume, or get creative and make your own, which is also a great activity for the kids. You could go as a ‘social butterfly’, the nun or the corpse bride for some costume inspiration.
Get the party startled:
If you’re having your ghoul-friends over for a party, or waiting for the trick or treaters to ring your bell, why not turn your home into a haunted house. Stick fake spider webs to windows, hang witch’s hats from the ceiling using clear fishing line; learn how to carve a pumpkin; wrap your front door in white crepe paper streamers to ‘mummify’ it and put on some spooky music to help amplify the Halloween atmosphere. Dry ice adds a spooky feel too, so do giant snakes and spiders. Pinterest has a host of scary, but sweet treats that you could make for party guests who are coming over for a party.
Safety first:
For kids, trick or treating is a blast, but your child’s safety is the top priority. For those living in a neighborhood with close friends, get the kids together and pre-schedule visits to houses of close friends or family. If that’s not an option, gather all the kids at your place, designate each of your friends a room, and have all the kids go from room-to-room collecting their treats from the grown-ups? Dress up with a scary mask and scare the children, let a snake drop on their heads, or ask someone to run outside and knock on a window to give the house that haunted feeling. You also get a range of gps devices that you can attach to your kids schoelances, and those childrens leashes are always a win for crowd heavy events like this.
The treats that do the trick:
When the neighbour’s kids come knocking, be sure to have some sharable snacks like M&M’s and Skittles in sealable bags on hand to fill their buckets – because nothing’s more scary than a disappointed child. Not only that, noone wants to have their house egged because they didn’t have treats on hand.
