Halloween Fun For Kids...

Printable Halloween Party Invitations and Scrapbook Images Now Available

2009-10-23T02:29:00.000-07:00

Well folks - it's that time of year again. YAY! It's finally arrived. Halloween is (at the time of writing this) in 7 days now! I know that my kids are excited for sure - but I think this year I am WAY MORE EXCITED than they are.

Here's why...

Our family moved into a new city this August - and apparently our street is the street to be on during the decorative holidays (like halloween and christmas). We have been forewarned to expect 350 children at the door on Halloween! OMG! I know - that's insane to even ponder. I am shocked myself - but cannot wait to witness this amazing display! Remember how busy the streets were in E.T. - I think we will more than double that! I hope E.T. makes a showing too!!!
Also rumor has it - that not only do the halloween costumed children come in large quantities which is bound to be highly entertaining - but my neighbors decorate to the nines - which I am already witnessing - and they sit out on their lawns with bon fires to give out the candy! How cool is that? I can't wait to take photos and journal about them all in my Halloween Scrapbook!
PLUS - I have finally gotten my toosh off of the couch and out of the office chair to redesign the Halloween Games For Kids official website - AND I have added some really cool stuff to the site. This includes the LONG OVERDUE, EXCESSIVELY REQUESTED Halloween Party Invitations and Image Packs. They are LIVE ladies and gentleman! You can now download those last minute Halloween Party Invitations, or Poster or Scrapbook Images. They are online and they are ready for downloading! All you have to visit and click.

Happy Haunting everyone!!!

Want your Halloween Costume Idea on The News?

2009-10-05T10:30:00.000-07:00

WNDU.com is looking for your Halloween Costume Ideas!

Send us your creative Halloween costume ideas!

It’s that time of year, for pumpkins and gourds, candy and costumes!

Halloween is just around the corner; but this year, some families might struggle to get into the spooky spirit because of the recession and continued unemployment.

That’s where you come in!

We want your ideas for inexpensive, but creative Halloween costumes!

Send us an email to 16morningnews@wndu.com with a photo of your favorite easy-to-do costume. Or you can mail it to us at P.O. Box 1616 South Bend, IN. 46634.

Please be sure to write "Halloween Costume" in the subject line for both email or mail submissions. We need your photos by October 19th. Then, as we get closer to Halloween, we’ll show the best ones on the air on 16 Morning News!

For store bought Halloween Costumes...please visit our Halloween Costumes for Kids page.

Kids Halloween on PBS Kids...

2009-10-05T10:12:00.000-07:00

PBS Kids Halloween

"Halloween is an exciting time for kids to explore new things - meeting new people and even taking on new identities - and to share these experiences with friends," said Lesli Rotenberg, SVP Children's Media, PBS. "Our Halloween content is filled with teamwork and sharing - critical growth areas for young children as they begin understanding the importance of friendship - and PBS' children's characters are perfect guides for this adventurous time."

Beginning October 9 on PBSKIDSGO.org, kids can watch their favorite Halloween-themed episodes on the PBS KIDS GO! video player at PBSKIDSGO.org/video. The themed channel will include clips from ARTHUR, CYBERCHASE, MARTHA SPEAKS and POSTCARDS FROM BUSTER. In addition, PBSKIDSGO.org will feature costume ideas, spooky games, e-cards and more. On PBSKIDS.org/halloween, preschoolers and their parents can see what's inside SID THE SCIENCE KID's mystery lunchbox, play counting games with The Count from SESAME STREET, share favorite Halloween stories on Dot's Story Factory, or view clips from favorite Halloween-themed episodes of CURIOUS GEORGE, SID THE SCIENCE KID, DINOSAUR TRAIN and more.

For parents and caregivers, PBS Parents (PBSPARENTS.org) is offering a free exclusive costume pattern for "Buddy," the T-Rex star from the new hit PBS KIDS series DINOSAUR TRAIN. The full-body sewing pattern, designed by the artists of Jim Henson's Creature Shop, is available in two sizes for ages 3 to 5.

For more great halloween games and party ideas - please visit our parent site Halloween Games For Kids.

We've updated our main site!

2009-03-11T09:36:00.000-07:00

Hey there....

I just wanted to send a quick message that we have updated our main Halloween Games For Kids website. It's been a LONG time overdue; but we finally did it. We are pleased with the results and we are going to be working all year round on updating the content and adding more treats for you all.

Here's just a glimpse of what you will find there now:

Halloween Games for Kids (preschool aged - 15 years old)
Online Halloween Games for Kids (same ages as above)
Halloween Jigsaw Puzzles & Online Activities to Exercise the Brain
Links to our partner sites (like Ultimate Pumpkin Stencils)
and exclusive Halloween Products through Amazon.com
And so much more...

We will also be adding:

Halloween Party Themes (yes, you can get a little more specific on Halloween)
Halloween Party Invitations
Halloween Crafts and Activities
& Halloween Scrapbooking Ideas
PLUS...and here's the big one...

We are currently expanding our Ultimate Halloween Party Collection! Our Halloween Games for Kids book is being expanded. It's such a big hit for parents and teachers every year and we knew we needed to make it even better...so we did! So far the original 40 pages or so - are now up to 80 pages and we aren't even finished!!!! It's going to be the MONSTER Halloween Games Book that we always envisioned it to be!

This revision , includes all new games and game play ideas. As well as new color pages or game images, and even Halloween Game Prize sheets! And it STILL comes bundled with our Halloween Safety Guide and our Halloween Recipes book!

There is so much value in this bundle its incredible. I am so proud of this package now I can barely wait to release it again.

Anyhow...just thought I would share the news....hope you come visit the site soon.

The address is: www.halloweengames4kids.com

Cat Came Back - Hit the Road Jack- Crabbuckit by Fred Penner

2008-12-05T09:58:00.001-08:00

Again - gotta love the 80's....although Fred Penner didn't necessarily fall into the Halloween Song's category - the Cat Came Back was as close as it got - and always worked well for Halloween Music.

Have a listen - let me know what you think.

Polka Dot Door Polkaroo In Space 1986

2008-12-05T09:54:00.001-08:00

Okay - this one is totally NOT a Halloween Video....but PolkARoo is by far one of the coolest characters in my childhood and I would love to get my hands on a PolkARoo costume!

Wouldn't you?

A Friendly Giant Halloween

2008-12-05T09:48:00.001-08:00

Stumbled upon this video today and had to share it....you will know the Friendly Giant well if you are in your 30's! It was a great TV show - but this particular episode is solely devoted to Halloween!

Keep your Christmas Tree for Halloween

2008-12-01T21:26:00.000-08:00

Since December is that magical month where the boxes come out from storage and all of the glamorous decor comes to life in your home, I am sure that next Halloween is the last thing on your mind - but I had to put this one up for you to ponder.

Keep the tree for Halloween 2009.

I mean it. If you want "cooler than cool" Halloween decorations in the home next year - there is nothing cooler than decorating a needle-less tree with Halloween lights, glow in the dark bats, spiders and halloween gift wrapped boxes.

I did it one year - in the spirit of a Halloween party and it got rave reviews!

Everyone who attended that Halloween Party - loved the entire tree from top to bottom.

It made for great decoration, let alone conversation and photos!

What more could you ask for?

Monkey Munch - Halloween Style

2008-11-20T02:14:00.000-08:00

Hi there....

This Halloween I had the pleasure of taking my kids out with the daughter (and friends) of a family friend. It was actually a TON of fun. We all met at [Mary's] House - and we ate dinner, put the finishing touches on our little monkey's as they munched away at something I had never heard of until that point (which is Monkey Munch (aka: Puppy Chow Recipe).

What a great treat! And when we Halloweened it up! MMMMM was it ever amazing!

The ADD ON to this snack recipe - that made it look and feel so much more like a Halloween Treat - was adding Reeses Pieces into the mix. (You know the small Orange and Brown Candied Covered Chocolates that Elliot left for E.T. (the Extra Terestrial) to bring him into the house?).

It was so perfect. Orange and Brown are great Halloween Colors. Great Monkey Colors. & The sole fact that Reeses Pieces were significant to E.T. (our favorite Halloween Movie of ALL TIME)....it just made perfect sense to add these Candied Chocolate Dreams to our Monkey Munch Madness!

(I can't take credit for making the Monkey Munch Snack RECIPE myself - but I can take credit for the idea of adding the Reeses Pieces - and I am so glad I did it, it was brilliant!).

P.S. This is the same Monkey Munch Snack Recipe that was recently profiled on Jon & Kate Plus 8

Monkey Munch Snack Recipe with Reeses Pieces

NOTE: 1-2 average sized bags of Reeses Pieces is plenty (although it is your preference really - you just don't want to OVER KILL the other stuff right).

ALSO: You add them in at STEP ONE with your Chex Mix (as per the recipe below) and viola - Halloween Style Monkey Munch! See below for complete details.

9 cups Chex cereal (any variety)
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Stove Method Directions:

Measure cereal into a large bowl, add your desired amount of Reeses Pieces & set aside.
Heat peanut butter and the butter over low heat until melted. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Pour the melted mixture over the cereal and stir until evenly coated.
Pour the mix into a 2 gallon ziploc bag and add powdered sugar, seal bag.
Shake bag until everything’s well coated then spread the mix on waxed paper to cool.
Refrigerate in an airtight container.

Microwave Method Directions:

Place the peanut butter and butter in a microwaveable bowl and melt uncovered on High for 1 minute. Stir.
Microwave for another 30 seconds or until mixture is stirred smooth.
Stir in the vanilla.
Follow the rest of the directions as above in the Stove Method.

*** Suggestion: For variety, you may wish to consider purchasing a box of Corn Chex and a box of Rice Chex. Each box of Chex Cereal contains 13 cups of cereal, and the recipe calls for 9 cups. So one box will give you more than enough for one batch. ***

Hope You Enjoy It!

Sincerely - Cijaye DePradine

Halloween Supplies for Next Year

2008-11-04T08:54:00.000-08:00

So, since our 2008 Halloween Festivities are behind us...it is now the time to take FULL advantage of all of the last minute deals we can find so that we don't have to scramble next year!

They are EVERYWHERE!

You can find:

- halloween lights
- halloween invitations
- halloween skeletons
- halloween photos
- halloween masks
- halloween supplies
- halloween party supplies
- halloween videos
- halloween wigs
- halloween make up
- halloween decorations
- halloween party decorations
- halloween trick or treat bags
- halloween props
- halloween costumes

And so much more for upto 90% off in some cases! All of the Zellers', SuperStores, Walmarts, KMarts, RiteAids and even Halloween Websites are clearing out this years supplies at prices WORTH paying ahead for!

Don't miss out on your chance.

I just got a whole cart full of Halloween Party Supplies and Decorations for next year (not to mention some great Halloween Scrapbooking supplies) - ALL for under $50.00!!!!!

I KNOW next years Halloween Party is going to be a great one because of it!!!

Sincerely - Cijaye DePradine

Top 10 Games for your Halloween Preschoolers

2008-10-28T13:09:00.000-07:00

Games - Halloween - Preschool! Oh my!

What a great age, what great fun. The scope of creativity among our little Preschoolers is uninhibited yet. There are no boundaries, no limitations - and no "blocks". There is nothing getting in the way of a fun game or halloween activity for your preschooler!

Accept options!

Unfortunately I have NOT found much for games halloween and preschoolers combined or even halloween school games (if you can believe this - LOL - there really isn't a lot of WORTHY sites out there), but nonetheless I have found some great activities...and crafts...that your preschooler might love:

For games for your halloween preschooler...please visit our site and consider getting your own copy of our Ultimate Halloween Party Bundles...

Sincerely - Cijaye DePradine

Halloween for Children...Please Help Make It More Fun!

2008-10-20T22:21:00.000-07:00

Forgive me folks for this post as I am a little bit bummed today. I have to rant before getting on with the fun of Halloween this year! I simply have to! (It's like a clearing for me. LOL).

So here's my RANT.

I was just doing a little bit of research online with regards to Halloween and Children.

It shocked and amazed me that there is so little out there. Granted, today - as I post...there are:

11,700,000 Pages with the words Halloween and Children on them
3,890,000 Pages with the words Halloween and Kids on them

Which may seem like a lot, but you have to realize that Google is just returning every single page with both of those words on them (not necessarily pages that are focused on those subjects). Thats why the numbers are so high.

When you get in there and really look for the real "treats" (you know the stuff you don't get every year) - you find very little.

It reminds me a lot of the children's halloween treat bags after they have done their rounds - - filled with a lot of the same old same old (tootsie rolls of different shapes and sizes) and barely worth the effort for the rest.

So what do we do about it...

I've tried to do my part, with my Halloween Games For Kids Website, which takes care of my children's thirst for Halloween Fun when they can't find it elsewhere.

But when I think about the candy that sits on my fridge all year long and never gets eaten...or the fact that our school won't let the kids come in costume and certainly NEVER with a mask...it can be a little demotivating.

Granted...the candy sits on the fridge because my children aren't in it for the candy and if the principal imposes a hard fast rule (which is to some degree justifiable) - what can we do about it right?

Honestly...if challenging my kids to get creative with their halloween costumes - and taking photo's of it all (to scrapbook later of course) wasn't such an exciting activity for us...I would say: "let's skip trick or treating this halloween children; instead I'll buy the candy you want and we will stay in and watch a great movie together ".

But I know that tomorrow - I will feel different. Tomorrow I will get back on the "enthusiastic mom" bycicle and start pedalling the Halloween Fun for the Kids.

If you wish to rant...or better yet - sooth mine, feel free to do so.

This site is all about bringing the Halloween Fun for the kids after all!

Sincerely - Cijaye DePradine

Pumpkin Carving Tips

2008-09-02T15:43:00.000-07:00

Aside from the normal Pumpkin Carving Safety Tips (such as these on Bella Online) that you MUST read before preparing to carve a pumpkin...

You should have a pumpkin carving design in mind before setting the knife to surface.

The great news here is that you can pretty much use any natural or spooky Image in Line Art Format (outlines only). But do make sure that before you select your image, that it's appropriate for those who will be doing the carving.

There are hundreds out there for halloween.

Just remember: The last thing you want to do is pick a complex jackolantern template that can only be carved out by an art major (in woodworking or sculpting) LOL. That's no fun for anyone.

So keep Halloween Safe, Age Appropriate and Fun this year!

Happy Carving!

Halloween Costume Ideas

2008-08-23T09:53:00.000-07:00

Here's some quick ideas for today:

If you are looking for Cool Halloween Costume's for 2008...one of the best ways to find new ideas is to look back at some of your favorite movies.

Movie Themed Halloween Costumes are great.

PLUS...many stores have Movie Themed Halloween Costumes ready to go as well ...but if you can't find them...you might be able to make them.

I am betting that this years NEW Movie Themed Halloween Costumes might be based on some of the following:

BatMan
Star Wars (Clone Wars)
The Hulk
Indiana Jones
Hancock
Speed Racer
Prince Caspian & the new Narnia Characters
Love Guru
Tropic Thunder Characters

as well as: Hannah Montanna & other Disney Child Star's

The more common & timeless of course being:

Cat Woman
Batman / Robin / Joker
Harry Potter
Wicked Witch of the West (Wizard of Oz)
or Any other Wizzard of Oz characters.

Next option would be - Disney Characters (most of who have been in movies yes...but some have not).

You might even consider Anime Characters. There are some really popular Japanese Animation Characters out there that are just down right cool and fun to dress up as.

Here's a good list of them:

http://gojapan.about.com/od/animemanga/J...

And then - you have standard North American comics - like Garfield, Odie, Betty Boop, Nancy, Dennis the Menace, Dilbert, Simpson's Characters, South Park etc.

Good luck with it...hope you find something super cool!

Halloween Books Your Kids Should Read...

2008-08-23T09:50:00.000-07:00

Just had someone ask this question...thought I would answer it here too. Here are my Top 6 Suggestions for Halloween Books for Kids.

1) Where the wild things are
2) The little old lady who was not afraid of anything
3) The nightmare before christmas
4) Any Harry Potter
5) Its the Great Pumkin Charlie Brown
6) Garfield Halloween

Halloween Bloggers are Falling Behind This Year...What's Up With That?

2008-08-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

I did a really quick search today to see who was talking about what for this Halloween and NOTHING! (At least not on the 1st page in Google). Everything was dated back to last year or previous.

I couldn't believe it.

Yes, I know it's still summer (in some places in the world) but I feel a responsibility to get the ball rolling since all of the retail stores are already displaying their latest inventories and the Halloween Special Edition magazines are starting to pop up on shelves..

So...I updated my Halloween Product Features in my Amazon A-Store - and I am getting ready to update my Halloween Games For Kids website over the next couple of days. *I am even updating the Ultimate Halloween Games Book that I have written...

Bottom line...I am READY this year! Are you?

You would not be here if you weren't ready I guess...but what are you ready for? What are you looking for? I am happy to seek it out for you...just leave me a comment and I will jump on it.

Afterall - it will help me keep this blog active and growing....

Looking forward to hearing from you...

Halloween's Around the Corner - Are you Ready?

2008-08-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

Have you noticed anything different in the stores lately? Possibly some dark and spooky corners. A little more dust or cobwebs perhaps. Or maybe fake smoke accompanied by ghoulish laughter?

I have. To my shock - Halloween has arrived. Are you ready for Halloween?

Do you have Halloween Party Plans a'brewin? Are you designing or paper piecing Halloween Party Invitations or HandMade Halloween Cards in general.

Are you busy making costumes or searching for Halloween Games and Activities for your children. If not...I think its about time to get the planning started.

That's the most exciting part for me. Planning a Halloween Party or Event. Whether it's for school, classroom or otherwise - doesn't matter....just putting ideas down and imagining how I will take advantage of those rich green's, purples and oranges PLUS black of course - is a big turn on for me.

The whole mystique of Halloween is just too unique to deny.

It reminds me of Cirque' Du Soliel...which I absolutely love. And rare, once a year type crafts and activities. It also reminds me of pumpkin pie and caramel apples.

There are so many things about Halloween that would never be "common" on an average day in January or June for example. That alone makes this one day such a precious day.

So make a list of the things you remember about Halloween today. Even share that list here...and then start setting plans to make some of those things happen this year.

Why not?

Its not a devils day or witchcraft day (like previously depicted)...its dress up day and special games day for the kids! So have fun with it! Don't let your kids miss out on this one opportunity to be in costume and take wild and crazy photo's! Heck - why not even join them!???

Would love to see that list of things you remember