Halloween Activities

There are plenty of activities you and your family can do to make Halloween fun. Watch the video from our Canadian friends on how to carve a pumpkin.

After my family and I lived in Vancouver, Canada prior to moving to the Central West, our love for Halloween was born and it is now one of the most exciting events our boys look forward to each year.

Canadians really go all out to celebrate on October 31 with many spending months planning the decorations and go to lengths to  display at their home. Our neighbourhood around the Douglas Park area in Vancouver was a big attraction for Houses decked out which you can see from some of the pictures in gallery below.

There were adventures to the pumpkin patch to choose your pumpkins, the excitement of coming up with your costume and making some Halloween crafts and treats. We made some friends for life in Canada who introduced us to many traditions that we have brought back to Australia. Halloween is slowly growing to become a much bigger celebration here in Australia now too.

First and foremost, take the opportunity to learn how to carve a classic Jack O’Lantern which does take time to master so best to get carving early on! Our beautiful friends Nicole and Liam (let’s call them the experts), have put together a quick video tutorial for you to follow. The important thing is take your time, and certainly if your kids are participating, take care with any carving implements.

What you’ll need:

1. A good sized pumpkin
2. A knife or even better if you can buy a pumpkin carving tool pack (can be picked up online or from Spotlight), which are ideal too as they have serrated, dull-edged blades for cutting through pumpkin flesh.
3. Spoon
4. Bowl
5. Newspaper and Paper towels

Note: You can also bake your pumpkin seeds too with some olive oil or avocado oil, some salt and baking paper. See below for a quick healthy snack recipe for in-between all the treats!

The final result

Once you are happy with your Jack O’Lantern’s ghoulish grin, then pick up one of those battery operated lanterns from a dollar dazzler store and light it up.

Some other inspiration that will keep your kids occupied as well as excited about Halloween, are to lookup some recipes to make some delicious and haunting treats. There are so many recipes online; here are some favourites (see images in gallery below);

> Brownie graveyard

> Band-aid biscuits

> Marshmallow and caramel ear buds

Recipe for baked Pumpkin seeds

1. Pre-heat oven to 180 degrees celsius (or 350 Fahrenheit). Once you have removed and cleaned your seeds, rinse them off in a bowl under tap and pat them dry and leave for a bit to dry further.
2. Add a tablespoon or more of oil and stir it through.
3. Spread your seeds on a baking tray lined with baking paper and add some salt on them.
4. Bake for approximately 15-20 minutes or until golden. Allow the seeds to cool down before eating.

Happy Halloween!