Here are some Halloween ideas to make your spooky holiday season a spine-chilling sensation. Learn to make a batch of freakishly delicious Halloween marshmallow pops; get crafty (and sticky!) by entering a duct tape jack-o-lantern contest; and sneak some simple math fun into the candy commotion.
Marshmallow Pops
Easy and fun, make a batch of Halloween marshmallow pops!
Ingredients:
- 12 marshmallows
- 12 popsicle or lollipop sticks
- 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
- 8 ounces white chocolate
- sprinkles (or other crumbled toppings)
Put the sticks into marshmallows. Melt the semisweet chocolate separately using a double boiler (or in a heat-safe bowl over a saucepan with a small amount of water in the bottom). Dip the marshmallow in the chocolate and roll it against the side of the bowl to get rid of excess. Immediately dip in sprinkles. Repeat with a fresh marshmallow in the white chocolate.
Recipe and photo courtesy of Life and Kitchen.
Stick or Treat!
Stick or Treat!Instead of carving, get sticking and enter your pumpkin creation into the Duct Tape Jack-O-Lantern Contest for a chance to compete for the $1,000 Grand Prize. Entries are judged based on creativity, workmanship, originality, use of color, and use of duct tape. Contest closes November 1, 2012. One entry per person; get the full details here.
Candy alternatives that will still delight trick-or-treaters (really!)—>
Gasp! Candy Alternatives?!
Sure, candy is the traditional “treat” to give on Halloween night, but these fun options will also please the vampires and ballerinas who show up on your doorstep:
- Stickers
- Mini containers of Play-Doh
- Bouncy balls
- Glow sticks
- Toy rings
- Gold pirate coins
- Rubber bats
- Plastic spiders
- Small bottles of bubbles
- Clementine jack-o-lanterns
- Erasers
- Squinkies
Trick or Trade?
Trick or Trade?We all know to read to our kids at bedtime, but why not tackle math problems, too? New Jersey mom Laura Overdeck makes daily math fun online at Bedtime Math. Here’s a taste for Halloween:
Trick-or-treating has almost become a competitive sport, as kids scramble to collect as much candy as possible. But let’s face it, not all candy is created equal. After counting up your loot, you face the important job of trading with other kids to unload the junk you don’t like and get the junk you love.
Warm-up: If you get 2 mini-Snickers and 3 mini-Milky Ways, how many bite-sized bars is that?
Challenge: If each mini packet of M&Ms has 20 M&Ms, how many M&Ms are there in 2 mini packets?
Bonus: If 3 lollipops count the same as 2 peanut butter cups, how many peanut butter cups can you get for 12 lollipops?
Answers: Warm-up: 5 bars. Challenge: 40 M&Ms. Bonus: That’s 4 sets of 3, so you should get 4 pairs of peanut butter cups, or 8 in total.