By Harry Loney
Are you looking for things to do on Halloween? Perhaps ways to keep Halloween magic alive for kids this year? With social distancing and face masks still an important part of Coronavirus protection measures, trick or treating and meeting up with groups of friends isn’t going to be possible. But don’t worry – here are some great Halloween lockdown games ideas to help keep this spooktacular day one full of monster-ous fun!
5. Treacle Face
Here’s one I bet you haven’t done before. I’m not sure if this is a “thing” that other people do, or if it’s some weird game my mum made up. Let’s call it Treacle Face, for reasons that will become abundantly clear soon. It’s a game to play over Haloween kids will love.
What you do, right, is get a slice of bread and cover it in treacle. Both sides. And by treacle I mean the thick black sticky stuff that tastes horrible. Then you thread some string (like a clean shoelace) through it and hang it on the end of something that can be moved. We used to use a pulley, but hardly anybody has these any more. Someone could dangle it down from up the stairs, or use a fishing rod (without the hook, obvs). And the aim of the game is to take as big a bit out the bread as possible.
The holder of the string pulls it up and is trying to get as much treacle on the face of the player as possible, and generally be mean about it. The winner is whoever gets the biggest bite of bread, and they win…the treacley bread! And also the title of Best Treacley Bread Biter for a whole year.
Now, if you wanted to be less messy (meaning boring) you could always substitute the messy treacle for some tasty chocolate donuts. Whilst the physical rewards may be more pleasing, being “Donut Champion” isn’t half as impressive.
4. Apple Dooking
This is a definite thing you have to do each and every Halloween. It’s pretty popular across the country. Dooking – or bobbing – for apples is very simple. Stick a bag of apples in a basin of water, and get your mouth in there to grab one! Hands behind your back please! If you have a big enough tub, a few people can play at once – whoever gets most apples wins!
If it’s a smaller tub, then you can go one at a time. And if some mean person should “accidentally” gently push down the back of the dook-ees head whilst in the water, then that’s fine. What’s Halloween without some casual water torture?
It. Is. Fun.
3. Tray Bake Face
This is one that the wife used to play growing up. Again, is it a regional thing or a weird family thing? Nobody knows! I am calling it Tray Bake Face.
Here’s what you do. Put a range of nice sweeties on an oven tray. These could be things like Haribos, jelly beans, liquorice allsorts (the good ones not the nasty ones). Then cover them all with icing sugar. The aim of the game is to grab what you can with your mouth whilst staying as clean as possible. Someone else should, of course, be incharge of pushing your face into the tray as unpredictable moments. Nobody should escape this game clean!
And if you want to be super mean, use flour instead of icing sugar. Not a good taste, and turns gooey when you go to wash it off! A win!
2. Andrex Mummification
Of all the Halloween lockdown games, this one is sure to be a winner. Get your loo roll at the ready! The cheaper stuff, of course. Don’t use your triple-quilted luxury paper.
Find a two willing participants who want to be the mummies. The aim of the game is to get mummified the fastest! Break everyone up into two teams, and whoever uses up all the toilet paper first on their mummy wins. Alternatively, if there is just one team, try and create the mummy and use up all the paper within one minute!
1. Gross treat-box
This is a good one for the brave adventurers amongst you! Will you get a nice bar of chocolate or a nasty handful of goo. Who knows!
First, find yourself a box, like a plastic tub or an old show box. Then, cut a hand-sized hole in the lid. Then, add lovely sweetie treats. And then the fun part – find some gooey, slimy or creepy things to put in it! Toy hairy spiders. banana peel, leaves, beans – anything that feels weird, really!
The kids have to put their hand in and find the good stuff in amongst all the nasty bit. Will they dare…??
So enjoy your Halloween lockdown with these games and they might even become a family tradition! They might lift your spirits! Or is that just witchful thinking?