Although things may be a little different this year there’s still lots of fun things to do with the kids to make sure the spooky season is magical.
This simple Halloween craft is easy to make and there are loads of ghostly games you can play when it’s complete. We know that Spooky Sweetie Slingers will be handy to have this Halloween, now that most are cancelling their trick or treating plans…
Lots of parents are cancelling their usual trick or treat trip this year. Although we know that little ones will be upset to have their trick or treating cancelled, we also appreciate that keeping safe is the most important thing. We sympathise so much with parents and kids who are disappointed that their usual Halloween activities won’t be possible this year.
Well, just because trick or treating is cancelled doesn’t mean other exciting Halloween activities can’t go ahead! At toucanBox we like to think creatively, so we have thought up plenty of ways to celebrate the spooky season indoors. You can enjoy an awesome at-home Halloween with ideas from our blog and crafts from our boxes.
These sweetie slingers will be an exciting addition to your Halloween party at home. Not only will kids love playing with their spooky shooters, they are tonnes of fun to make too!
Although some steps require adult involvement (cutting with scissors, for example) there’s plenty your child can attempt on their own and many skills they can develop as they craft.
Your child will have great fun assembling the balloon and cup, although it may be fiddly to begin with this challenge can help to develop their fine motor skills. Knotting and testing the balloon sling encourages children to experiment and problem solve to achieve the optimum sweetie shot!
Furthermore, they’ll love decorating their creation with felt tips to make ghostly faces! This easy drawing activity for kids provides little ones with an exciting, spooky prompt. Encourage your child’s imagination by prompting them to think about what a ghost would look like, what sounds it would make, and if there are any extra materials a ghost would like to be decorated with! You could add pom poms, pipe cleaners, and glitter glue to make the slinger feel more personalised and something they can be proud to show off and excited to play with.
How crafting helps your child's development
Get your craft materials ready, but maybe don’t open the sweeties just yet… otherwise they might all “mysteriously vanish” by the time it comes to play with them!
1 Use a pair of scissors to cut off the bottom of the paper cup.
2 Use a pair of scissors to cut off the top half of the white balloon. Stretch the balloon over the paper cup and secure with sellotape. Tie the end of the balloon in a knot.
3 Draw a spooky face onto the paper cup with felt tip pens.
4 Draw and cut out a pair of ghost arms from the white card and sellotape them to the cup.
5 Fill the paper cup with sweets. Pull the knot in the balloon down and let go to sling the sweeties into the air!
Once your spooky slingers are ready to rocket sweeties sky high, try one of these games!
Put your slinger skills to the test! Load your slinger with a small object, like a wrapped up sweetie, and launch! Take it in turns to shoot, whoever flings their object furthest, wins! You can leave each of the launched objects where they land, or you can use a tape measure to calculate the exact distance (a great way of making maths fun)!
Place as many bowls as there are players on a tabletop. Set a timer for one minute and make sure each player has a good supply of sweeties beside them. Each player stands a metre away from the tabletop and when the time starts everybody tries to fire as many sweeties into their bowl as possible. The player with the most sweeties in their bowl when the minute is up, wins!
Team work makes the dream work! All players divide into couples and stand opposite one another. The first player launches a sweet from their slinger. The second player must catch it with their own slinger and then launch it back. The aim of the game is to have the longest sweet slinging rally. Each time the sweet is shot and caught counts for a point. The couple who has the most points before dropping the sweet, win!
Did you make the Spooky Sweetie Slingers and play our ghostly games? Maybe you invented your own? Tell us all about it on social media, we would love to hear your creative twist on our crafts!
You can check out our No Carve Pumpkins, our Halloween Party Game Recommendations, and a tasty Halloween recipe, Boonana Pops (perfect for a devilishly tasty desert)!
Happy Halloween from the toucanBox Team!
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