Tag Archives: Hallowe’en

early education & play, imagination, kids party ideas, parenting

Make Your Own Costume Party

October 18, 2018 rightfromthestart 1 Comment

With a birthday just before Hallowe’en, a make your own costume party was the perfect choice for my daughter’s 10th birthday. The idea was that the kids would make a costume and take it home to use for Hallowe’en.

Materials to Collect

We collected materials from thrift stores, dollar stores and our local buy nothing group to inspire their imagination. Shopping was part of the fun. We chose items costing under $10, that could be customised to make a costume of their own design.

drapes and sheets $3.99 each from Goodwill were perfect for creating dresses and cloaks

A selection of ready made costumes to use as a base. All under $10 from thrift stores

The flower clips were $2.99 for a bag from Goodwill, the beads came as a set from Dollar Tree and the rest was either donated or from thrift stores.

Suggested Items

Drapes, sheets and lengths of material
Tulle
Feather boas
Headbands and hats
Glasses, gloves, masks and jewellery
Plain shirts, leggings or shorts.
Any low-cost ready made costumes to customise
ribbons and bows
elastic
Velcro

Inspiration from Goodwill costume experts

Earlier that week I had attended a Goodwill Hallowe’en event and was able to use the advice of their costume experts as inspiration. Did you know that every Goodwill store has a costume expert? (I didn’t). This is really useful to know, since I only ever buy costumes in thrift stores, putting together a costume is part of the fun but sometimes a bit of guidance would be helpful.

The costume experts helped us create a costume. I found a princess dress that I could also use for an 80’s prom night I’m going to with friends and at only $9.99 it was a bargain. Some of the costume ideas were really creative, I especially love the Mad Hatter ( I think the black tulle skirt she wore made it to our party and was used to form part of a sea monster costume).

For me these costumes look so much better than an expensive, ready put together one. Goodwill collect up items for their Hallowe’en costumes all year round, to put on display in October, so you will find all kinds of interesting goodies to make a unique and creative costume. There is even a dedicated Halloween Store in Tacoma. Halloween, generates the largest seasonal funding for Goodwill’s mission to provide career, job training and services to the unemployed. By shopping at Goodwill you’ll save yourself money, come home with a unique costume and support local people into employment.

Design and Make Hats

The party started by designing hats made from paper grocery bags. Paper grocery bags are the perfect size to fit an average sized head. Most of the materials came from donations, the dollar store or thrift stores.

Materials

Paper grocery bags
Tissue paper
Glue and hot glue gun for bigger items
Ribbon
Fake flowers and leaves
Stickers and sequins
Tulle
Jewels
Pom-poms

How to Make a Hat

Remove the handles
Roll the sides of the bag from the open end.
Push in the corners to make an interesting shape.
Decorate with coloured paper
Add decorations to create a unique hat.

The hats were judged at the end of the party and prizes awarded for the best design.

Make a Costume

To make the costume making challenging and fun, we chose categories. The children picked a category from a hat and set to work making a costume to fit their category. The most imaginative costume would win a prize. The categories were

animals
mythical creatures
magic
under the sea
monsters
be wild
make me laugh
a world of colour
book characters
heroes and villains

They could use any of the materials provided including elastic, velcro or ribbon to fasten things together.

They all had really clear ideas of what they wanted to be and when they couldn’t find what they needed, improvised with what was available. Rolls of coloured tulle came in useful as they used it to wrap their legs or arms. For a Winnie the Pooh costume, a yellow shirt was used to cover part of her legs and the rest were wrapped with yellow tulle. She added some ears and a honey pot made from paper.

tulle was used to give the impression of ripped clothes

Clown (make me laugh), Unicorn (mythical beasts), colourful costume (world of colour) and Rapunzel (book characters)

A sea monster

Dressing up and creating their own costumes was such fun. I think it would be a good group task too. You could allocate each group a category and they could dress one person in the group. They all got to take their costumes home at the end of the party.

The creations were judged on how well they had interpreted their category and how imaginative the costume was. We had a bat, a sea monster, a werewolf, a zombie pirate, a unicorn, Rapunzel, a fairy, Winnie the Pooh and a flash of colour.

If you want more inspiration for making your own costumes, check out these great resources from goodwill.

Costume Look Book

Video Tutorials

Pinterest Costume Ideas

art and crafts, days out, imagination, Life in the US, parenting, presents, Seattle

Upcycle Your Kids Old Toys or Shoes into Planters

September 21, 2018 rightfromthestart Leave a comment

Last week I was invited by Goodwill to visit Sumner, to see how small businesses there are upcycling thrift store purchases into desirable and unique household goods and clothing. I’d never been to Sumner before and was surprised to find a pretty little High Street full of independent shops selling art, antiques and other unique and interesting finds. I will definitely return, especially since it is the Rhubarb Pie Capital.

We started at Goodwill and my upcycling advisor Juli from Junkers Nest, helped me choose interesting items that could be turned into planters. The great thing about buying from Goodwill is that all the store profits go to helping career path job training for the unemployed and disadvantaged.

I wanted to choose something that would appeal to my kids or would be cool decor for a preschool so we went for the toy section. Old toy cars, toy animals with a hole cut in them or small dolls houses would all make great planters. It would also be a great way to save the environment from the multitude of plastic toys thrown away every year.

I plumped for a Halloween theme and chose a Monster High coffin. I also chose a pair of baby shoes. Sadly, I threw out all my baby shoes when I moved to the US (including the ones featured in my logo), if only I hadn’t, I could have turned them into something like this.

At Blue the Goodwill Boutique, I found this little table and chairs and an old tea set at Junkers Nest.

My intention, once the rainy season is over, is to plant in the little cups and put it out in the garden. For now the girls have commandeered it for their American girl dolls.

Goodwill blue boutique Sumner treasure hunting 01

We spent the day gaining inspiration for upcycling goods from Inta Vintage . By the end my mind was racing with ideas of how to upcycle some of my old furniture.

At VanLierop Garden Market the ladies worked their magic to turn our items into planters.

The kids helped me make some extra embellishments and here is the finished article displayed (a little early) ready for Hallowe’en.

Inspired by some of the other bloggers projects, on our thrift shopping trip to buy birthday presents for their dad, the girls looked for items to turn into planters

small

big

and decorative

We chose a pot and my daughter painted it with her own design.

I’m looking forward to many more trips with the girls as we find fun items to upcycle for family and teacher gifts.

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post, sponsored by Goodwill WA.

Halloween, parenting, parents

How to Make a Simple Bat Costume

October 25, 2017 rightfromthestart 2 Comments

This year my youngest daughter wants to be a bat for Hallowe’en. Here is how we made her costume.

You will need:-

a black top
black leggings or trousers
black material (we used an old curtain)
safety pins
a black woolen hat
pipe cleaners

How to make the wings

Measure the black material from the centre of the back to the middle of the hand and cut 2 pieces
Draw the wavy pattern with chalk and cut out.
Our material frayed, so we singed the edges with a lighter to seal them, you could also hem them.
Pin the wings to the back of the shirt and along the arms. You could also sew them on but we opted for the temporary option so she could wear the shirt again.

How to make the hat

Make a triangle from a pipecleaner. (my daughter chose the size)
Cover the triangle with material and sew, glue or staple the material together. (We stapled ours so my daughter could do it herself).
Optional step – make a smaller pink triangle to go in the centre. This was at the request of my daughter who cut the shapes from an old t-shirt and glued them onto the ears.
Sew the ears onto the side of the hat.

Total cost: Under $10

families, Halloween, imagination, Life in the US, parenting, Seattle

Do Hallowe’en Celebrations Encourage Greed? Send a Different Message with Goodwill.

October 5, 2017 rightfromthestart 3 Comments

There are many things I love about Hallowe’en, but it can easily be perceived as a festival that encourages children to be greedy. It certainly seemed that way to me when I first moved here.

How many goodies can they collect?
Who gives the biggest and best treats?
Who has the most elaborate costume?

It doesn’t have to be that way. Hallowe’en can be a perfect opportunity to encourage children to reuse, recycle and support their community. A number of initiatives persuade children to trade in excess candy and if we help children make their own costumes, they can utilise objects that might otherwise be thrown away. One thing I hadn’t considered until now is that donating and shopping at Goodwill thrift stores could help my kids be more socially responsible this Hallowe’en.

Last week I was invited, with a group of fellow Seattle bloggers, to visit the Milgard Work Opportunity Centre in Tacoma, a job training centre funded by Goodwill. When I donate or buy from Goodwill, I am glad to be reducing landfill and helping a good cause but I’ve never really looked into where the money actually goes.

Goodwill thrift store profits and donations, fuel programs that help people with limited income, disabilities and disadvantages to overcome barriers to education and employment. There was a lot to take in at our visit, the facility was inspirational and the staff and young people were unreservedly passionate about the facility. The model reminded me of Children’s Centres in the UK – a one stop shop with multi-agencies under one roof but for young adults rather than families. A place to go for training, support and education.

Learning construction skills at the Youth Build Program

Some of the facilities available at the Milgard Work Opportunity Centre are:

A job resource room
Barista training
A culinary school (they served us a really delicious, high quality lunch)
Financial advice
Youth build (learning the construction trade whilst working towards the GED)
Drop in Math support
GED program
Warehouse and Logistics Training
Computer and Office Skills Training

The following graphic explains the centre’s community impact.

The second part of our visit was to the Goodwill Hallowe’en Thrift Store in Spanaway – the largest such store in the country. It was a treasure trove of costumes and accessories.

I rarely buy new costumes. Part of the thrill of dressing up for Hallowe’en is deciding on a costume and using materials from Goodwill, Buy Nothing Groups or things we have at home, to create something unique. Rushing to buy the an expensive, ready-made costume feels like cheating to me.

Some of my favourite costumes over the years, have been made from simple materials. This girl in my daughter’s class was a vending machine-made from a cardboard box.

Every year my daughter’s school dance in the Thrill the World Event in Redmond Town Centre. The zombie costumes are great fun to make and each year they decide on a theme. Last year we put together this Hamilton inspired zombie from a dress somebody donated.

My younger daughter is joining in this year and wants to be a zombie fairy. I found some great items at the Goodwill Costume Store which I will share with you soon. We have a family trip to Goodwill scheduled this week. My youngest wants to make a bat costume and I’m hoping the others will find inspiration for their costumes. I’ll share the fruits of our labours soon.

I know it can be tempting to simply run out and buy a ready-made costume but consider these great reasons for creating your own.

Recycling old costumes and clothes helps reduce landfill
Your costume will be truly unique
Encourages creative thinking
Encourages working together and problem solving
Learn skills
Encourages sharing as you request materials from friends and community.
Reduces costs
Encourages forward planning and design
It is a great family activity
It raises money for worthy causes.

Why not donate last years costumes at a local thrift store/ charity shop or organise a costume swap to encourage your kids to recycle and help those less fortunate?

early education & play, Halloween, holidays, music education, pre schoolers, rhyme, singing, spider

Hallowe’en Songs for Pre-schoolers.

October 30, 2014 rightfromthestart Leave a comment

When it comes to Hallowe’en my repertoire of songs is not as large as some other seasonal favourites. Tweaking a few nursery songs and finding a few favourites online, I put together a small package of activities for a preschool music session.

5 Little Pumpkins ( A Popular Rhyme in the US)

5 Little Pumpkins Sitting on a Gate

The first one said “Oh my, it’s getting late”

The second one said “There are witches in the air”

The third one said “But we don’t care”

The fourth one said “Let’s run, Let’s run”

The fifth one said “Isn’t Hallowee’n fun?”

Then woooooo went the wind

And OUT went the lights.

And five little pumpkins rolled out of sight.

There’s a Spider on the Floor ( To the tune of ‘Put your Finger on your Head)

Move the spider up your body and make rhymes with different body parts eg There’s a spider on my tummy and I really want my mummy, there’s a spider on my knee and he’s very scary. Lyrics to the first verse are here.

If You’re a Monster and You Know It (Spooky Version of If You’re Happy and You Know It)

If you’re a monster and you know it then say ‘raaaaggh’

If you’re a witch and you know it say ‘HA HA’

If you’re a ghost and you know it then say ‘Oooooooo’

If you’re a dragon and you know it, breathe out fire.

If you love Hallowe’en then shout ‘BOO’

The Skeleton Dance

Doing the Skeleton Dance A slightly different version of the song ‘Dem Bones’

This is the Way we Carve a Pumpkin (to the tune ‘Here we go round the Mulberry Bush)

carving

This is the way we carve pumpkin, carve a pumpkin, carve a pumpkin,

This is the way we carve a pumpkin on Hallowe’en.

This is the way we cut off the top….

This is the way we scoop out the seeds….

This is the way we cut out a face…..

This is the way we light it up….

The Jack o Lantern keeps monsters away….

Monsters away, monsters away

The Jack O lantern keeps Monsters away

On Hallowe’en

I Hear Thunder (Use a spring drum for atmospheric effect)

I hear thunder, I hear thunder

Hark don’t you? Hark don’t you?

Pitter-patter raindrops, pitter-patter raindrops

I’m wet through

So are you.

Bats are flying, bats are flying

In the night , in the night

Watch out for the witches! Watch out for the witches

What a fright, what a fright.

Trick or treating, trick or treating

Door to door, door to door

Gathering our goodies, gathering our goodies

More and more, more and more.

Instruments and Movement.

Turn off the lights and give each child a flashlight/torch.

Play spooky Music – We chose ‘Night on Bald Mountain’ by Mussorgsky .

Encourage the children to make their torchlight dance to the music.

Help the children to choose instruments that might add to the atmosphere. (Deep drums, a spring drum, rainmakers and penny whistles are especially good).

expat, Life in the US, Seattle

Why Hallowe’en is Really Scary

October 1, 2012 rightfromthestart 1 Comment

Call me a humbug but I’ve been a little relieved in the past few years that Hallowe’en isn’t that big in the UK. My kids would dress up, sometimes go to a party, we’d carve a pumpkin and may go trick or treating to a few friends’ houses. We didn’t have many trick or treaters in our street so I could usually find something to give them without going mad.

Now we are in the US it is a whole other ball game. The shops are filled with Hallowe’en decorations, costumes, crafts and sweets to the same level as Christmas in the UK. I’ve been told I need to stock up because we will get loads of kids at our door at Hallowe’en. The idea of it all fills me with dread. Do I need to spend hours and money decorating my house? How many treats do the kids expect? What can I get away with without looking like the miserable British Family? Will a talking pumpkin suffice?

Can anyone help me understand what is socially acceptable?

Then there is Thanksgiving…….. What on earth is that one about??

Argghhhhh! It’s fun being the new girl.

children, early education & play, imagination, parenting, Uncategorized

Add to the Magic this Hallowe’en with a Talking Pumpkin

October 27, 2011 rightfromthestart 2 Comments

When I worked in a nursery we displayed a Hallowe’en Pumpkin in our entrance hall. It was placed on a table covered with a table-cloth. Under the table-cloth we put a tape recording of the pumpkin’s voice that we would play when it was lit. The children would be mesmerised.

I taught a wonderfully imaginative little boy who particularly loved the pumpkin. He went on to school and told his teacher all about the talking pumpkin, his belief that it really talked was genuine. Rather than stimulating his natural imagination she told him, ‘ Of course it doesn’t talk , it was just the teachers making the voice’. I was so sad when I heard this story, talk about shattering a child’s illusions .