I will not lie. I don’t love Halloween. I am terrified of scary movies (Blackfish almost sent me over the edge) and I’m not really into all the ghoulish-ness. I’m too busy waiting for it to be over, so I can concentrate on **Christmas**! But we do love to do some old fashioned Halloween games, make a bonfire, watch mildly scary movies, so I thought I’d share a few very simple, but really fun things you can conjure up at a moments notice (as such)
• Flour Tower: the number 1 most requested and anticipated game, (played not just at Halloween) the flour will be used for days after, until I can’t stand powdery floors and children. You just need approx 1kg of the cheapest white flour available, pile it high, then put a nut or grape on the top. The aim of the game is to slice off “slices” of flour from around the sides. Whoever slices and lets the grape/nut fall, has to stick their face in the plate of flour (they usually have “help” for this bit!)
Some children play with the flour long after the “game” is finished… today the child, floor, chair, walls and table “got it”)
• Bite The Apple: tie a piece of string to an apple (we usually thread the string through the apple), then hang from the ceiling. The aim is to get a bit of the apple with your hands behind your back.
• Dunking: Have dry clothes and towels aplenty ready! Fill a large basin with water, put apple slices, nuts (which ones float?), money (only for the most determined of dunkers) The aim is to see how much someone can “dunk” and remove from the basin with their mouth (hands behind your back!!
We had hoped to have a bonfire and bake some potatoes in it (THE best way to eat potatoes, in my ‘umble opinion) but torrential rain has put a stop to that. We might bury a few in the stove later and bake them that way…
Should scary movies be your thing, Netflix have a fantastic selection of Halloween movies (I’ll be hiding, sweeping up the flour in the kitchen) Two fellow bloggers Glittermama and Where is my mind have posted today what they are looking forward to later on 🙂
And here I will bit you a spooky and ghoul-filled adieu; this chocolate sheet cake from Smitten Kitchen beckons. I might even put some “fake blood” red icing on top…
Thank you very much for the mention. The flour tower brings back memories I’m sure my nanny did that with me, frighteningly messy lol loved bobbing for apples, and we used to tie an apple from the ceiling and stick money in it that you had to bite out, pretty sure we knocked out a friends tooth doing that haha
“My” chocolate cake, eh? Good choice. I’d never seen the tower of flour before – looks like tons of fun; but too messy for this type-A mama. Maybe I could put them outside for it, though…
Ha ha, I’d say many a tooth was lost to the cause!!
YES Christine, “your” cake 🙂 I was dreaming of it last night, so I reckon that’s a good enough reason for me… Outside play with the flour in dry weather would be a far better idea than cold, wet late October!!
Oh this brings back memories! Back in the eighties you couldn’t buy a pumpkin for love nor money in our nearest town, so my Mam used to carve faces out of turnips……. very hard work! Then she discovered it was easier to grow a pumpkin and use that instead. She also made (and still makes) tea bracks with all the “charms” a ring, a rag, a pea, a stick, a coin etc. my Dad used to joke and say she should throw a sod of turf in as well for good measure! We also played all the games you mentioned, we never went “Trick or Treating”, it just wasn’t done in our very rural area, probably because the wren boys were still popular back then and people went out on St. Stephen’s night instead. Also your homemade Halloween costume just wasn’t complete unless you had a shop bought plastic mask, held on with a piece of elastic, the one you made at school out of a cereal box and wool just wouldn’t do at all! Ahhh them were the days………..
What wonderful memories Holly! Sounds like my childhood too 🙂
Oh memories galore here Emily! I’m definately resurrecting these next year! I have to say I love dress up and had great craic with the big fella and the roll of bogroll based transformation into a mummy. Herself loved her spider dress and it was probably the first year they didn’t freak out about being in the dark.
I hate scarey movies though so I’m with you on those!