Halloween Countdown

It’s the creepiest time of the year! Use these ideas to celebrate Halloween all month long.

1.

Celebrate the start of October with peanut butter spider cookies for National Homemade Cookie Day. They come together quickly with sugar cookie mix, Rolo candies, mini M&Ms and black licorice. Find full instructions at bettycrocker.com.

2.

Make plans to visit your local library for exciting Halloween-themed activities. Throughout the month, DeKalb County Public Library hosts scavenger hunts, craft times and more. At Gwinnett County Public Library, go crazy for pumpkins with cooking classes, STEM activities and storytimes. Enjoy fall and Halloween storytimes at Coweta Public Library System’s events.

3.

It’s a ghostly gathering! Kids will love making ghosts fly and watching the tail billow around as they move. Instructions can be found at onelittleproject.com.

4.

It’s National Cinnamon Roll Day! Get the kids in the kitchen to make pumpkin-shaped cinnamon rolls — they get their special shape from kitchen string. Find the recipe at dominosugar.com.

5.

Decorate your own delicious caramel apples for an autumnal treat. Dip apples in melted caramel (or try melted chocolate!) before rolling in toppings, such as sprinkles, nuts, mini marshmallows or whatever your heart desires!

6.

Paint a bubbling brew. Kids will love blowing bubbles to create their own 3D masterpiece. You’ll need tempera paint, liquid dish soap and a straw. Find instructions on craftsonsea.co.uk.

7.

“Bone” up on engineering skills with this building challenge! Compete to see who can build the longest bridge using cotton swabs, pipe cleaners and craft sticks. Find instructions on stemchallenge.com.

8.

Make fall trinket dishes. Capture the colors of fall by pressing a fresh leaf into air-dry or oven-bake clay. Cut around the outline; once it’s dry, add color with acrylic or spray paint in fall colors. Find directions at cottageonbunkerhill.com.

9.

Make an edible haunted house. To make this holiday treat, you’ll need brownie mix, frosting, ghost and pumpkin marshmallow Peeps and candies for decorating. Find the recipe at readyseteat.com.

10.

Get batty. Kids will want to create a colony of bats for this sweet keepsake! Once decorated, this bat mobile can hold mini photos. Find instructions at michaels.com.

11.

TGIF! Time for a family movie night. Put on your pajamas, break out the popcorn and enjoy “The Addams Family,” “The Curse of Bridge Hollow” or “Hocus Pocus” and its sequel.

12.

Today is National Costume Swap Day. Gather family, colleagues and neighbors for a sustainable costume swap. And if you don’t have a costume yet, buy, borrow or make your own!

13.

Go with the (spooky) flow. Make and decorate these pumpkin lava lamps for a cool STEAM experiment. Find instructions at science-sparks.com.

14.

It’s National Dessert Day! Treat the kids (and yourself) to limited-edition Halloween donuts from Dunkin’ or Krispy Kreme. Visit your local Jeni’s scoop shop for seasonal ice cream flavors like skillet cinnamon roll or green mint chip, or head to Morelli’s for rum caramel apple, pumpkin cheesecake or pumpkin pie.

15.

Let’s go fly a pumpkin. Make pumpkin catapults with craft sticks and rubber bands — find instructions on playdoughtoplato.com — and see who can shoot their candy pumpkin the furthest.

16.

There’s 15 days until Halloween! Toast the date with a cauldron of sweet concoctions. Fancy up your hot chocolate by adding pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon or nutmeg. Apple cider gets a makeover with butterscotch chips, caramel sauce or oranges. Search online for more delicious add-in ideas.

17.

Have a spooky (or not-so-spooky) storytime. Choose a book to read out loud, such as “Room on the Broom” by Julia Donaldson or “The Very Hungry Caterpillar’s Creepy-Crawly Halloween” by Eric Carle. Read some scary poetry, make up your own story with a themed Mad Libs or search online for read-a-longs to watch with your children.

18.

Decorate with a Halloween suncatcher. Make a smiling jack-o’-lantern face using translucent pony beads and a wood embroidery hoop. Find directions at artfulparent.com.

19.

Serve a pumpkin-themed brunch with a pumpkin loaf, pumpkin cream cheese muffins, pumpkin-shaped cutout sandwiches or waffles, rice cereal treat-shaped pumpkins, pumpkin pie smoothies or peeled oranges or clementines with cucumber or celery to resemble mini pumpkins.

20.

Hold a family game night. Create your own exciting games — bedazzle tokens to resemble witches, monsters, pumpkins, ghosts or bats for a game of tic-tac-toe. Update Pin the Tail on the Donkey by adding various features to build your own monster. Break out the Ouija board, or try the I Spy Spooky Mansion Game or Clue Conspiracy.

21.

Host a haunted house party. Decorate your house inside and out, play Halloween songs and sounds, and invite friends over for a spook-tacular time. Ask guests to dress in costume, and make sure the scares are age-appropriate.

22.

Serve a boo-ti-ful snack board. Make an array of snacks extra-fun with a Halloween twist. Use a mix of sweet and savory items and get creative making pumpkins, ghosts and more. Find instructions on these goodies at togethertoeat.com.

23.

Scare up dinnertime fare with ghostly pops. Skewer a precooked meatball on a lollipop stick and wrap it with a strip of crescent roll dough. Add olive “eyes,” bake, and serve with marinara sauce. Find instructions at epicuricloud.com.

24.

This slime is easy for kids. Mix up different food colors and extracts for a sensory project, and add glitter or googly eyes for more variety. Find instructions at mccormick.com.

25.

Honor Frankenstein Friday. Hold a movie night with “Hotel Transylvania,” “Frankenstein” or “Young Frankenstein.” Search online for Frankenstein’s monster crafts or crazy mad scientists’ experiments. Read “Frankenstein – Kid Classics: The Classic Edition Reimagined Just-for-Kids!” For younger kids, read interactive “There’s a Monster in Your Book” by Tom Fletcher.

26.

Today is National Pumpkin Day. Visit a nearby pumpkin patch to find the perfect one to bring home. Some of our favorite spots are Burt’s Farm, The Maize at Steed’s Dairy, Berry Patch Farms and Sleepy Hollow Farm. For a complete list, see here.

27.

It’s National Black Cat Day, but this cat won’t bring bad luck! Let your child paint a paper plate black and let it dry, then use the template to cut the plate into a cat shape. Add eyes, nose and whiskers to finish. Find instructions and the template by Amanda Davis at craftsbyamanda.com.

28.

Use Halloween candies, candy melts, sprinkles, gummies, candy eyeballs and more to make candy bark. Go wild making this scary and decadent dessert! Find instructions at wilton.com.

29.

Halloween is almost here! Make up a themed scavenger hunt by hiding small items around the house or yard. The first one to find them all wins a prize.

30.

For National Candy Corn Day, make tasty candy corn bars — layers of orange-flavored sugar cookie dough topped with creamy icing. Find the recipe at pillsbury.com.

31.

It’s Halloween! Head out for a night of trick-or-treating. Find events here.

-Emily Webb and Mary Williams