Making trick or treat buckets
October 31, 2014 at 1:08 PM
It’s that ghoulish time of year, more spooky than Captain Spooky, of the Good Ship Spooky. For some kids Halloween is almost more fun than Christmas these days, as it comes so pre-loaded with expectation of loading up on sugary sweets.
Such a sugary confection is not to everyone’s taste. A certain someone who - shall we say - looks a lot like my Dad, takes up residence in the back of his house on October 31st, refusing to acknowledge any knocks at the door. It’s the adult equivalent of “well if I can’t see them, they can’t see me”.
Meanwhile, in our neighbourhood there is plenty of rich pickings to be had. It’s like fishing in a Halloween barrel. The rule seems to be that if there’s a pumpkin in the window, the house is ripe to be hit. Although in our case... not literally hit. It struck me last year that the pint-sized ghouls we circulate with don’t actually have any tricks... it’s more that they want the second clause in the deal.
And each year Halloween seems to get more and more involved. Costumes... decorations... face makeup. And that’s even before we’ve moved Stateside, where they have taken the whole concept completely to the next level, a place where Halloween is now one of the biggest party nights of the year.
As it’s now such a big deal its the ideal time to outdo the Joneses at number 4. Here’s how:
Most of the neighbourhood kids will knock on each door armed only with a plastic Tesco’s bag and a high-pitched shriek of “Trick or Treat” (or “Trickle Treat”, as my youngest liked to say). However, why not make an occasion of it, and make a dedicated Halloween bucket – an altogether more aesthetically stylish container for the safe storage of ill-gotten sweets and confectionery? Fun to make and even more fun to use!
So, get the kids round the dining room table and let their spooky imaginations run wild, choosing one bucket per child and adapting that bucket to fit the character of that child.
First up, of course, you will need a bucket. And that’s where H&O come in... we have plenty of colourful plastic buckets to suit all moods. And even better: you probably have children of varying sizes, so why not also choose different-sized buckets, small enough for each child to manage, but with the capacity to cope with their likely yardage of plunder?
You’ll also need a decent felt marker, perhaps a Sharpie. Use that to write the initials of that particular child so there are no controversies when you return to base and cash up the candy. We’ve been there in our house. It’s not pretty.
Using different pens, let the children decorate the outside of the bucket. Allow them to choose the colours they want so they can customise their buckets. Think of it as a version of that car-based series. Pimp my Halloween Bucket.
Then, let them go wild with their decorations. You might be able to find images from a website like Google images to cut out and stick on, but beyond that you can use glitter glue, ribbons, day-glo inks and stickers... essentially anything you can find in the craft box.
Then, let the buckets completely dry (we want fun, not more clothes washing!) You can use a hairdryer to speed up the process, if time is of the essence. And then... hit the streets and bag those sweets!
So, fun to do during a half-term break when you might be running low on ideas for entertaining the kids. And then... even more fun when you’re out and about on the most spooky of nights (even if it’s set to be unseasonably warm in 2014!) Maybe you could even make it an annual tradition.
The best of luck. My commission fee for the idea is three Smarties and a Twix!
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