3 Outdoor Halloween Activities For Kids - Under $10
By: Sumera Garcia-Quadri
As part of a fitness team, I'm invested in the physical and mental health and social well-being of our littlest people!
We know there is a strong connection between regular physical activity and kids doing better in school and in their social life, along with feeling happier and having better self-confidence.
Because Halloween is celebrated by kids walking door to door to get treats in Toronto and across Canada, this blog will include 3 physical activities involving your household/current social circle that you can do in a post-COVID-19 era.
1. Outdoor mask-making game with your household/social circle only
What you need: paper plates or blank paper masks ($3), a pack of gems/stickers ($1), crayons/markers ($2), construction paper ($1), candy $3 (this may cost more if you have more kids involved)
From home: Hand sanitizer, Scissors, white glue, string, tape, a stapler, a large blanket or garbage bags, and enough Halloween character names written on paper to pull out of a hat
How: at a park, spread out a blanket or individual garbage bags across benches or on the grass. Making sure the kids have distanced far apart, place enough supplies on each child's station so they aren't sharing. Before they make their mask, each child comes up, one by one, to pull out a Halloween character from a jar. Their mask will be based on this character.
Each kid gets time to make it. Once completed, each kid explains their character and acts out what it does. The kid that shows the most movements wins the most treats.
Goal: To bond with others, be creative, and stay off their tablets/cells.
2. Halloween Treat Hunt – You Eat What You Hunt
What you need: hand sanitizer, enough clues written on paper for the total number of children involved, candy (each household can allocate $5 towards candy depending on how many kids are there)
How: among your household or social circle, choose a park to visit in the early evening. One adult/parent goes ahead of time to hide treats in different areas and then writes down clues on how to find it on paper. Once at the park, each kid or pair gets certain clues to where the candy is hidden. The pair/child that finds all of their treats first gets to choose their next activity (i.e. what Halloween movie to watch, or healthy Halloween treat to make on Halloween)
Goal: To encourage kids to move for at least 30 minutes, similar to trick or treating.
3. Halloween Haunted Walk – Discover Your City
What you need: A cell/tablet/pc and internet to look up haunted parks in Toronto, hand sanitizer, and healthy versions of kids treats (think of ingredients that cost under $10)
How: One early evening, choose a few of these parks to visit. Once at your site, look for monuments that tell you the history or open up a podcast telling you the haunting at that location. Bring treats as your snack for the walk (up to $10) / additional costs of gas/transit tickets to factor in unless you walk or bike there.
Goal: To move for at least 1-hr combined across different parks while getting spooked!
A site idea to explore: I live in the high park area. The house of John Howard, the original owner of the high park, is said to be haunted by his wife Gemima. She died of breast cancer. She was the first to be diagnosed with the condition in Toronto at that time.
Haunted site links below:
https://www.toronto.com/news-story/4176168-history-of-hauntings-at-colborne-lodge-resurface-as-halloween-nears/
https://www.toronto.com/things-to-do/haunted-places-in-ontario/
https://dailyhive.com/toronto/toronto-haunted-locations-2017
