Family Halloween Fun

If you're not prohibited from participating in Halloween activities for religious reasons, then you're probably familiar with the yearly quandary that develops right around October every year: What will we do about Halloween fun?

Most schools have a day where children dress up in costumes, have a parade and enjoy special treats. You may also participate in trick-or-treating around your neighborhood, or in an organized public place like a shopping center or park.

The quickest way to solve the problem is to go to a store and buy your child a costume. However, the more memorable and rewarding way to enjoy Halloween (even if it might take more time) is to get creative and celebrate your family's imagination.

But I want to be Spider-Man!
There are methods for predicting what the most popular costumes are likely to be this year. First of all, what do you see the stores stocking? Second, what were the big movies released since last Halloween?

Do you want your child to be one in a whole parade of princesses, or do you want her to stand out as having one of the best and most unique costumes at school? This will depend somewhat on your child's personality, on the time and resources you have available and on what your child wants to be. If your child is typically very shy, he might object to the idea of doing something that's different from everybody else.

However, if there is a costume contest where you're going, all bets are off. The best way to win is originality.

Finding costume ideas

• Look through your fabric scraps and craft supplies to see if anything you have would make a good costume.

• Go to a fabric store and look through pattern books for ideas. (Even if you can't sew, you might get great ideas. You can sew yourself or find someone who sews to help you.

• Look in your refrigerator to see if you can dress your child up like anything in there.

• Think about your child's favorite books, videos, and TV shows.

• Could your kids, or your whole family, dress up as a group?

• Think about current fads, famous people and professions. Don't rule out objects.

What are you supposed to be?
This is the most embarrassing question a kid can ever be asked by other kids at Halloween. You may want to test out the costumes, or even the ideas, on a grandparent or friend before Halloween arrives. The costume you want to make for your child should be accessible enough that most people will recognize what you're going for, and it shouldn't be too high-concept (for a lesson in avoiding high-concept costumes, read Judy Blume's Blubber).

Think about what unique details or accessories you can add to the costume to make it more obvious to people what it is depicting. Look at store-bought versions of the costume to see what is included.

Simultaneously, you don't want to be too generic. A girl can wear a blonde wig, a pair of low-cut jeans and a headset, but people won't automatically understand that she's supposed to be Britney Spears.

Celebrities are often hard to dress up as, unless they have a widely recognized trademark such as Elvis' sequined, caped jumpsuits, a wrestler's specific uniform, etc.

Costumes should be safe and age- and weather-appropriate, not too unwieldy or have too many pieces. If you live in a place where late October is chilly or possibly rainy, don't use costumes that could melt in rain or expose little body parts to the cold.

Cute costume, but is it expensive?
Do not underestimate supplies like leftover pizza boxes, packing tape, duct tape, paper and plastic bags, bubble wrap, string, poster paint, tin foil, egg cartons, construction paper, discarded household objects or papier mache in creating a cool costume.

If you need a ruffled shirt, for example, don't go buy a ruffled shirt or render a perfectly good shirt unwearable by sewing on ruffles. Instead, cut the edges off coffee filters and tape them in place with clear packing tape.

Metallic effects are easily created by using silver or gold aluminum foil, even duct tape (though the latter is less easily removed afterward). If you need red shoes instead of your son's black tennis shoes and don't feel like buying him new shoes, find a way to cover his shoes with red cardboard, paper or other material.

If you have more than one child, don't rule out raiding other kids' closets or your own closet to get something you need, even if that something needs to be worn inside-out or backwards.

One way to make your child's costume more effective, without spending additional money, is to teach the child special behavior or phrasing that's part of their costume. Last year, my son went to school dressed as Elvis. I adapted a Dracula costume pattern I bought by using white fabric, attaching the shirt and pants, attaching the shiny cape and collar to the shirt, hot-gluing sequins all over the suit and adding shiny fabric at the bottom of the pantlegs for a bellbottom effect. The outfit took one weekend to finish.

Simon looked hysterical when we added the wig, sunglasses and a toy guitar, but when we
taught him how to sing "Hound Dog," how to jut his pelvis when he said, "Trick or treat, mama," and had him carry an empty Kentucky Fried Chicken bucket to carry his treats in, it was totally over the top. He got more candy than ever and had the coolest costume at his school.

General Halloween safety

• When trick-or-treating, always go with your children. Always carry flashlights and try to stick with familiar streets and houses.

• Be sure to set a time limit, especially if the weather is bad. Usually our kids are satisfied after one hour of trick-or-treating.

• Halloween is an excellent time to remind your kids about manners, since they have to ask for and thank people for the candy they receive at every house.

• Kids should be reminded of important everyday safety rules, such as not running ahead, holding an adult's hand while crossing the street, etc.

• Before you allow your child to dig into treats back at home, inspect them carefully for torn wrappers, holes in the packages and other oddities that suggest you should throw that treat away. Some communities offer free x-rays of treat bags to make sure nothing is amiss with the treats. Homemade treats, unless they're from someone you know very well, should be discarded.

• You may consider offering the child a nickel or a dime for every treat they want to sell (depending on the size of the treat); this allows them to save up to buy something that lasts longer and cuts down on the amount of sugar the child consumes. What we generally do is allow each child up to three treats from their bag every night after dinner for two weeks (provided they have behaved and eaten their whole dinner). Any treats remaining after two weeks are either discarded or join Mom's private stash. Be sure to emphasize good dental hygiene while your children are eating treats. Good brushing habits can stave off cavities.

Whatever costume you end up developing for your child, in the end, she will appreciate the amount of fuss you went through to make her look great. People who see the costume will marvel at your creativity, and you will feel a real sense of accomplishment when you see these reactions. Neighbors who have opened the door 23 times to Spider-Man will really appreciate seeing something original and different on their porch. There is no better time than Halloween to let your family's imagination run wild, and turn the day into a celebration of your collective creativity. Some of the greatest family memories can develop out of Halloween preparations, so be safe, but go have fun.