Happy Halloween!! It’s coming along with all the kid zombies, so we’ve got the best hacks for you to make sure you have a spooooooky day with your kids – with some healthy eating snuck in too!

1. Spooky Water! Your local toy store will sell small plastic bugs and creepy crawlies – add them to ice cube trays to make a spooky drink – it’s great for ensuring kids drink enough water!

2. Booger-Cakes Anyone? Use green natural food coloring in these amazing carrot and zucchini muffins to make booger-cakes. The kids will love them, and you’ll know you’ve snuck in some sneaky veggies.

3. Seeding Fun. How many seeds are there in the pumpkin? Have a guess, and let your pre-schoolers practice their counting. And don’t throw the seeds away! Dry the seeds from inside the pumpkin and make a mosaic with your kids. Add autumnal leaves and conkers for seasonal fun. You can paint the seeds bright colors or leave them as they are, create an autumnal collage or dry them in an envelope and plant in the spring.

4. Pumpkin Face. Don’t want your little ones carving a pumpkin? Use paints and stickers instead and create a pumpkin face with no sharp blades. Little ones can do finger painting and hand prints for a personalized pumpkin. You can also color the pumpkin with non-permanent markers – when you’ve finished, take a picture and then wipe clean for another turn!

5. Going Trick or Treating?  Get some finger food pre-prepared for when you come home so you can feed hungry kids quickly – and healthily. We love this brilliant dip– eat, enjoy, and Ollie-pop into a carrot!

6. Pumpkin Recycling. When it’s all over, leave your pumpkin at the end of the garden – squirrels will love it! Another tip is to put a small mason jar inside the pumpkin with water, and use the hollowed out pumpkin as a flower vase.

7. Pumpkin Cooking! Cut the pumpkin into slices, and remove the string and seeds. Bake wrapped in foil until soft (75 mins at 190 degrees) and then puree – voila, your own pumpkin puree to add as a side, soup or into muffins.

8. Outside Games. Get the kids outside and kick a ball around pumpkins on the lawn. How far away can your kids throw a ball into a hollowed-out pumpkin?

9. Candy Aware. Don’t want your kids eating all the candy at once (of course not!!) We know it’s easier said than done. Before you go trick or treating, let them know that the candy has to last, and get them to decorate plastic freezer baggies with stickers and letters – they can divide the candy into these, and you can decide how often they can indulge.

10. Rainy day? Parenting can be tough when the weather isn’t on your side. Blow up orange balloons as pumpkins, and don’t let them touch the floor! Then turn mommy into a mummy – wrap her in toilet paper and see how spooky she is! Use black tape to mark out a spiders web on the floor, and see who can cross the ground without attracting the attention of the spider. Or someone could turn into Spider-man!

However you are celebrating this Halloween, have messy fun!

Sheena x