Hi there,
It’s that time of the year again when all our kiddos get super excited for the major holidays coming up right around the corner. Trick-or-treating on Halloween may be the biggest holiday kids get excited for (mainly because it’s probably the only night you’ll let them eat candy). But what if that’s not what you want your children to participate in, or you don’t want to drive your kiddos out in the rain? Well, there is another option. You can still get your kids dressed up and have fun indoor activities for Halloween. You might look at Pinterest for inspiration, but I wanted to share with you one quick, easy, and affordable way to keep your children entertained.
Pumpkin Memory Matching game
I attended UNT’s annual Boo Bash trick-or-treating event on behalf of Denton Christian Preschool. I had to set up a booth with an activity for the families to stop by and enjoy. I chose to DIY this game and I had no idea it would be such a hit!
These are the materials you'll need:
- Orange paper plates
- 1 green construction paper sheet
- Scissors
- Glue
- Sharpie
- Pumpkin faces to trace on paper plates. You can use stencils, or in my case trace over an image I found on Google.
First I bought the orange paper plates from Wal-mart for only $0.99! I had the rest of the materials available to me in the DCP workroom. I cut rectangles out of green construction paper to make the pumpkin stems. I did this by hand but, if you're not great at eyeballing it, then feel free to make rectangles with the help of a ruler. Next, you want to draw the pumpkin face in. I used my laptop to draw the faces by tracing over the screen, but you can use stencils if that’s easier for you. Glue the stem on the back to finish the pumpkin. I glued the second plate on the back to make it sturdier. Finally, I went over the traced drawing with a black Sharpie. You can decorate it more and fill in the eyes, nose, and mouthpieces, but for the sake of time, this was the finished product.
I made four pumpkin faces for the game but you make this however long or short you want the game to be. I want to say it took roughly an hour to complete the project. I think it took more time to find the right paper plate color at the right place at the stores I went to (I’m a bargain shopper)!
The Game
I wanted the game to be quick with a sense of competitiveness to keep kids of all ages entertained for a decent amount of time. I decided to give the participants 30 seconds (I timed this myself to make sure it was doable and it was) to match all four pumpkin pairs and if they didn’t complete that challenge within a given time, I’d give them a second try. The prize was a candy bag for completing the challenge. Because it was a Halloween event, I made this memory matching game with pumpkins, but you can easily make these with turkeys, winter designs, or any design that you’d like as long as you make two identical pieces to match.
Again, I wasn’t quite sure if this would be a fun activity because I did not know the age group of kids that were going to be at the UNT Boo Bash Event, but once the first three kids played more kids and families gathered too. Parents also helped their little ones match the pumpkins quicker, and before I knew it there was a long line of kids waiting to play my game!
Every year, UNT hosts this trick-or-treating Boo Bash event organized by the University Program Council (UPC) on the last Monday of the month. This is a FREE event for the whole family to enjoy fun activities, bring their kids in costumes and fill up their candy buckets!