Halloween is a really fun holiday when kids get to dress up and of course get free candy when they go trick-or-treating. Some people decide to use treat bags instead of pouring all the candy into a bucket for the children to reach into. I think both ways are fun, but using treat bags gives all children the same amount of candy, which is only fair.
There are a few different ways you can make or buy treat bags inexpensively. If you wish to buy treat bags instead of make your own, check your local Dollar Tree, Dollar General, Family Dollar, Target or Wal-Mart. The dollar stores offer treat bags, in either paper or plastic for only one dollar. Most of them come decorated with Halloween pictures already on them.
You can make your own treat bags for a fun crafting experience for you and/or your children. Here’s what you will need:
• 1 Box clear plastic zip or tuck baggies or plain white paper baggies (50 – 100 depending on how many trick-or-treaters you think you’ll have)
• Black, orange, green and yellow markers
• Assorted Halloween stickers (find them in the craft aisle or with scrap book stuff; or better yet look through any scrap book stuff you have to see if you have anything you could use that looks Halloween themed. Dollar stores are also a great place to find $1 assorted stickers)
• Assorted random pieces like buttons, pipe cleaners, paper cut outs
• Glue, paste or double-sided sticky tape
• Halloween-themed erasers or pencils
• Assorted candy (you could mix regular candy like Hershey’s bars with gummy eyeballs or other spooky Halloween candies in the baggies)
• Halloween-themed large bowl or any large bowl you have
Directions: Take baggies out of the box they come in and decorate with stickers, buttons, paper cut out pieces, pipe cleaners that are cut to a small size and write or draw on baggies with markers. One cute idea is to make a stick figure person or creature on the bag using the pipe cleaners, buttons, paper pieces and stickers. Write “Happy Halloween!” or Halloween type words like “Spooky”, “Creepy”, “Eerie”. You could make a ghost with your different assorted pieces and write “Boo!” Take whatever you have laying around that you could find, and let your imagination take over. Let the kids create or draw whatever they wish when making the baggies. Fill the baggies with Halloween-themed erasers, pencils and candy, or just candy if you wish. You can seal the tuck-away baggies and the paper baggies with a sticker to keep them closed. When each baggie is finished seal it and stick it into the large bowl. Once all are finished you are ready for trick-or-treaters to come to your house to grab their goodies.
