5 Eco-friendly Halloween Games/Activities for Your Kids’ Indoor Party
Huzzah! The Halloween festivities are almost here!
Now, if you’re like me, you’ve probably invited a gaggle of kids over to your place for the big night. And, (if you live anywhere near me) you might be feeling a bit tentative about your outdoor party plans (due to chilly weather).
Never fear, I’m here to help!
Come rain, snow, or shine, I’ve put together five fun (+ eco-friendly) indoor games and activities for your Halloween party.
Get All Artsy with a Watercolor Pumpkin-Shaped Sugar Cookie Project
This is family favorite—especially with our cousin kiddos. It’s the perfect opportunity to arm your young invitees with paintbrushes and let their artistic sides go wild.
I have a whole post that walks your through the entire process, from cookie-making to cookie-painting. Read all the details here.
For these watercolor sugarcookies, I use ColorKitchen plant-based food coloring because they are completely natural and made from botanical pigments. Think: turmeric, spirulina, beet, radish, cabbage, and annatto. You can order a box here or here.
Unlike most food colorings, ColorKitchen’s dyes are in powder-form. So, you have to do a bit of prep work beforehand. Basically just cut the corner of each packet until you can get (the equivalent of) a pinch of each colored powder out on your palette plate. Then mix the powder directly with 2-3 drops of organic almond extract to make the food coloring paint-esche.
Grab some new (or super clean paintbrushes), a few cups of filtered water (to dip your paintbrush in) and you’re ready to go!
ColorKitchen’s dyes are Non-GMO, gluten free and vegan. The packets come in a 100% recyclable box, and the box is printed using veggie inks. ColorKitchen is woman-owned and founded by the amazing Ashley Phelps—a colorist who noticed she had food-allergies associated with artificial food coloring additives. You can feel patriotic about using ColorKitchen on your cookies because it’s made in the USA and Oregon based (goo Ducks!).
Try Bowling with a Mini Pumpkin and Some Bamboo Toilet Paper Pins
Bowling with bamboo toilet paper is a great conversation starter with the kiddos all about paper sourcing, trees and deforestation.
Caboo repurposes the “bagasse” waste from bamboo and sugarcane stalks—the company takes what was once considered “waste” and instead turns it into a super soft, sustainable toilet paper.
Caboo paper is also panda friendly (woot, woot) since it’s made from bamboo species that are not food sources for pandas. It is also 100% BPA free and 100% biodegradable. I also appreciate that the company uses hydrogen peroxide and Elemental Chlorine Free (or ECF) to lighten the toilet paper without resorting to bleach.
Caboo’s manufacturing process also follows fairly strict water recycling guidelines. About 70% of the water used during all processes is continually recycled. The toilet paper is packaged in fully recyclable (Type 4) plastic.
Now to the big question? Is it soft enough for your tushy? Caboo is used exclusively in Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi (AKA an elite 5 star resort) so you know it’s really up to snub with all your toilet paper preferences. Here’s a handy website to find some Caboo near you.
Make Black and Orange Bath Bombs from Charcoal Powder and Carrot Powder
Keep bath time oh-so-spooky with this DIY bath bomb kit from Urban Kangaroo (everything in the kit is pre-measured and fail-free).
All you have to do is follow Urban Kangaroo’s oh-so-handy directions but add 2 heaping scoops of Suncore’s Orange Carrot Supercolor Powder and Suncore’s Activated Charcoal Coconut Supercolor Powder to the mix + add a bit more water. I go in more specifics below.
Originally, Urban Kangaroo’s bath bombs are a cream color, but I wanted to get some bold black and orange bombs without using the typical, artificial FD&C dyes. That’s why I’m a huge fan of Suncore’s Supercolor Powders.
Suncore Food is my go-to for superfoods (and super colors) the company is 100% women-owned and was started by four friends in high school. I also have a neat post about how to use Suncore’s Dragonfruit Powder to make some ethical soap. You can check it out here.
To make these halloween-colored bath bombs, split the pre-measured powder ingredients into two bowls (instead of Urban Kangaroo’s suggested one bowl). Then, add 2 tablespoons of the orange carrot powder to the first bowl and the black charcoal powder into the second bowl. Mix until well combined.
Next, follow Urban Kangaroo’s instructions until you reach “Step 3” — that’s the step when you add 20-40 pumps of water spritz of into a single bowl of ingredients. Because we added extra colored-powder, and split the blend into two bowls, we’ll need to add some extra moisture and account for the split. I suggest doing about 35 pumps of water spritz into both bowls. A total of 70 pumps.
Viola! Keep on following steps 4-9 and your bath bombs should be halloween-toned and ready for bath-time.
This was my first time using Urban Kangaroo’s DIY kits. It was a really lovely, stress-free craft process—especially considering the fact that I was making bath bombs with tons of kids under the age 8. I originally was drawn to Urban Kangaroo because the ingredients are locally sourced and hand-packed in California. Each kit’s ingredients are free of parabens, sulfates, synthetic dyes, petrochemicals, animal testing, and GMOs. This kit makes 15 bath bombs.
Use Colored Pencils to Draw Neat Designs on Some Sustainably-Gathered and Hand-Turned Wooden Tops
Not only is this a great activity, it’s also makes for an awesome ethical party-favor. All you have to do is order a handful of tops from SheTurnsWood on Etsy and leave out some colored pencils. The kids will love making their own cool designs on all the edges of the wood.
I love SheTurnsWood, because each top is loving hand-turned by mompreneur EmilyWood. Emily follows around city tree trimmers in her small town (Hyrum, Utah) to gather the recently cut branches. She upcycles the salvaged pieces and turns them into stunning wood-works of art—like these cool spinning top creations. Each top is unique and your order includes a wide variety of ash, red maple, elm, and crab apple wood.
Also, Emily makes some hand-turned baby rattles that are beyond gorgeous. Check them out too!
*I don’t have cool sustainable colored pencils (so, I didn’t use them for this craft) but, I have my eye on these Sprout Sustainable Seed colored pencils and thought y’all might appreciate knowing about them too.
Play a Round of “Doughnuts On A Branch”
This is an eco-friendly twist to a classic party game.
All you have to do gather is some upcycled string (or use some organic hemp string) and tie a knot around some organic doughnuts and a branch—preferably a branch that fell off a local tree.
Have your kid contestants stand (or kneel) under the hanging doughnuts so that the baked goods are just slightly above mouth level.
Count down from three, and invite each contestant to try their best to eat an entire doughnut (without using any hands). Whoever finishes their doughnut first (without letting it fall off the string) wins!
If you live in Oregon, I’d suggest grabbing some Doe Donuts for this game. Doe Donuts sources their doughnut ingredients from local, organic, fair trade, and (mostly) non-GMO sources. Plus, every month the bakery picks two organizations to donate to—like the Feral Cat Coalition of Oregon or the Innovation Law Lab. They also have an amazing selection of toppings/donuts without the animal products if you are vegan.
Alrighty! Hopefully one (or all of these games) comes in handy for you. We’d love to see pictures of your own Halloween party. DM us on Instagram @CalmandChic or let us know if you have some cool eco-friendly party activities we should try.
Cheers,
Lemon
