Top 5 Last Minute Ideas to Save Your Halloween

By Nohad Mouawad

Are you a last minute parent? Well, welcome to the club! At 10 pm last night, I was trying to glue an empty bottle of sauce onto a headband for my daughter’s Halloween costume, and it wasn’t working! It’s not easy to be a modern parent: between the What’s App groups, after school activities and playdates, we can’t keep up with everything. Sometimes we just need an easy stress-free idea that can save the day for us. Don’t worry, I have you covered with some costumes, activities and ideas that are simple, cheap or free and guaranteed to turn you from zero to hero parent in no time.

1. “Boo” someone: This super cute idea really took off during the pandemic, and my kids have been doing it with their friends and our neighbors ever since. Grab some sweets, a few plastic spiders or other Halloween decorations from the mall or supermarket, and throw all of them into a small bag or basket that you have at home. Now, have your kid (or do it yourself if they don’t write yet) write a note saying “You have been Booed! Guess by who?” Once you have the surprise ready, take it to your friend or neighbor’s doorstep (the adults can text each other in advance), ring the bell and disappear. Whoever gets booed needs to take a turn booing someone else, and the fun gets passed on!
2. Do a Halloween Treasure Hunt: Why wait for the springtime egg hunt, when Halloween is as good a time as any to hunt for treats? Avoid the busy trick or treats by hiding Halloween candy around your own house or backyard and having your kids find it. My kids have loved doing this since they were little, and now that they’re almost done with elementary school, they still love finding surprises.
3. Do an Easy Halloween activity: Another way to get back on the kids’ good side is by offering up an easy and free Halloween craft. This works for little ones up to older kids, as you can either help them, or just provide the materials and have them do it themselves. Qidz app actually offers free crafts for Halloween and other occasions from ghost bunting to Halloween Play-Doh printables. All you have to do is download and print out the material.
4. Order a Last-Minute costume: Believe it or not there is actually costume same-day delivery in Dubai! FirstCry.ae and Maison Tini will deliver kids’ Halloween costumes to you if you place your orders by midday. There’s still time to get your kid the costume they wanted or the one they changed their mind for, and Qidz has a discount code to help. Use the code QZ10 at FirstCry.ae  and code qidz10 at Maison Tini to to get an extra 10% off your kid’s favorite character costume this weekend.
5. Put together a Last-Minute (free) Halloween costume:

 

• Hippy costume: Does your kid have a pair of jeans or jean shorts (preferably ripped) and any color of tie dye t-shirt? Well then, you have a hippy costume! Add a long necklace, a headband across their forehead, and draw a peace sign on their face with your eyeliner. Done!

• Vampire: Pulling off this classic is much easier than it seems. All you need is white face paint, a bit of fake blood and some dark eye shadow. Put the dark shadow all around your son or daughter’s eyes, add the white face paint to the rest of the face and drip a little fake blood from the corners of their mouth. Now dress them in a white shirt and dark pants. Bonus points if you have a silky scarf to tie around their neck.
• Ghost: This is a classic of lazy parents everywhere. Take an old white sheet, cut out holes for your kid’s eyes and give them an old pillow case to collect Halloween candy. That’s the way we used to do it in the old days!
• Football/Basketball Player: Everyone has sports jerseys lying around the house, whether for the school sports team or your favorite player. Add the jersey to some sporty shorts, tennis shoes and sporty socks. Now, have them carry a football or basketball. Very convincing…
• M&M: All you need for this simple costume is clothes in one primary color (top, bottom and socks in red, blue, green, yellow or brown). Then print out a simple M in a large size or draw it on a white piece of paper. Cut out the “M” and attach with safety pins or tape to their t shirt. You can add colored hair spray to their hair if you have some.
• Superstar: This glamorous costume needs very few store-bought props. The most important element is a cool-looking pair of sunglasses. Add to this a fancy dress and lipstick and eyeshadow for a girl, gelled-back hair and a cool jacket for a boy and the paparazzi will soon follow.
• Twins: Good things come in pairs! Have your son or daughter pair-up to dress alike with a friend. Make sure they match not only clothes but hairstyles and accessories too. This costume is super fun and up to their own creativity.
• Parent: Make your kid look like mom or dad by dressing them in dad’s jacket, shirt and tie with sunglasses and a briefcase or mom’s ruffly top or sweater and long necklace. For bonus points have your kid carry an empty mug of coffee and draw dark circles around their eyes with eyeshadow to make them look extra tired. An old Dewa bill, a mobile phone or a book can also be accessories.

 

Photo Credits:

<a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/these-masks-make-us-more-scary_11353587.htm#query=halloween%20craft&position=0&from_view=search&track=sph”>Image by gpointstudio</a> on Freepik

<a href=”https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/pretty-cute-smiling-woman-pink-shirt-boho-hippie-style-accessories-smiling-emotional-fun-posing-pink-background-isolated-positive-mood_23534572.htm#query=hippie&position=2&from_view=search&track=sph”>Image by marymarkevich</a> on Freepik