Work Hard, Party Harder - Happy Halloween 2023

My kids look forward to Halloween every year. This is not because we would attend large scale parties or do anything over the top but because of our yearly DIY celebration held in the comfort of our home.

Following our "Spooky Party" in 2020, "Back to School" celebration in 2021 and "Skeleton Carnival" in 2022, this year, we had a "Work Hard, Party Harder" theme. I actually decided on the theme long ago when I heard that Kidzania was closing its doors and I wanted my kids to be able to experience the joy of trying out different occupations. Of course, the activites had to be kept simple and couldn't be as elaborate as the ones in Kidzania, but it would still be a fun way to play. For me, Halloween is always about having fun and making memories.

Here's sharing more about the celebration, including the characters, outfits, activities, trick-or-treat finale and a special surprise for the kids at the end.

The Characters

Each of us took on a different occupation so we could dress up accordingly. Introducing

- Ariel the Veterinarian

- Ansel the Race Car Driver

- Summer the Photographer

- Asher the Kung Fu Master

- Angel the Arachnologist

- Xavier the Butcher

We kept to the colours of red, black and white and kept cost to a minimum by mainly using what we have in our wardrobes and Halloween stash (yes, I have a whole section in my cupboard dedicated to storing anything Halloween related).

Getting Ready

For the decor this year, I bought a few additional items from Daiso including a ghost, hanging vines, spider webs and bloody footprints, and added them to what we already have to jazz up the house.

As for the makeup, we made use of tattoos that came in the form of scars, wounds and bullet holes. I thought they looked pretty real and apt for the occasion and we would never be able to achieve the same look using our mediocre makeup skills. The makeup process is usually very fun because we would fool around, make funny faces and experiment with different looks.

The first thing we do every time we are done with our makeup is to take family photos! Yup, these are priceless memories to me and I am very thankful that the kids usually cooperate and are patient with me - I think it's mainly because they know that I have a whole lineup of games and prizes waiting for them, haha.

I realised I didn't take much photos of our decorations, including the footprints, spider webs and dangling skeletons but I have included them in the video so do read till the end and view it if you are keen.

To make things a little more fun, I printed and gave every kid a stamp card so they could collect a stamp every time they completed a task.

The Activities

Let the party begin!

1) Be an Artist

We started the night with a fairly simple activity and that was taking turns to draw Halloween-related items for others to guess. These included a crow, cauldron, goblin, pumpkin, broomstick, zombie, Frankenstein and more.

2) Be a Policeman

The next activity was a test of their marksmanship as they took on the 'bad guys' and attempted to shoot them down.

3) Be a Dancer

In line with our tradition, we included a dance and this time, we danced to the famous scene from 'Wednesday'.

4) Be a Chef

The kids love making homemade 'pizza' so this was a fun, hands-on activity for them as they chopped and sliced mushrooms, ham, pineapples and tomatoes. 

It's Dinner Time!

Looks yummy, right? We tucked into the pizza heartily and the kids were also ecstatic that I had ordered McDonald's for them too. I do that on Halloween every year and I think it's something that we all look forward to. We also bought a box of Halloween themed macarons and Ariel and I enjoyed eating it, even Ansel said it was nice too!

5) Be an Architect

Moving on to the second part of the night, the kids designed and built houses for their skeletons using Lego bricks. This was a test of their creativity and what we loved most was the 'Show and Tell' session where they explained to us their creations, which was way better and more imaginative than I had expected.

6) Be a Room Attendant

We love cruises and are always amazed by the towel animals placed neatly on our beds by the room attendants. So the kids had a go at folding animals like swan, elephant and sting ray and it was pretty fun!

7) Be a Scientist

Time to make some slime! I knew this was something the kids would enjoy and to add a touch of Halloween, I bought a few packets of Halloween themed sequins to add into the slime.

8) Be a Puzzler

The last 'occupation' was for them to go around the house to solve puzzles. First, they had to decipher the clues given to them on the cards to move from spot to spot around the house. This would lead them to the next clue and at the final destination, they obtained a box of jigsaw puzzle. Once they pieced it together, it was an obvious hint that Cookie the dog (which belongs to Vet Ariel) had been kidnapped by the butcher and was going to be slaughtered if we didn't save it in time.

The Finale

So off we went downstairs for trick or treat and as we searched for the butcher, the kids also picked up plenty of treats and skull tokens (I printed and cut these out for one of the past Halloweens and have kept them in good condition) along the way.

Upon spotting the butcher, the kids saved Cookie, befriended the Butcher, gave him a hug and all was good in the world again.

For the final surprise, I gave them a word puzzle to unscramble. Can you guess what it spells? Watch the video below if you wanna find out what this big reward is.

To end off the night, we had a movie night where we watched Vampires vs The Bronx (yes, it always has to be a 'scary' movie on this night!), ate snacks and relaxed as family.

Sometimes, I wonder if all the effort put into Halloween year after year is worth it but seeing the happy smiles on the kids' faces and even receiving 'Thank you' notes from them, I know I will continue to keep this up for as long as I can. It was an absolutely awesome night where we 'worked hard and partied harder' as we made another set of priceless family memories to keep for a lifetime. 

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We always love watching our Halloween videos so here is the latest one for us to reminisce next time. Check out all the fun highlights here.

Till the next Halloween!