On Friday night, I threw a Halloween-themed Girls Night Out for the little lady golfers in my program. One of the main aspects of our life skills program is teaching kids about healthy choices. We have 9 healthy habits, so my challenge was to create a fun night, making sure to be health conscious. Here's my five ways to make Halloween fun, safe, and healthy for kids:
1. Make It Active: We started the evening outside, while it was still light. We played a couple of ice breakers and stretched to get the kids moving, and then hit some golf balls.
2. Scavenger Hunt: When it got dark, we came back inside and colored brown paper bags. After they decorated their bags, the girls were told they were going on a scavenger hunt. In groups, they traveled around the inside and outside of our building [wearing glow jewelry and carrying flashlights, of course], looking for pumpkins.
Safety precautions
At each location, there was a pumpkin filled with prizes as well as the next clue. See - Halloween doesn't have to be high in calories, here are some of the "treats" the girls found at the different locations:
granola bars, sugar free gum, erasers, clementines, stickers, pretzels, and tissues
Each of the groups' clues were in different orders, but they each hit all of the pumpkins and collected all the prizes. Each group's last clue led them to the elevator, where one of my coaches was hiding to scare them...and give them the last clue. We had to give them a little "trick" with their "treat" right?
3. Healthy Snacks: After running around inside and outside, the girls were tired, so we enjoyed some of the snacks I made earlier in the day.
orange pumpkins, ants on a log, witches' brooms, and peanut butter spiders
4. Safe Pumpkin Decorating: We finished the night by choosing a pumpkin from our pumpkin patch outside and decorating it. Since I was with kids ages 9 to 12, we used markers to color the pumpkins instead of carving them out.
5. Safe Costumes: And, of course, I had them dress up as well, but I made sure to tell their parents to have them wear sneakers as well as costumes they could run around in, so we were sure to be safe.
Like my cat costume?? Later in the week, I'll share my real costume! Are you dressing up this year?
