I love this time of year as there are so many fun things happening. Kicking off with half term which is followed by Halloween, then bonfire night and then the run up to Christmas and then of course New Year.

It is always such a fun time for children. Halloween seems to get bigger each year.  I don’t remember it being such a big deal when I was young but I guess in part it’s the American influence over recent years.

Each  year the children like to dress up and some years we have had a little party with some of their friends and lots of silly games. Last year was particularly wild weather wise which added to the atmosphere. We played some funny games like getting marshmallows out of flour with your mouth and digging for sweets in wet noodles. All lots of fun. After a scary movie and some party bags it was safe to say that everyone had a great time.

Where we used to live we had loads of trick or treaters visiting, so we used to have to be prepared with loads of treats to dish out to the local witches,  ghosts, vampires and Monster High girls.

We filled a big tub with sweets and chocolates, including some retro ones like Curly Wurly and Dib Dabs and of course some gross looking Halloween sweets like Jelly Filled Skulls and Evil Pumpkins. We never seemed to have enough and always ended up raiding the cupboards for extras.

Lots of these sweets and treats are great for Halloween baking as well. One of our favourites is to sit vampire teeth into the middle of a ring doughnut and then add some dripping blood and a bit of hair – it looks fab. Spider cupcakes and marshmallow ghosts always go down well but this year we might try a few other things.

We’ve been growing pumpkins in the garden this year, so I am keeping my fingers crossed they will have grown in time!

How do you prepare for Halloween? Do you get lots of trick or treaters near you?