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Creating Halloween fun without the sugary treats

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As if that sock I discovered at the bottom of the toy box stuck to the remnants of what once was an ice cream sandwich wasn't spooky enough, the scariest holiday of the year has arrived once again. In case you don't want to send your dentist's oldest three children through college all by yourself, here are some sugar-free ways to celebrate Halloween.

“The Night Before Halloween” was written and illustrated by Natasha Wing. The familiar poem opens as the monsters prepare for the trick-or-treaters to come. The illustrations have plenty of details for toddlers to notice as you read the poem.

You can create your own monsters with toilet tissue rolls. Let your child glue felt eyes, pieces of paper, yarn, and glitter on some tissue rolls to create monsters. Put the monsters on a window sill to welcome children who come to your house.

For a Halloween story about friendship try “Room on the Broom” by Julia Donaldson. Young children enjoy the illustrations by Axel Scheffler, which make the witch in the story loveable and spooky too. Some animals help the witch find her missing hat in exchange for a ride on her broomstick. There is a twist at the end that children will not expect but this is definitely not nightmare material.

You can have broomstick rides around your house or yard. Pretending to fly can be great fun and can burn off some of those peanut butter cup calories. Let your child take a few stuffed animals for a ride on the broom.

“Frank was a Monster Who Wanted to Dance” was written and illustrated by local author Keith Graves. Frank the monster follows his dream to dance and freaks out the audience when his head comes unzipped. Told in verse, this story is funny and has just enough yuck for grade school children to love.

You can have a family night for a monster dance. Everyone can dress up like a monster and take a turn dancing for the audience. If you want a body part to fall off like in the story, stuff one of your gloves with an old copy of the Hill Country News and halfway through your routine let the glove fall out of the end of your sleeve.

For older, independent readers there is Ray Bradbury's “The Halloween Tree” with illustrations by Joseph Mugnaini. Eight boys go trick-or-treating and get caught up in an adventure trying to find their missing friend, traveling through time and space learning about the customs of Halloween from other cultures. This book manages to impart information and have a great story at the same time.

You can start a new tradition for Halloween at your house. Try decorating a tree in your yard with ghosts, small pumpkins, witches, and monsters so you can have your own Halloween tree.

If these books aren't scary enough for you, you can always look in the bottom of the toy box!

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