About five years ago, I created a program called Haunted Library. Our Teen Advisory Group (TAG) really looked forward to this program every year. They absolutely loved planning this event, making up different themes each year and going all out from the beginning of the school year until Halloween. It was so awesome because they were fully invested.
TAG’s main goal was to create a haunted house for the younger children in the community. The parks and recreation department in San Pablo used to put on a great haunted house, but after they discontinued their program, my TAG felt that it was up to them to put on a great program for the kids. We did the Haunted Halloween program every year for four years, and the teens outdid themselves and did an amazing job.
This year, I am at a different library, but I am carrying on the tradition of the Haunted Library program. My staff and I are planning a Halloween event for tweens and teens and are very excited to share our ideas. We now have an even bigger room to create a haunted house, and we have recruited a brand new TAG to help plan and coordinate. After meeting and discussing ideas for our Halloween event, we came up with a long list of fun things to do. Here are some of our ideas:
Hauntingly Terrific Crafts
Spooky Candy Hands: These candy hands are creepy looking, but they're a super yummy treat for teens.
Faux Horror Chains: These faux chains are inexpensive to make and great for indoor or outdoor decorating.
Creepy Spell Book: Put those weeded books to good use. These creepy spell books look complicated, but they're actually easy to make.
Witch's Potion Bottles: It's amazing that these started as plain plastic pill bottles.
Spooktacularly Tasty Morsels
Candy Corn Punch: Sweet, colorful and fun. Drink up, my pretties!
Halloween Spaghetti: Here's a horrible-looking twist on your grandma's spaghetti recipe.
Poison Apples: This poison apple recipe was inspired by Evie from Disney's "Descendants."
Pumpkin Patch Dirt Cups: These would be fun to serve at a Halloween-themed party.
Costume Ideas!
Are you looking for fun and easy costumes to wear at your library on Halloween? Here are a few of my favorites!
Modern Wicked Witch: I love the green complexion — you can't go wrong with this one.
Book Fairy: This is the cutest idea for wings. Spoiler: it's a book!
Ice Cream Cone & Cotton Candy: These are the cutest and yummiest-looking costumes ever!
DIY Costume Accessories: Here are 18 DIY costume accessories that you will love. Check out the red glitter shoes and the fox ears and tail.
Homemade Lion Costumes: If you're feeling kind of fierce, check out some of these homemade lion costumes!
For more inspiration for Halloween crafts, activities or costumes, check out my Pinterest boards: Hauntingly Halloween and Costumes that Kick Butt.
I hope you all have a great Halloween season! Tune in next month for more teen programming tips and ideas from Mrs. Librarian Lady!
