Well, another year, another Halloween … and this time I am workng at a public library where holidays are time for crafts and fun for the kids. We had several projects for them – one of mine was for 0 – 3 years olds (story time in English, then jack-o-lantern decoration with cut out paper), another was origami book marks and origami pumpkins – quite fun and 14 kids showed up! The last one was ‘The Witch is Dead’ spooky story and game that everyone knows… actually – no one knew it – what fun! It was like when I was hosting Halloween parties for my kids.
I cooked some pasta (for guts) and peeled grapes (for the eyes), found a bundle of thin rubbber bands (for the veins) some raw pene (for finger bones) and a real rabbit fur collar for the hair! If no one has played this game before, it’s simple – you gather in a pitch dark room with just the light of a candle, and make up the story of a horrible witch who meets a gruesome end… and then you blow out the candle…
“The witch is dead… and these are her eyes!!” Then you pass the grapes to the nearest child and wait for the horrified screams. The louder the screams, the more the kids love it. They told me they could hear the kids screams fro three rooms away, so I guess it was a big success!
I also painted the faces of about 20 kids – vampires, ghosts, zombies, devils, and one ice queen – lots of work, I was exhausted, but what fun!
Jennifer Macaire 