Kids seem to think that Halloween is never quite as much fun when it lands on a school night. We agree – unless parents are willing to put in a little extra effort. By planning some Halloween activities leading up to the big night, your kids won’t be as disappointed if their trick-or-treating is cut short for bed time. This week’s Book Blast should give you some ideas.

First, pick up some Halloween books at the library. There’s nothing like a fun book to get your child’s imagination going, which always helps kids get more out of holidays. Second, arm your child with some Halloween jokes. Telling jokes is part of the elementary school culture. Help your child share the fun of Halloween by teaching him a few good jokes. This week’s book, Boo! It’s Halloween, will aid in both of these steps. It portrays the fun of that spooky night in verse, while interspersing jokes into the illustrations. Though some of the jokes are a little cheesy (we’ve heard the same knock knock jokes a few too many times since reading the book to our kids), you’ll get a kick out of a few of them. Finally, plan a Halloween-oriented outing for the weekend before Halloween. We recommend Bashas’ Boo! at the Zoo, because there are enough activities to keep your family entertained for a full day, helping you to begin to get your fill of Halloween fun.

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If you haven’t heard of Harry Potter before, you’ve probably been living in a cupboard under the stairs for the last decade. Both the books and the movies based on the stories have been critically acclaimed and wildly successful. Thousands of people lined up at bookstores to be the first to discover the fate of the books’ characters when the latest installment was released this year. While we do love the books, we also think they’re really cool because the series made reading fun for a new generation of kids. At the same time, we know there are plenty of kids who may have seen the movies but never picked up the books – whether they were too young when the craze was at its peak or they simply never developed the interest.

If your kids are part of the lagging group, October is the perfect month to get them started on the series. Witches, wizards, goblins, and other Halloween characters and personalities abound in the Harry Potter stories. If they have already read the series, this is a great chance to show your kids that a second read can still be enjoyable. For this week’s Book Blast, we suggest reading Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and then visiting the Pumpkin and Chili party at Schnepf Farms. Beyond all of the fun Halloween activites at the farm, your children can simulate the final challege Harry Potter faces in the Tri-Wizard Tournament by finding their way through an elaborate cornfield maze!

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Halloween is one of our favorite times of the year! Our houses are always decked out with one creepy theme or another – like when the witches invaded and left clues about their identities everywhere or when our mad scientist relative took over the office. While we don’t get into the dark, morbid side of the holiday, we do take the opportunity to make October memorable by decorating the house, dressing up, throwing parties, and telling a ghost story or two. We’re always looking for ways to get our kids excited about this fun season without creeping them out too much.

This week’s Picture Book Blast is aimed at helping you and your little ones get into that cooky, spooky mood. Halloween Hats is a great, lighthearted book for kick-starting that fun Halloween spirit. It is sure to get your kids thinking about what they want to be when they go trick-or-treating. The Pumpkin and Chili Party at Schnepf Farms has become a family tradition for many residents of the Valley. A wide variety of family activities helped the farm earn awards as one of the Top Five Pumpkin Farms in the Southwest (Sunset Magazine) and Arizona’s Best Fall Festival in 2006 and 2007 (Phoenix Magazine). There’s no better place to pick out your family pumpkins than at a real, working farm! Use this Book Blast to get an early start on Halloween and get the creepy creative juices flowing.

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