The Sassy Mama Guide to Celebrating Halloween in Singapore with the Family

If you’re looking for a hauntingly good Halloween right here in Singapore but you’re not quite sure where to start, we’ve got it covered mama. From cool costumes, to terrifying treats, ghoulishly good events to homemade Halloween inspiration, we’ve got everything you need for a fantastically fun Halloween right here in Singapore. Lets get spooky, mama!

 

Trick or Treat!

The Halloween activity that gets the kiddies most excited is – of course – Trick or Treating! A huge part of the Halloween experience, a lot of apartment blocks get into the spirit of things, and it can be really fun (and a great workout!) to head up and down the stairs looking for floors that are decorated with ghosts, pumpkins and spindly spiders. Just be wary though if you plan to let the kids roam through HDB blocks “tricking” people — it’s not the best idea mama, it could land you in a bit o’ trouble for disturbing the peace.

 

Sweet Treats

Most supermarkets in Singapore will stock Halloween-themed value packs of sweeties and chocolate, with Cold Storage, Market Place, Marks and Spencer and Isetan Scotts all offering a wide range of quality goodies. You can also turn to Candylicious for some Halloween-themed spooky candy mix or Sticky Singapore for a handmade box of (sweet) horrors.

For something a bit more special, there are Halloween cupcakes and cookies on offer at Swirls Bake Shop, Twelve Cupcakes, Charlotte Grace Cakeshop, Da Paolo Gastronomia or Marmalade Pantry. Margaret Cookies has also got some morbidly delicious Halloween cupcakes!

And if you much prefer to turn your hand to a bit of Halloween baking, then Bake It Yourself has a series of Halloween Baking Classes that will help you whip up some seriously spooky sweet treats.

 

DIY Treats

If you’re worried about all the sugar keeping your little ones awake for the rest of the month (and affecting their pearly whites!) perhaps consider opting for healthier treats.

If you fancy your hand at baking, you might want to try creating some of your own spooky Halloween-themed treats. Decorate homemade low-sugar cupcakes with skeletons, bats and pumpkins, or get little ones to create their own cookies using Halloween cookie cutters… Muji do cat-shaped ones! Of course, it’s important to note when handing out treats, that some children may have allergies, so informing their parents if nuts are present (or labelling homemade treats) will ensure that everyone gets to enjoy their spooky snacks!

Some creative knife skills can transform carrot sticks into eerie carrot fingers, apple slices can turn into little goblin mouths and boiled eggs with sliced black olives resembles eyeballs, little spiders and even mini ghosts! Peeled oranges with a cucumber stalk in the top can be passed off as mini pumpkins, and jelly is always an effective Halloween treat (add some sugar-free gummy worms inside!). You could even create a special ‘cauldron’ punch of fruit juice or a blended healthy green smoothie… again, don’t forget the gummy worms for that extra creepy-crawly feel!

Getting the kiddies involved in Halloween food is a fun way for them to enjoy Halloween – from cookie cutting to scary pizza toppings, there are a variety of different foodie activities you can try with them… great for a homemade Halloween party! Apple bobbing is another classic Halloween activity (with a stealth healthy spin!) and pumpkin carving will really get you in the spirit of things.

 

Costumes & Decorations

The best thing about Halloween is that it’s a good excuse to dress up! From ghosts, zombies and vampires to witches, warlocks and favourite cartoon characters, there’s a whole host of costumes out there. If you really want to get into the festivities then you’d better deck out your home with some horrifying decorations too… you’ve probably already seen Halloween-themed products popping up all over the place, especially in the supermarkets. Time to check it out, mama!

The name says it all with Children’s Costume Specialist — they have hundreds of costumes available for your junior Captain America or Princess Belle. Head to the website to see some of their range or visit the actual store in Serangoon and browse the aisles in person.

Customade Costume has over 50,000 different costumes available at their warehouse in Toa Payoh, so you’re sure to find something that everyone will love! Rental starts at $60 for a standard costume.

Costume City has a huge range of costumes and accessories especially for kids and offers a massive selection of superhero get ups! Batman, Spiderman, and even Wonder Woman (we love this!) are available for rent, as well as loads of wigs, masks and other accessories.

Costumes ‘N’ Parties has a huge selection of high quality costumes available for everyone, from newborns (the lil bumble bee outfit is too cute mama!) through to tweens, teens and grown ups. Head to their Kampong Bahru boutique to find your next costume, or visit the website — it’s helpfully sorted into categories to make finding your next outfit a breeze!

H&M has teamed up with UNICEF for an adorable 18^th Century masquerade ball All for Children collection, with 25% of the profit going towards UNICEF’s work in Bangladesh. Perfect for a less terrifying Halloween costume, this range will be available from October 10^th and includes mermaid costumes, pirate outfits, bat wings and Marie Antoinette dresses… a cute, and charitable alternative!

Although a little on the small side, Magic Wand has some standard Halloween decorations worth checking out if you don’t want the hassle of going to the larger stores. Great for table decorations and balloons (helium too!) these guys also have a small collection of spooky costumes.

Good ol’ faithful, Party City is a good pit-stop for spooky kids’ costumes, and has everything you could ever need to host your own freaky celebration at home (plus they are super conveniently located at Holland Village and Raffles City!).

With costumes for everyone from teeny tinies (we’ve got our eye on the pumpkin cutie pie costume!) to teens (and even adults!), Party with Us has you covered for this year’s trick-or-treating session. They’ve even got a good supply of frightfully fancy Halloween decor.

Toys R Us is sure to stock the perfect outfit for your little one, with plenty of cartoon and character-themed ones. A surefire place to find decorations galore too!

Last but not least, long time fave Spotlight is always worth a visit for an endless supply of decorations, party supplies, fancy dress costumes, arts and crafts materials and a massive assortment of fabrics that can turn your apartment into a terrifying scare zone with ease.

Pssst! Don’t don’t forget to pick up your Gumtoo temporary tattoos for the little (and big) kids either — their Halloween set makes for a quirky and extra spooky touch to your little one’s outfit that they’ll really love!

 

DIY Costumes

Another option is to make your own Halloween costumes! If you’ve got the time, this is a great opportunity to be creative with your kid and make their costume more personal to their interests. It can also be a cheaper and more environmentally friendly option as you can reuse old t-shirts, dresses and shirts to create something new – and guaranteed to fit! You can’t go wrong with a plain black t-shirt, a couple of metres of black netting and a few black sparkly stars from Spotlight. With the creative use of pinking shears, you can whip up an original witch or bat costume without spending hours on the sewing machine!

Don’t forget that face-paint can be a whole costume in itself, and with YouTube, you can access some great make-up and face-paint tutorials at the click of a button… transform your child’s face into a cat, Dracula or a cheeky little devil. Remember… if you’re really down to the last minute, a white t-shirt and spare roll of toilet paper can be instantly transformed into a miniature zombie costume!

 

Events

There’s is also a huge range of Halloween events this month, with Singapore boasting a number of terrifyingly fun events for kids of all ages!

Returning this year to Fort Siloso, Sentosa Spooktacular is bigger and better than before…with 5 haunted trails to follow and a stack of haunted ghosts and ghouls lurking behind every corner. Bringing some of the most gruesome horror films to life, this is one Halloween event that is best left for the tweens and teens in the family (just be warned mama, it’s pretty high on the scare factor!).

Halloween Horror Nights invites you to remain brave at their spooky attractions, with six haunted attractions, three scare zones and three haunted houses set to terrify its visitors (for brave bunnies 13+)… the question is…how brave are you, mama?

With a Walking Dead Parade, a Maze of Terror, a Flame of Terror Show, and a Dress to Scare competition, Downtown East’s Escape to Hell’oween gig is one ghostly Halloween event you won’t want to miss. Just be warned mama, it’s a scary one, so best to leave the young ones at home and take the teens instead!

Playful Elves’ Halloween Party on the 25th of October comes complete with spooky balloon sculptures, face painting, glitter tattoos, games and a grisly buffet spread. With two sessions (12-3pm or 5-8pm) you can choose which time would best suit your little munchkins — just don’t forget to come dressed in your gruesome best!

Splish splosh splash to the revamped (just for Halloween!) Port of Lost Wonder for their Spooky Junior splashtastic Halloween do on October 25 and 26. Get ready to splash at the Pirate Ship, hop into the Bubbly Cauldron or paint at the Pumpkin Mount, where the best dressed kid takes home some fantastic prizes!

On 26 October, Go Go Bambini will host their annual Halloween Party with some seriously spooktacular activities, including trick or treating, glitter tattoos, games, food and plenty o’ playtime on the gruesome playscape. Get your most creative costumes ready, as there will also be a best dressed competition for the child with the most spooky outfit! 

Another fun one for energetic littlies, JWT Kids Gym’s Mega Halloween Night is set to scare on the 26th of October, with face painting, spooky parades, (mildly) scary movies, games, tumbling, arts and crafts and much more spooky events! Perfect for kiddos 3 to 9 years, this is one fun family event to drag the kids along too.

Get chillingly cultured at the Asian Civilisations Museum’s Mystic Asia Halloween Party and feel the goosebumps form over your skin as you watch ghostly movie screenings and hear haunting tales in the galleries. The kids can even put their creative talents to the test by making their very own scary souvenir to take home!

eXplorerkid‘s Halloween Party on 27 October is perfect for little ones 4 to 12 years to get their scare on, with a witch’s brew of freak-tastic arts and crafts and a Best Dressed Competition where your kids can don their spookiest costumes.

If a more sedate event is more to your liking, then sign the kids up for the BricksBen Halloween Lego Workshop at The Muffinry on October 26. This exciting lego-filled Halloween bash sees kiddos make five scary lego creations (they even get to take one home at the end of the day!) as well as scoring a goodie bag filled with spooky snacks! Awesome!

Get your art on at Impressions Art Studio and get the kids to paint their own Jack O Lantern, skull or witch bowl (or any other piece they want to paint in scary designs) by the 28 October for pick up before Halloween. If your wee ones need a little more guidance with their painting you can always sign them up for one of their workshops (see the website for further deets).

If your offspring would rather celebrate sans parents, then drop them off at the kids-only Halloween Prom Party at Sparky Playdates (from 31 October to 2 November) for a bit o’ trick or treating, storytelling, music, song and dance. For kids 4 to 8 years, get them dressed in their best costumes for this fun Halloween event.

The Singapore Science Centre are bringing an educational touch to Halloween, with their (Not So Creepy) Halloween Show on 26 and 27 October. With a Tickle Your Brain science trail, Trick or Treat stations, a Boney Halloween Workshop and a Halloween Science Show there’s plenty here to keep kids of all ages entertained. Don’t forget your costume either mama!

Don’t want to stay in S’pore this spooky season? Then skip town and head to Montigo Resort instead and indulge in their Halloween-themed buffet dinner, or drop the kiddies off at the Kids’ Club Haunted House to enjoy a bunch of spooktacular activities (they’re even doing their own trick or treat session!) and grisly snacks. Available from 31st October to 2nd November.

And of course, don’t forget to come along to our Halloween-themed Mama Meetup on 31 October at The Garden House Preschool for a cup of coffee, a chat with other mamas, and some seriously fun pumpkin decorating activities for the kids! Just don’t forget to let us know you’ll be coming!

 

Homemade Halloween!

Fancy getting your creative on, mama? Be the coolest (and scariest!) mama in town and host a fantastic spooky Halloween themed party in your own home! This is a great option if you’re worried your little munchkins might be too scared by some of the sights at the big Halloween events.

You can’t go wrong with a black tablecloth strewn with fake cobwebs that seem to stretch for miles, and some Halloween confetti, a spread of scary finger food and to top it off a cauldron punch! Head out to grab some decorations from one of the suggested places above, or simply make your own by cutting out pumpkin or ghost-shaped bunting from white or orange paper.

As mentioned, there are various ways you can have a homemade Halloween… from making your own costumes to baking your own Halloween treats. Organise a couple of games with a Halloween spin, such as ‘Musical Tombstones’ instead of Musical Chairs, ‘What’s the Time Mr. Frankenstein’ (instead of Mr. Wolf!), ‘Pass the Parcel (with some scary treats inside!), and grab some orange balloons for a game of ‘Pop Goes the Pumpkin’! The Martha Stewart website has some inspired ideas to help you get creative with games.

Arts and crafts activities are a great way to keep the kiddos busy, and guests can take home their finished products too! From pumpkin carving, to making ‘flapping bats’ or lolly-stick mini zombies, there are tons of ideas you can whip up with some simple craft materials. Take a look at Spoonful and Country Living for some more online inspiration, or turn to our friends at SweetP for some Halloween craft inspiration!

There are plenty of different options for you and the kids this Halloween and plenty of opportunities for homemade Halloween fun! Get inspired and get into the horrifyingly fun festivities… look out Singapore because we’ve got some super-scary (and Sassy!) spooks coming your way!

 

 

Main image sourced via shutterstock