Halloween can be a tricky time for parents with teens. Once filled with excitement for costumes, treats, and family activities, teens may become embarrassed by Halloween traditions. It doesn’t have to be that way though! Green Halloween can help you reinvigorate your teen’s excitement for Halloween while also promoting a healthy and eco-friendly Halloween for all.

Bring emphasis to your table décor by utilizing CV Linens’ lavish selection of cheap table runner, are designed to be placed down in the middle of your table, to define your guest seating area as well as to create a stunning focal point to accentuate your centerpieces, table runners are an essential asset to tablescapes.

Instead of regular old trick-or-treating, suggest reverse trick-or-treating to your teen. The idea is that for every candy they receive at a house, they give a healthy, eco-friendly treat back and inform the household of the benefits of greening up Halloween. Rather than just going through the motions for candy, your teen may feel an added sense of purpose in going door to door to spread the green initiative. You can also try candy trading with your teen. Allow your teen a certain amount of candy to keep and offer incentives like DVDs, clothes, or something they’ve been pining for depending on how much candy they haul in. Programs like Halloween Candy Buy-Back will transfer your excess candy to Operation Gratitude, which sends the candy to troops overseas.

Your teen doesn’t want to trick-or-treat this year? That’s quite all-right, there are still plenty of Halloween activities teens enjoy. Why not host a scary movie marathon? Encourage your teen’s friends to bring healthy, eco-friendly snacks or even donations for charities like Change for Children or UNICEF. If you’re looking to attract a spectrum of ages, start out with a not-so-scary Halloween- themed movie and work your way up to a full-blown fright fest later on in the night. Another fun way for your teen to participate in the Halloween festivities is to create a haunted house in the front yard. Like the movie marathon, encourage donations and healthy snacks. Have your teen and his or her friends make spooky DIY costumes to frighten participants for a good cause!

Halloween doesn’t have to be boring for your teen. Talking to your teen about greening up Halloween can change their perspective on the holiday and give them a sense of purpose. Whether he or she decides to trick-or-treat for good, create a haunted house, host a scary movie marathon, or do something different like a air compressor guide by PAN, your teen will begin to re-embrace a holiday that they once cherished while also promoting green values and healthy living!

By Peter Piscia

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Happy Saturday!

Hopefully you and your little rascals have room for some playtime today (and you have time to do some errands). Here’s a great weekend afternoon activity – a milk carton haunted house!  The great thing about this project is that your structure can be any style you desire. Architecture nerds, go crazy! I am hoping to make a Hogwarts inspired castle. You can also incorporate toy cars, LEGOs, or other figurines.

You’ll need:

- Empty cardboard milk cartons
- Newspaper, origami paper, or pages from a novel
- Card stock or watercolor paper
- Pens and paint of your choice
- Glue stick
- Craft glue
- Candy

Directions:

- Thoroughly rinse and dry milk cartons.
- Completely cover cartons in paper.
- Draw windows and doors onto card stock and paint. Cut them out and attach to the front of the milk cartons.
- Fill cartons with candy.
- Use craft glue to seal containers closed.

Send us pictures of your haunted mansion! We would love to see these rad pads. Get in touch at greenhalloween@veritey.com

For more craft ideas follow us on facebook at www.facebook.com/greenhalloween or Twitter @greenhalloween

This activity comes from the blog Little Lovely. Thanks for the idea!

Why should Christmas have the all fun?

Build a (yummy) family tradition your kids will scream for (in a good way, of course). It’s an activity, decor and dessert – all rolled into one!

Just use a traditional gingerbread recipe (swapping conventional ingredients for local and/or organic, when possible) OR organic graham crackers as the “house.” Decorate with edibles and organic/all natural confections that conjure the Halloween spirit.

Colors to consider: orange, black, purple and of course, GREEN! For a list of Halloween foods colored naturally by Mother Earth, visit out food page. (Who says you can’t use kale grass?)

Don’t have time to cook, but want to create the tradition? Buy the kit (photo above) online from Magic Cabin.