Halloween means a lot of different things to different people. To children, it’s an opportunity to dress up and get free candy. To teenagers, it’s an opportunity to party with the guy you’re crushing on. To parents, it’s about helping your kids find the perfect costume, then handing out candy to all the kids in the neighbourhood. Between all of these, are university students.
In university, Halloween can be an opportunity attend the biggest party of the year, dress in revealing clothes, or get totally hammered. Sometimes, it’s all of the above. However, if you’re not a “Party Girl,” celebrating Halloween can be a little more difficult. Especially when it falls on a Tuesday. So here are my favourite ways to spend Halloween that don’t involve any of the aforementioned;
1. Baking
Halloween is all about the sweet treats, and even though we may be too old to trick-or-treat, it doesn’t mean you can’t still enjoy the sweets. Halloween is a great time to try out new recipes, and make them a little spookier. This year I’ve even seen Halloween versions of Gingerbread houses in stores. Personally, I look forward to making these spider cupcakes. WIth black licorice for legs and M&M’s for eyes; it makes this an easy recipe that you don’t have to be a pastry chef to recreate.
2. Pumpkin Carving and Crafts
The most basic way to spend Halloween is carving pumpkins! But if you want to avoid the mess, you can also paint and decorate. To be a trend setter, maybe even check out some cool ideas to do with white squash!
3. Hand Out Candy
If you’re living in off-campus in a subdivision of houses, there’s a chance you might get trick-or-treaters at your house! So be prepared and buy some candy, decorate your door and wait for the kids to arrive. If you don’t live somewhere like this, then buy candy just to hand out to your friends and spread the love!
4. Give Back
There are tons of ways to give back during the Halloween season, like volunteering at the Food Bank, gathering your old costumes and donating them, or help the seniors celebrate the Halloween season at your local retirement home! In Waterloo, the Homer Watson House and Gallery is looking for volunteers for their annual Halloween Family Fun Day, where you can help out with anything from pumpkin carving to a haunted house. Also, right here on campus, the University of Waterloo Food Bank runs a Trick or Eat program where you can get dressed up with your friends then head out to collect food from the community. Halloween doesn’t just have to be about the costumes and candy, it’s also great to just show other people that they have support!
5. Movie Night
Halloween also means that it’s the perfect time of year to watch your favourite spooky movies. Or, if you’re a scaredy-cat like me, you can just rewatch the entire Halloweentown movie series.
6. And Because it’s Midterm Season… Study Party!
A little less fun, but Halloween should be no excuse to get behind on your homework. However, we can’t forget to celebrate either, so reach out to your friends and make your own event out of it. Dress up, eat some candy, and hit the books.
Halloween doesn’t always have to mean attending huge parties and events, it’s what you make of it. And the best things about these events is that you don’t have to do just one! You can celebrate in any way you’d like, so enjoy the Halloween season!