Thursday, October 31, 2024
HAPPY HALLOWEEN, EVERYONE!
Today’s the day!
As retired teachers, today of all days, we are thinking of our former colleagues
who are still in the classroom!
WE FEEL YOU
as you do all you can to channel the anticipation building
for the big night ahead!
Years ago, we’d have Halloween parades and parties at school
and, my oh my, the day was exhausting!
Then we’d head home and do it all over again with our own families!
Aah… the memories!
These days, we view Halloween through our GRAND lens
and the best part of the holiday by far
Is oohing and aahing over our Littles - our grandkids - in their costumes!
Don’t you agree?
Laurie’s Little D as Dorothy & Laura’s Little L as a cow!
Halloween 2022
Laurie’s Little D and Little P & Laura’s Little L last year!
Halloween 2023
What will 2024 bring???
We can’t wait to see our Littles all dressed up once again…
Laurie in person and Laura virtually (thank you, FaceTime)!
Wishing you all a safe and happy Halloween night!
Tomorrow, when the trick-or-treaters have come and gone,
you may find yourself with an extra bag of Halloween candy, or even two!
If you aren’t sure what to do with those extra sweets,
today’s post is for you!
If you do find yourself with extra wrapped candy once Halloween is over,
there are a few ways to make good use of it!
After all, most wrapped candy has a shelf life of 6-12 months
and some (especially chocolate based candy)
can even be frozen up to a year!
So… save that candy!
In the past, we’ve brought leftover bags of candy to work to share with colleagues
(sometimes saving it until mid-year when it’s really appreciated)!
We’ve also brought it to our church's office to share with visitors
or to the nursing home staff when visiting a loved one.
Of course, donating bags of wrapped candy to a local fire or police department,
to the armed services or another charity of your choice are all worthwhile options!
However, today Laura is sharing yet another way to use any extra candy!
She just sets aside any unused bags of candy and saves them for a bit of family fun
in the weeks or months that follow!!
A Candy Game provides perfect entertainment
for intergenerational fun!
With Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Eve coming soon
or even Family Reunions later in the year,
there will be many opportunities to pull out a bag of candy (or two or three)
and play a quick game together!
In fact, any of the games outlined below
would be equally fun to play at a birthday party or GRAND sleepover!
The best part? Everyone is rewarded with a small piece of sweetness to enjoy!
So… save that candy!
This dice game may sound a bit familiar,
but this one has a sweet spin to it!
It’s a fast paced version of a Candy Game!
It’s a great game to play around the dining room table
and is especially fun when played at a Thanksgiving gathering
or as part of a New Year’s Eve celebration!
Lots of people can play… in fact, the more the merrier!
Young Littles may need a bit of help from someone sitting next to them,
but they will love rolling the dice and choosing their candy!
MATERIALS NEEDED
• a bag or two of wrapped candy (more if you have a lot of people playing)
• a brown paper lunch bag for each player
• a pair of dice
• a timer
DIRECTIONS
Round 1 - Grab That Candy!
Place all of the candy in a pile in the middle of the table and give each player a brown paper lunch bag. Have your pair of dice ready!
To begin, the first player rolls two dice and if doubles are rolled (two of the same number), they get to grab a piece of candy from the pile in the middle and then put the candy in their bag. If doubles are not rolled, the pair of dice are passed to the next player. The game continues until all of the candy has been taken from the middle and placed inside players’ bags.
WATCH CAREFULLY DURING THIS ROUND… Pay close attention to who grabs your favorite candy during Round 1 because, in Round 2, players will have the opportunity to steal from each other!
Round 2 - Steal That Candy!
Now the fun begins! At this point, all the candy that had been grabbed during the first round is inside the brown bags. No one can see what anyone else has!
Begin Round 2 by setting a timer for five minutes. During this round, if a player rolls doubles, they can steal a piece of candy from another player!
HERE”S THE CATCH! If a player rolls doubles and wants to steal a piece of candy from someone else, they have to name a specific player and a specific candy they think is in that player’s bag! (i.e. Laura, I’d like your Snickers bar!) If that player has the candy that’s been requested, they have to give it up! BUT… if that player doesn’t have it, the guesser is out of luck and their turn is over!
The stealing continues until the timer announces the end of the game!
NOTE: At the end of Round 2, you can decide if your group has had enough stealing time. If not, set the timer again for a few additional minutes!
This version of a Candy Game is super fun for everyone involved!
It’s quick and simple to set up with only a few basic supplies needed.
Players take turns as others cheer them on!
MATERIALS NEEDED
• a bag or two (or more) of wrapped candy
• a Ziploc bag for each player
• a spatula (a plastic one that bends works best)
• a blindfold (we use a scarf or even a man’s tie!)
• a timer
DIRECTIONS
One at a time, a blindfolded player holds a Ziploc bag in one hand and a spatula in the other hand. (No need to blindfold younger Littles!)
A timer is set for a predetermined amount of time (30 seconds or 1 minute for most players or longer for young Littles).
When time begins, each player attempts to scoop up as many pieces of candy as they can in the time allowed. It’s harder than you’d think and often hilarious to watch as the blindfolded player has no idea how much candy they are actually capturing in the plastic bag!
If you’d like to keep score, we’d suggest the following: At the end of a turn, each player counts how many pieces of candy they were able to successfully collect. You can determine ahead of time if players keep ALL the candy collected OR if they choose three favorite pieces from the Ziploc bag. You could provide an additional prize for the overall winner (the one who has collected the most piece of candy) if you'd like... $ or a gift card works well for all ages!
This is a well loved game,
often played during the holidays.
It requires some prep ahead of time, but it’s definitely worth it!
MATERIALS NEEDED
• a bag or two (or more) of wrapped candy
• OPTIONAL - dollar bills, coins and/or small toys
• a roll of Saran Wrap
• 2 oven mitts or mittens
• a pair of dice
DIRECTIONS
PREP AHEAD OF TIME: Make the saran wrap candy ball by pulling the saran wrap out of the roll and wrapping your first object in it. Keep on adding more to your ball by rolling up candy, adding new pieces every few rolls. Turn the ball 90 degrees while rolling to wrap in different directions as you go.
NOTE: If you’d like, you can also add $ (bills or coins), gift cards, small toys, stickers and more!
When you’ve wrapped up all the items to be included, add a piece of tape to mark the edge of the saran wrap to show the beginning of the roll. This will make it easier once play begins!
TIME TO PLAY!
All players sit in a circle on the floor or some may want to sit in chairs. One player will begin by holding the ball in their lap. When the game begins, the player puts on oven mitts (adults and older Littles) or gloves (younger Littles) and begins to unwrap as much of the ball as they can. Meanwhile, the player to the left of this person holds a pan/bowl with two dice in it. This player rolls the two dice with the goal of rolling doubles. The player continues rolling the dice while the first player keeps unwrapping the ball. When doubles are rolled, play stops!
At this point, the pan with dice gets passed to the left and the saran wrap ball goes to the person who rolled doubles. They put the ball in their lap, put on the oven mitts and try to unroll what candy they can until the next person rolls doubles. Play continues around the circle in this way until the last piece of candy falls out!
Everything that falls out during a player’s turn, belongs to them!
Sweet Memories! A Candy Game Bonus!
We’ve got one more quick idea for you! The premise of this memory game is one you’ll be familiar with (we know it as The Bridal Shower Game since it often uses common household objects as game pieces. We've each played it numerous times over the years at - you guessed it - bridal showers!)
In this family friendly version, we’re using leftover pieces of wrapped candy. You’ll need one piece of several kinds of candy to play, so perhaps you’ll need to raid your Littles trick-or- treating stash or negotiate a trade with them! NOTE: You'll want to add more pieces of candy if your players are school-age or older - getting some extras at a drugstore from the candy aisle works well. You can pick and choose a variety of candies to add to your sweet memories tray!
To prepare ahead of time, lay out your collection of candies on a tray. Cover the tray until you are ready to play. (We’ve done this before a gathering begins and then it's ready to go when needed.)
GAME TIME! When everyone is gathered, uncover the tray and let players have a close look for one minute. Cover the tray once again! Give everyone 3-5 minutes to write down the names of the candies that they remember seeing on the tray. Littles younger than 4 or 5 may have difficulty with this game, but you can ask them to tell you what candies they remember and you could write their ideas down for them! Perhaps they could get one of those treats as their prize!
The winner of the game is the player with the best memory!
Today we’ve given you four ideas for fun family Candy Games!
Hopefully, we’ve got you thinking and maybe… just maybe,
you’ll be running out to pick up an extra bag (or two) of Halloween candy!
Do you know of any other versions of a Candy Game?
If so, please share in a the comment section at the bottom of this post
OR
email us directly at ourgrandlives@gmail.com!
We’d love it if you checked out our social media sites!
(Click on each link provided here or the links are provided at the top of each post, as well.)
And, as always, we invite you to subscribe to our OGL site!
Can you believe tomorrow is November 1?
We’ll be back then when Laura shares a fall recipe or two
that uses her favorite Halloween candy bar as a main ingredient!
In case you are wondering...
she left a hint earlier in the post that gives her fave away…
We hope to see you then!
Sorry! We just had to get one last Halloween pun in
before the season comes to an end!
💗 We are delighted to join the following link up parties and blog hops! 💗
MONTHLY
SUNDAY
MONDAY
TUESDAY
WEDNESDAY
THURSDAY
FRIDAY
SATURDAY
These games are great fun, and such a great way to share the haul for everyone to enjoy! Thank you for sharing with us at WTJR, we sure appreciate it, Melynda @scratchmadefood!
So fun! Thanks for sharing with us at Create-it link party. https://tryit-likeit.com/link-party-it/
I hope that you all had a fabulous time this Halloween. I love all of these fun candy game ideas! Thank you for sharing at The Crazy Little Lovebirds link party #62. 🎃🤗
Thanks for sharing these ideas with us, great tips.
Debbie #TeamWWWhimsy
These are such cute ideas! My kids always love to trade candy at the kitchen table after trick-or-treating. We are in the middle of a kitchen cabinet refinishing project this year so they will have to move over to the coffee table in the living room this year haha. Thanks for sharing!!!