Halloween is just under a week away, and there is no doubt that you and your family are in full swing! Chances are you’re gearing up to carve your pumpkins, your kids are dying to wear their costumes and are endlessly excited about the delicious and spooky holiday awaiting them to show it off. Halloween is the official kickoff to the holiday season, and the excitement is in the air. Whether your kiddo is a witch this year or not, it’s always fun to get into the Halloween mood with a fun craft, like our DIY Broomsticks!
Why do witches ride on brooms anyway? Doing our DIY Broomsticks is not only fun, but they give your kids a fun spooky glimpse into the history of Halloween, witches, and why the legend came to be. It’s a long history – the first depiction of a witch on a broomstick goes as far back as 1451! As the story goes, witches used broomsticks to stir their very large cauldrons of witch’s brews and, since the broom touched the brew, it would be given the powers to fly. Pretty cool, right?
Glow N’ The Dark Firefly House Tent
As the day fades away, the witches and fireflies will play! There’s nothing quite as magical as watching your little one’s eyes shine bright as they gaze upon the twinkling night sky to soar through with their broomsticks with our No-See-Um mesh and a full graphic print. Featuring color coded fiberglass “super poles” and safe radius-cut hook and loop fasteners, our 100% polyester mesh Glow N’ The Dark Firefly House Tent offers the perfect vantage point for your child to explore the nighttime in a comfortable and stimulating environment.
The moon, fireflies, and lights are all glow-in-the-dark, making this 48” X 38” X 48” tent a must for any mini stargazer, and perfect for playing Halloween games!
DIY Broomsticks
These DIY Broomsticks are not only great to accompany any witch’s costume, but they also make pretty cute decor for Halloween night, as well! This is also a great activity to do on the same day you go to the pumpkin patch, pick out, and carve pumpkins to create a full day of fun-filled Halloween traditions. Turn the lights down low, light some candles, put on spooky music and start making some DIY Broomsticks!
What You Need
- Stick (we used bamboo)
- Brown craft paper
- Glue Gun (or double-sided tape)
- Brown twine
- Scissors (or X-acto blade)
How You Make Them
- Cut out the desired length of brown craft paper – We went with around 2 ft.
- Leave about 3 inches of space up top and, with an X-acto blade or scissors, cut vertical lines down.
- NOTE: There is no specific width of the strips. We had fun doing different widths and even curving the strips. Get creative here!
- With double-sided tape or glue, start wrapping the craft paper around the stick, intermittently putting a small amounts to help as you wrap.
- NOTE: This part can be a little tricky. The strips can tear up top at the edges, and the paper might not wrap perfectly, but no worries – the twine will fix that!
- Once you are done wrapping, use the glue gun and the twine to wrap and cover the space up top.
- NOTE: Depending on the stick you go with, you can wrap the top part of the stick so that you don’t run the risk of scratching.
- Ride off into the darkness!
Halloween Games
Now that you’ve got your DIY Broomsticks, it’s time to have some fun! We rounded up some awesome witch-themed games from The Spruce to play that your children will love.
Broomstick Relay
- Divide guests into two teams
- Hand each team one broomstick and one witch hat
- The relay race begins with the first players in line for each team donning the hat and “riding” the broomstick to the finish line and back
- The hats and broomsticks are then handed off to the next players in line who must also race to the line and back
- The first team whose players all complete this task wins the race!
Witch Tag
- In this version of freeze tag, one child is assigned as the wicked witch and another is the good witch
- The wicked witch has a broom that she must fly around on as she chases players
- The good witch has a magic wand
- The remaining players must run from the wicked witch
- Anyone the wicked witch tags has to freeze in place
- The good witch must tap frozen players with her wand to set them free, without being caught by the wicked witch
- After two minutes, play stops and anyone who is still frozen is turned wicked
- Those who have escaped are turned into good witches
- The witch with the most players on her side wins!
Musical Broomsticks
- Put all the broomsticks on the floor in a line, one less than the number of children playing
- Just as with musical chairs, play some music and have kids circle the line of broomsticks
- When the music stops, kids sit on a broomstick and the player left standing is out
- Take away one of the broomsticks and continue the game until only one player is left as the winner!
More Glow N’ The Dark Fun!
Want more Glow N’ The Dark Firefly fun? Gaze upon the twinkling night sky through our Firefly Bed Tent. This Bed Tent is the perfect companion piece to our Glow N’ The Dark Firefly House Tent. See our previous post on this fun bed tent with DIY fireflies made of pipe cleaners and glow sticks!
Let Us Know!
What are some of your favorite Halloween traditions with your family? Did you make the DIY Broomsticks? Let us know in the comments below, or reach out to us on social media. Happy Haunting!