Halloween decorating

On on the board of my building. One of the tasks I do each year is decorate the lobby for Halloween. Before I took over the job the decorations were al store bought. The decorating itself was a nice communal activity but I didn’t love the idea od spending money on store bought decorations.

Each year, with the help of the kids in the building I come up with a theme. The goal is to create something that is easy enough for kids to do, costs nearly nothing and looks appropriate for the season.

This year I also looked up ideas on Pinterest. I had found a tutorial on making spider webs out of garbage bags. I ad also seen something about creating flocks of bats.

I asked neighbors to donate the needed supplies. Parents and kids came at the appointed time and got to work.

Usually early in the process it feels like this year it just isn’t going to work and I try to figure out an alternative plan for decorating the lobby.

About half way through it is a chaotic scene. The lobby is a mess. Kids are doing things that maybe they ought not to be doing. I try to keep everyone busy and create jobs for kids as young as three and as old as eleven. I get kids to teach one another how to cut bats or make the spider webs or stick the bats up on the mirrors.

Eventually though, the lobby looks great.

I love the bats in the light fixtures.

Some of the kids decided to make ghosts for the elevators out of white garbage bags.

Some of the kids worked on the front entry.

At one point a group of the youngest kids had dressed themselves as ghosts with the tattered white garbage bags.

It was a successful day.

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