Halloween Treats: a celebrate the season activity checklist

You can print the following Halloween activity booklet anytime,

but you’ll get the most out of it if you have it by August 1st.

Between  the beginning of August and the end of October, many of us transition from high, hot summer to deep, chill autumn — and some of us will actually experience the coming of winter at the end of that time.

To quote a wise young man:

“Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around for a while, you could miss it.”

We paranormal people need to look around and enjoy what is happening in the days and weeks leading up to Halloween, while still preparing for one of our favorite holidays and its celebrations.

To that end, I’ve created a checklist of some seasonal activities that will carry us from full summer to The Big Night, in the form of a handy, ultimately portable booklet.

Allow me to introduce you to a nifty little thing called a PocketMod.

This is a photo of the original countdown booklet. An any-year version will print when you click the link below.

I should have added a quarter for scale. This booklet is just a little thing, made from one sheet of regular paper. There’s some magic trimming and folding, then – voila – a PocketMod.

(Cutting and folding video instruction, and a link to Pocket Mod,  are at the end of this post.)

Designing a booklet at the PocketMod home page is fun, quick and easy – if you choose to fill your 8 pages with the templates available at the site.

I did NOT choose to use the ready-made templates. Instead I made every page of this booklet using the personal –> custom page tool.

[Edit: I take that back, in undated version, I did use the calendar –> monthly widget.]

An-y-way … I did this so YOU can simply click the following link and print yourself a lovingly prepared checklist of activities that will remind you to enjoy the rest of this summer and autumn, and help you suck every delectable bit of marrow from Halloween’s bones.

Click next line and choose print:

Countdown-to-Halloween Ideas & Checklist

The booklet contains:

• 21 fun & timely things to do in August
• 21 fun & timely things to do in September
• 42 fun & timely things to do in October
• a small, undated calendar grid for planning

Here’s a sampling of activities, pulled from each month:

August

• chill tee shirts in the freezer
• find props & costumes at yard sales
• plan weekly spooky movies to watch*
• attend a carnival at night
• go to the drive-in movies

* (Halloween-themed movies here | best ghost movies here | other categories of creepy movies here)

September

• enjoy the season’s final thunderstorms
• buy TV Guide’s Fall Preview & set DVR
• take Twilight Walks
• start working on your costume(s)
• leave the windows open when you can

October

• play hide and seek in the dark
• carve a Jack-O-Lantern too early
• carve another when the first one “dies”
• wear masquerade masks on a date
• make a creepy-mood playlist, listen often
• buy or make retro-style decorations
• …donate some of them to a retirement home
• take any excuse to wear a costume
• do a H’ween photo scavenger hunt

See, it’s fun stuff. Now get your pocket mod checklist and go forth, well-armed, into the best part of the year.

Countdown-to-Halloween Ideas & Checklist

PS – How many activities do you think you can check off this year? I always shoot for at least 50.

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This is how to fold a PocketMod:

For more information, or to try your hand at making a pocket mod of your own, visit: pocketmod.com.

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FOR MORE HALLOWEEN TREATS VISIT THE MAIN INDEX