Debt haunts Brits this Halloween

British parents will spend a total of £200 million on Halloween this year, which works out at over £15 per family on average. Parents will be forking out on Halloween costumes, parties, decorations and sweets for trick or treating.

As Halloween coincides with schools' half term break, costs can rack up. The research by Egg found that families will each spend almost £270 pounds keeping their kids occupied over the whole week.

The most popular activity will be going out for lunch, which 60 per cent of families plan to do this half term, while over half intend to go to the cinema. Other expenses include buying DVDs or books and comics and dishing out extra pocket money.

More than three quarters of parents (77 per cent) said they spend more money keeping their children busy over half term week, and more than ten per cent say that this shows kids how much parents love them.

Halloween has become much more of a calendar event in the UK than it used to be and we can see this reflected in the cost to parents. It's important that parents get creative during school holidays, especially with Christmas just around the corner. Here are some cost-effective ideas for keeping the kids busy this week:

  • Adventure walks are really good fun for children of all ages. Wrap up warm and head into the countryside or around the park for bug-spotting, bark-rubbing and playing I-spy. Kids will love trying to remember everything they've seen and will enjoy drawing pictures of worms and spiders when they get back home.
  • Bike rides are a fantastic energy burner, so take the kids out to get some vital exercise and fresh air. Lots of places offer bike hire so don’t worry if you don't have your own. There are plenty of brilliant, free-to-use tracks all over the country, which are perfect for fun days out, such as the Tissington Trail in Derbyshire.
  • Bring out their inner Jamie Oliver and get the kids baking. Flapjacks or crispy cakes are ideal for kids as they're easy to make, use inexpensive ingredients and are really tasty too!
  • Invent a Fashion House and let them be Coco Chanel for the day. All you need is a plain T-shirt, some non-toxic, colourfast markers, cardboard and some ribbon, stickers, buttons and PVA glue to decorate. Kids will have hours of fun making their own clothing and they can hold a fashion show for parents at the end of the day.
  • Instead of going out for lunch have an indoor picnic. Let the kids help make sandwiches and snacks, dig out a blanket and set up a picnic area in your front room.

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