Halloween Activities in Dublin

This year we are going to Clonfert Pet Farm for their Halloween festival. I have never been before but have heard great things! Lots of people have recommended it to me as a great day out with young children.  There is a soft play area for those wet, winter days, a permanent bouncy castle and go karts, playgrounds and obviously the pet farm outside. There is also a café for that all important caffeine hit for the parents. For Halloween, they are having a festival where you can pick your own pumpkin patch, a fun fair, haunted house and a kids disco. We are going to out our costumes on and have a great day by the sounds of it. It was actually quite reasonable for tickets and there day passes seem great value.

https://www.clonfertpetfarm.com/events/view/halloween-festival

Another activity that we are doing this year is the Samhain Walk in Marley Park. This event is totally free but tickets genuinely sell out in minutes so set your reminders for next year.  It’s a haunted walk full of Weirdoes, Witches, Banshees and the Disco of Death. We are bringing a 4 year old and an 8 year old so I’ll let you know how we get on.

https://events.dlrcoco.ie/event/samhain-halloween-walks-2022

Dome events still have tickets like this one in Lucan which looks fun: https://halloween.lucangardencentre.ie/

The kids can decorate a pumpkin, decorate some cookies and have their face painted. A nice way to pass a few autumnal hours. There’s also scary story time and a treasure hunt. For the grown-ups there is coffee and treats and wreath making demonstrations.

This is another free event that looks like fun for the smallies! It’s a Creepy Crawlies workshop in the National Print Museum in Dublin 4 where the kids make their own paper craft creatures.

https://www.nationalprintmuseum.ie/event-calendar/

Then there are the traditions that we grew up with, like barmbrack. This is a fruitcake (yuk) with some hidden treasures. A ring means marriage, a coin- wealth and a rag for poverty. I think we only ever added coins and a ring to ours growing up.

On Halloween night bobbing for apples was a staple as a child. Maybe more Covid friendly is tying an apple with string and hanging it and having to try and eat it with your hands behind your back. We also play a game where you make a pile of flour on a plate with a coin on top. Everyone has to take turns slicing some of the flour away with a knife. Whoever causes the pile of flour to collapse must out their face in the flour.

We also do lots of crafts in to the run up of Halloween but nothing too taxing. Last year we cut out monster shapes out of black paper and stuck them to the windows. It was fun, easy and super effevtive way of decorating the house. I have pinned some ideas of shapes to my Pinterest board here: https://www.pinterest.ie/Tickletoesphoto/halloween-inspiration/

The kids (and I) had a great fun doing this. Another one, my four year old particularly enjoys is toilet paper crafts. We have mad lots of bats to hang around the house. Another low effort, but high impact craft to get everyone in the Halloween spirit.

I hope this has given you some ideas. Let me know in the comments your favourite activities and places to go.

Oíche Shamhna Shona Daoibh!