Here’s a fresh, fun idea to share with tots during the upcoming Season of Spook: Let them enjoy this variation on the tried-and-true, touch-and-guess-the-yukky-stuff Haunted House idea with a truly “clean” version: a Franken-Bath! And in this version, they can actually eat the creepy stuff, and none of it adds more heaps of refined sugar to an already-overloaded holiday.
Prepare your Dr. Frank ingredients in advance, and have them waiting in the bathroom in individual bowls, covered with a bath towel. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- Eyeballs — peeled grapes. Where would be be without this classic? Let the next generation squeal over them just as you did years ago.
- Bat Wings — fruit leather. Easy!
- Frog Slime — tapioca. A little disgusting, but certainly simple to clean up!
- Dried Ear — dried apricot or dried apple slice. If you have a stubbornly unscared young ‘un, dare ‘em take a bite.
- Warm Guts — cooked spaghetti noodles. Always a great finishing touch to the list.
Prepare your child’s bath as usual and set the stage with low lighting. Halloween twinkle lights over the bathroom door are inexpensive and cast a festive glow; you might also bring in one of your grinning Jack-O-Lanterns and settle him on a bathroom counter to watch the proceedings. A haunted soundtrack will put you well into the creepy castle feeling, but remember that just a touch of spooky goes a long way with little ones; adjust your Franken-plans accordingly.
Bring in your sugar-charged little person, and settle them in the warm bath. If they’re old enough, they might enjoy being blindfolded for the experience, but smaller ones will be fine with squinching shut their eyes (or covering their eyes with a washcloth) as you narrate their journey into the haunted mansion of Dr. Frankenstein, and hand them each icky thing from your mad scientist shelves.
Happy Spooky Holiday!
