Children aren’t always the biggest fans of wearing a mask during the pandemic — but there’s a fun way to encourage them. It’s called the Monster MASKarade! The Children’s Museum Guild is committed to helping families make Halloween fun, safe and memorable. That’s why they replaced the traditional Haunted House with a new experience.
The Monster MASKarade will be held outdoors in the Riley Children’s Sports Experience at The Children’s Museum every Friday evening and Saturday morning in October 2020, weather permitting.
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The outdoor area will be converted into a witchy wonderland, complete with a 60-foot-tall Children’s Museum Guild’s Fantasy Tree House of Sports decked out with holiday lights and Halloween-themed decorations. Your little goblins will be invited to play Broom Ball broomstick battles, bust a move with Mummies in Motion, tackle an ominous SportsTRACKular obstacle course, compete in a virtual mask or costume contest, play musical chairs with ghosts and participate in the Monster Mash Candy Dash.
Displays inspired by past Haunted Houses will fill the area, setting the stage for an extraordinary Halloween experience. Festivities will conclude when Frances the Friendly Witch leads the Monster MASKarade Parade at the end of the event.
Monster MASKarade will require COVID-19 appropriate face coverings. Halloween masks with nose and mouth holes aren’t enough. Since everyone must wear face coverings anyway, why not make that part of your child’s Halloween costume? Grab fabric markers or nontoxic fabric paint and let your imagination go wild — or witchy, if the season moves you.
Here are a few ideas to get your creative juices flowing:
- Paint your mask orange. After it’s dry, use black fabric paint to add a jack o’ lantern mouth. Add an orange shirt and a green beanie-style cap and you suddenly have a pumpkin!
- With a nontoxic fabric marker, you can draw a tiny nose and mouth. Then add some whiskers and you have an easy cat mask.
- Tie-dye your mask, wear a long wig and lots of beads and peace signs, and you have a little hippie.
- Do you have a child who wants to be a princess, butterfly, fairy or magical creature? Add sparkle by drawing stars, hearts, swirls and other fantastic shapes on the mask.
Purchase tickets for the Monster MASKarade ahead of time, because there is a 250-person limit per experience. Boxed meals and goody bags are included.
Tickets can be purchased at The Children’s Museum box office or online at childrensmuseum.org/monster. Monster MASKarade is presented by Old National Bank.
The Children’s Museum Guild would like to help you make this season fab-BOO-lously memorable, so the witches created virtual BOOseum bundles for the whole family to enjoy at home. Check out the website for more: www.childrensmuseum.org. MASKarade Mondays will explore “How to Decorate,” “What to Eat,” “What to Wear” and “What to Do.” Log on for Halloween fun on Freaky Friday Facebook Live and discover a Creepy Collection tour on Halloween Eve. You never know what lurks behind the shelves of the museum’s collection of artifacts!