Halloween for Kids: Harvest Creations

The single scariest thing I have ever seen on Halloween was the grim reaper, on stilts, long black fabric flowing behind him, walking down State Street in Madison. Even today, it haunts my dreams. If Halloween can be scary for a twentysomething undergrad, it must scare the bejeezus out of little kids. Fortunately, various Twin Cities locales offer kid-friendly Halloween activities that offer more fun than fright. Grand Avenue retailers in St. Paul band together to offer trick-or-treating, hayrides, and pumpkin carving demonstrations. The highlight of the Great Pumpkin Festival is a costume runway show, but face painting, a magician, and balloon creations are also available. The Arboretum's Harvest Creations is a nature-iffic event featuring mini-pumpkin creations, a guess-the-weight-of-the-pumpkin competition, and scarecrow decorating. No Halloween would be complete without a trip to the zoo, where the ZooBoo event includes costumed characters and live entertainment. There's plenty of Halloween events out there for kids and faint-of-heart adults.
Saturdays, Sundays, 12-4 p.m. Starts: Oct. 6. Continues through Oct. 31, 2007