Halloween is always a big deal for our family, since we have a son and grandson whose birthdays are 2 and 3 days before the holiday. It always becomes a big family birthday/Halloween bash and everyone shows up and has a lot of fun. This particular project I am going to describe to you has been our most popular activity and is requested every year. The kids love it, you know how they love to play in boxes anyway, and even some of the grownups will take a trip or two through our haunted house!
We got the idea to build a "haunted house" for the grandkids to play in for Halloween party entertainment. It consists of many, many cardboard boxes, lots of duct tape, and a little imagination. It can also take up a lot of space! The first year we did this we were drywalling our large living room and foyer, and had pulled all the furniture we still had (which wasn't much, I threw away the ratty stuff during the remodeling) into the dining room, so we had a big empty space to work with. You could create your haunted house in the barn, garage or outdoors (weather permitting), if you don't have room in the house. A big family room with the furniture pushed back against the walls might suffice.
Our Halloween haunted house creation consists of tunnels made out of cardboard boxes taped end to end. The inside is always decorated in a spooky Halloween theme. It takes a little time, depending upon how elaborate you want to make your haunted house, but it is as much fun for us adults to create as it is for the kids to play in!
First, you must get lots of empty boxes. It helps if they are the same size but if they are pretty close that's good enough. They need to be large enough to crawl through when the end flaps are opened and the boxes are laying on their sides. We also used a larger box, like an appliance carton, to create a center hub for the tunnels to run from. If you get ahold of some narrow boxes, you can use them to create a section where the kids have to belly-crawl through.
The first few times we did this I was working at a factory that scrapped a lot of boxes so it was easy to get them all the same size. My son worked at Walmart and was also able to get us lots of boxes. If you don't have easy access to lots of empty boxes start gathering them ahead of time from local department or grocery stores, or the recycling center.
Lay your boxes end to end on their sides, with the flaps open on both ends and overlapping the flaps of the next box. By slightly angling the boxes you can create a curved shape. Don't try to make a long, straight section or it will fall over; the curve will keep the boxes standing on their sides. Curve the tunnel of boxes to fit your available space. Use duct tape to securely tape the flaps together on the outside and inside as you add boxes, covering any openings to keep out the light. If you have really young kids who are afraid of the dark you may want to let a little light come through.
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