The origins and history of apple bobbing at Halloween: When the Celts were absorbed by the Roman Empire, many rituals of Roman origin began that incorporated Celtic pratices. Among them was the worship, in October, of Pomona, goddess of the harvest, fruit and trees. Apples were the sacred fruit and symbol of the goddess, and many games of divination involving them entered the Samhain customs in the first centry AD, mostly to do with marriage and fertility. This may go some way to explain the origin of the modern tradition of bobbing for apples on Halloween – 31st October.
But whatever the reason for the start of the tradition what we do know for certain is that is lots of fun!
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OBJECTIVE:
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To remove an apple from a tub of water without using your hands! Everyone who manages to remove an apple gets the apple as a prize! |
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ITEMS NEEDED TO PLAY :
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bucket, washing up bowl, or tub filled with water. The colder the better! |
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bag of British apples. The smaller the apple the easier it is to get it out. |
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To make the game harder remove all the stalks. |
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towel for drying faces. |
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towel for underneath/around the bucket to catch slops and spills. |
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HOW TO PLAY THE APPLE BOBBING GAME:
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Put all the apples, enough for one per guest into the water-filled tub. |
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Each guest clasps their hands behind their back and bobs their face into the water attempting to bite into the apple to |
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pull it out of the water. |
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You can either let the player carry on until they either get the apple or give up. Or you can set a time limit per player. |
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No player is allowed to use their hands to position or remove the apples – this is cheating! |
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When a player pulls an apple from the tub they get to keep it! |
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To make the game harder a blindfold can be worn as well, so players have to feel for the apples with their lips and face. |
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A dry version of the Apple Bobbing game can be played by suspending the apples on strings from the ceiling and blindfolded players have to find and bite the apple to pull it down.
You can also play this game with suspended marshmallows or donuts.
Add an extra spooky dimension to the game by having a GHOSTLY FLOUR DIP GAME played directly after the player successfully retrieves an apple and their face is still wet. |
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GHOSTLY FLOUR DIP GAME
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OBJECTIVE:
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To get a white and ghostly face whilst retrieving a wrapped sweet buried in a shallow tub of flour without using your hands. Everyone who manages to remove an sweet gets to keep and eat the sweet! |
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ITEMS NEEDED TO PLAY:
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large shallow bowl or tub filled with cheap plain flour. |
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bag of wrapped sweets. |
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towel for drying faces. |
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bathroom nearby to wash off floury face. |
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HOW TO PLAY THE GHOSTLY FLOUR DIP GAME: |
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Put all the sweets, enough for one per guest into the flour-filled tub. |
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As soon as each guest has pulled an apple from the apple-bobbing tub,they then clasp their hands behind their back |
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and pushes their face into the flour filled tub to find and pull out the hidden sweets with their teeth. |
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No player is allowed to use their hands to position or remove the sweets – this is cheating! |
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When a player pulls an sweet from the tub they get to keep it! |
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Care must be taken not to breathe in whilst near the flour. |
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This game can also be played dry from the start, creating a more subtle, ghostly effect with less flour sticking to the skin. |
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