Top Tips to Make Bonfire Night in Lockdown Extra Special

Bonfire night in lockdown doesn’t have to be completely forgotten… there are lots of alternative ideas that you can try! Families across Leeds will be spending Bonfire night at home this year, making it a great time to get creative with crafts, food and games. Here’s five top tips to make 5 November 2020 a night to remember.

1/ Get glowing

Add different coloured glow sticks to plastic bottles of water for a game of night-time skittles, or use the glow sticks to play glow-in-the-dark hoopla. For a really creative option, hide glowing objects in the house or garden for a thrilling treasure hunt.

2/ Craft with a bang

Get saving those toilet rolls…there’s loads of Bonfire Night ideas for the humble loo roll, from transforming them into rockets with glittery pipe cleaners and sparkly stars, to cutting a fringe at the bottom, folding it back and using it to print firework shapes with bright-coloured paint on black paper. For other ideas including tissue paper bonfires and waxy scratch art fireworks, check out the Elf on the Shelf website.

3/ Sizzling snacks

From cheesy tomato Catherine Wheels to hot dog rockets, the BBC Good Food website has loads of ideas for Bonfire Night snacks. Create an edible bonfire with bread sticks and pretzels for logs, and strips of orange, red and yellow peppers for flames. Or rustle up some fruity rocket kebabs – with a strawberry on top, alternating grapes and blueberries, and a tassel or coloured tissue paper at the bottom for the fiery tail.

4/ Fizzing Fireworks dance

Dig out those Bonfire Night tunes (Firework by Katy Perry? The Prodigy’s Firestarter? Burn, by Usher…?) and dance around like a fizzing firework until the music stops. According to the Mas&Pas website, when someone shouts:

• Catherine Wheel – everyone must spin round and round with their arms stretched out.
• Rocket – everyone must crouch down low and then jump up as high as they can.
• Sparklers – everyone must put their hands up, stretch out their fingers and dance up and down and round and round.
• Bangers – everyone must clap their hands and count 1, 2, 3 and shout ‘Bang’.

You can play for as long as you like. There are no winners or losers. This one’s just for fun!

5/ Home-based sparkles

If you plan to celebrate with sparklers or roast some marshmallows over a fire this Bonfire night, remember to stay safe. According to the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents (RoSPA), accidents are more likely to happen at home-based firework displays so it’s extra important to be careful, and better to avoid completely. Writing secret messages with sparklers can be great fun – just bear in mind that sparklers aren’t recommended for under-5s; wear gloves, hold them at a safe distance away from your body, and keep a bucket of water on hand to plunge them into afterwards.

If you’re not sure about what’s allowed under the current Coronavirus restrictions in Leeds, see https://www.leeds.gov.uk/coronavirus/local-rules for answers.

Thanks to Leeds City Council Public Health for their help in putting this blog together!