Trunk or treats are a great activity to bring Church groups together. The kids will love walking around the church parking lot trunk or treating after church or on Halloween. After watching the Lion King live action movie, we were inspired to decorate with a wild theme. Wild about Jesus is a roaring good theme for this year's Trunk or Treat! You could even tie it into a Sunday school lesson before the kids get to go trunk or treating. Keep reading to find out how to make the Wild About Jesus Trunk or Treat decorations!
To create the Wild About Jesus Trunk or Treat decorations, start by constructing the waterfall. A source of water is a necessity in this theme not only because it works as a watering hole for the wild animals, but it also symbolizes baptism, the renewal of life from sin. Start by cutting two long pieces of the blue tablecloth roll. Hang each piece on the corners of the trunk and run them parallel to each other and a few yards away from your trunk making it look like the sides of the waterfall. Bunch up the tablecloth to make it look like the water is flowing. Then take the blue flower sheeting and put it in the middle of the two strips of tablecloth. Add an extra detail by using animal tracks around the waterfall to resemble a drinking hole.
Seeing a car bumper in the middle of your decorated trunk would really throw off the aesthetic. Cover up the car bumper with a large amount of kraft paper crumpled up to act as rocks. If you are struggling to get the paper to stay in place, use a stapler or tape. Then take palm leaves and stick them around and on the kraft paper rocks to give it a hint of the jungle. Inflate a palm tree and place it behind the kraft paper rocks. It can lean up against the car for stabilization.
The floral raffia skirt makes the perfect camouflage for the top of the trunk. Take it and hang it from the top of the trunk door so that it is dangling down into the start of the waterfall. A "wild" paper parrot works perfectly to hang into the raffia skirt. To tie the theme together create a DIY Wild About Jesus Banner to hang on top of the trunk door. To make the banner, cut neon animal print bandanas into small rectangles. Fold the top of the bandana down and hot glue it to create a pocket for the twine to go through. Then adhere the white adhesive letters to each bandana to spell out "Wild about Jesus." Place "about" on one bandana to save enough room for the banner to hang. Take natural jute cording to string the letters together. You can easily tie the cording into the raffia skirt to get it to hang perfectly. The banner is such a great focal point for your trunk.
Who doesn't love sloths? Hang this adorable little sloth friend onto the top of the trunk. He is just hanging around! Large props make decorating a trunk so easy. Use the safari lion inflatable to keep a watchful eye on one side of the trunk and set the truck photo stand up on the other side. These props make great photos too!
This theme comes with a lot of options for fun handouts. Buy a variety of items, including sweets and stuffed animals. Put stuffed animals and flying discs in large tin pails that are placed on the sides of the waterfall, so kids can help themselves. Then have an adult in a toucan costume hand out wild encounter stickers and candy. Don't forget to bring skeleton tote bags for kids to carry around their items. Now it is time to get the kids Wild about Jesus!
Be sure to shop all of the products for the Wild About Jesus Trunk or Treat here!
Even with potential social distancing measures in place with your trunk or treat this year, there are lots of ways to make trunk or treat fun and safe for everyone! Build stanchions to keep distance between cars and encourage social distancing. To make your own stanchions, fill galvanized pails with gravel. Place a garden stake in each pail and then slide a black craft noodle over each one. Finish your stanchions by pushing a foam pumpkin over the top of each garden stake. You can now tie plastic streamers from one stanchion to another to create dividers to use between cars or to mark social distancing areas. In addition, volunteers who are handing out candy can use grabbers to avoid picking up the candy and also wear Halloween themed face masks to help keep everyone safe. Remember to have some hand sanitizer available so it's easy for everyone to keep their hands clean.
Want more Trunk or Treat Ideas? Be sure to check out all of the tutorials, plus tips and tricks for the best Trunk or Treat décor with our 20+ Trunk or Treat Decorating Ideas.
