Youngsters in Millport are set for a socially distanced spooktacular Halloween thanks to a creative islander.

Concerns have been raised by parents that guising is not an option this year due to the current restrictions and the rising cases across North Ayrshire.

As an alternative, teacher Lara Crossan has created ‘Cumbrae’s Chilling Checklist’, where islanders can search out 56 Halloween pictures around the town.

She said: “I’m an early year’s practitioner at the primary school so I work with kids every day planning different activities.

“I was reading things online and parents were saying they didn’t want to do anything for Halloween because it didn’t feel safe.

“I just created the little activity so that children had something extra to do, and give them an alternative option to guising that the family can take part in following the current guidance.”

Lara says she hopes the activity will be fun for children and adults of ages and is encouraging islanders to dress up for the occasion.

She said: “Children can dress up in their Halloween costumes and go out and find all the pictures, and there are secret code words hidden in them.

“I took my class around the town to see how far they could walk and what they could manage, and they can even complete it over a couple of days if they want to.

“They will be all over the place but will be in numerical order so parents will know if they have missed one.”

Lara says there is a lot of excitement among children in the school about the activity, which she is hoping will follow in the successful footsteps of other lockdown activities on the island.

She said: “The kids will all get the checklist home in their school bags, and there will be certificates online that parents can print off.

“They all seem really excited and I’ve had a lot of messages from parents and families who are looking forward to it.

“We’ve had a lot of success this year with island activities like the community caterpillar, so it seemed like the right thing to do.”