Halloween for Kids

It’s Halloween and it is also the 9th birthday of our youngest son, Luke. He loves this holiday and right or wrong, I have raised his expectations each year to host one big, spooky, fun party.

This year, his 3rd grade classmates are coming as well as the neighbors on our street. We are expecting about 30 kids. (And some adults). So what to do?

To take the pressure off of hosting a sole event, I like to host a pre-trick-or-treating party. That means i entertain for a limited time and once it gets dark, the kids are guaranteed fun going house-to-house.

This year I planned four activities areas and lots of creative food for the kids. Let’s start with a cookie decorating table of skeleton heads for the kids. I know the creative ones will really enjoy the challenge of using different colored frostings and toppings like sprinkles, chocolate chips and candy corn. I made sure to decorate the table with great inspirational sculptures and spooky template designs.

Station #2 was a tic tac toe game made right on the floor with duck tape and small orange and white pumpkins. Luke and his friend, Hunter, made the sign posted above the game station. It read “Tick, Tack, Tow”. (We practiced our spelling the next day.)

Next was a spider piñata. To make it fun, we blindfolded and spun each child around in a circle. A few hit the spider, but not even the 12 year olds could break it open. We resorted to a quick look, no spinning and a blind shot. Finally, someone broke it open and kids scrambled for the candy as if it weren’t Halloween trick-or-treating in just another hour.

For the fourth event, we hung donuts from a tree branch and asked each contestant to put their hands behind their backs and use only their mouths. The first one to get the donut to drop was the winner. A simple game but harder than you would think!

Treats for the party included caramel apples punctured with tree twigs, monster cookies, chocolate covered pretzel witch fingers, candy corn bark, eyeball cupcakes and brain punch.