The kids wanted to throw a Halloween party this year, but I can only tolerate so much crazy, sugared up kids. Since we live in Iowa, I kept an eye on the forecast. When I saw that we would indeed have a dry (no rain or snow!) and crisp Beggar's Night, I surprised my kids with the news of my idea: A Pre-Trick or Treat party for our friends, family, and neighbors who are brave enough to face our crazy.
We broke out the bounce house, turned the playhouse into a haunted house, and made our backyard a kid haven. It was a fantastic night and a great way to lead into trick or treating with friends.
The backyard had sensory activities such as: the Fall sensory bin, Halloween sensory bin, the cornbox, coloring, Pumpkin "sand" (
http://ashlen-kidspert.blogspot.com/2014/10/pumpkin-sand.html), and pasta play. Games included pumpkin ring toss (I failed to get a picture of this, but it's small pumpkins with long stems and glow necklaces for tossing), a pumpkin toss, and bobbing for apples. The two biggest hits of the night: the ball pit that the kids slid into from the eagles nest and the Haunted Playhouse.
The pumpkin "sand"
The sensory bins that we've been playing with all fall.
Instead of bean bags, the kids tossed mini pumpkins for the Pumpkin Toss game. These mini pumpkins can take quite a beating without breaking!
The ball pit.
The Haunted Playhouse was my special surprise for the kids. The kids loved it and thought it was especially creepy after it was dark outside.
The Happy Halloween banner and pumpkins I scored for $2 at Walmart and the styrofoam ghost cups the kids and I made (
http://ashlen-kidspert.blogspot.com/2014/10/ghost-cups.html) were a few of the backyard decorations.
The orange and black pasta was played with just as much as it was eaten (and it wasn't meant for eating). I gave the kids pots, pans and spoons like I did for the Pasta Play Day (
http://ashlen-kidspert.blogspot.com/2014/07/pasta-play-day.html)
Bobbing for apples.
The side of the house had the food table and the kid's cotton ball ghosts on the windows.
I kept things simple for the food as well: chips, deli sandwiches, celery, carrots, cookies, cupcakes, apple cider, and water. I had glow in the dark fangs all over the table that the kids could take home with them at the end of the night.
My attempt at being kid-spooky/funny.
Good ole' sidewalk chalk in the driveway because what kids don't like sidewalk chalk???
The kids tested the maximum limit of kids in the bounce house (everyone came out alive). They loved jumping from the bounce house into the huge pile of leaves.
We had a hard time dragging the kids away from the activities to go trick or treating. We managed a successful group picture and went door to door for an hour. The hit house of the night was the 'spooky' house that had a graveyard set up in the front yard and a giant spider crawling from the top of the house. After trick or treating, the kids came back and played for a bit longer.
At the end of the night, after candy had been eaten and the kids (finally!) tucked into bed, Hubs and I collapsed on the sofa and left the party mess for another day.....this throwing parties and trick or treating is tough business!
