Halloween party for kids....oh my gourd!

October is better than Christmas. In my books at least! Forever a fan of orange and black, I am always adding a new piece to our collection or chomping on a Halloween Reese’s, sometimes both! This year the girls guilted me into taking on the position of Room Mom whining that “…you’re always working and all the other moms come to our parties.” And end scene. Dare I be outnumbered by the other moms, I rose to the occasion and now I am knee deep in slime and googly eye balls for their Halloween party. Dammit.

All joking aside, I wanted to share some of the quick and easy games and treats we put together for both the 2nd and 3rd graders. I’m actually excited to roll this out because it’s igniting my otherwise dormant crafty side. Let’s start with the games, shall we?

We have a one hour party with 15 minute stations for the kids. Due to allergies and a bazillion other rules, we have to refrain from any sort of treats or snacks. So much red tape, I can’t even tell you. Remember the days when we brought cupcakes and candy and ate loads of crap on Halloween all day long at school? Man, these kids don’t even know.

So…back to the activities. One is active and two are crafty and the supplies are completely attainable. Think Costco and my trusted Oriental Trading.

First up, lava lamps. All you needs is 18 short, stout 8oz water bottles, <that is how many kids we have in our class> food dye, vegetable oil and Alka Seltzer tabs. The kids will love them but we are skipping jars due to the breakability factor. Count on my kid to drop their lamp! Furthermore, it’s inexpensive to recreate.

Next, color your own masks! This is a busy activity. Once the kids complete their masks, I purchased a backdrop in which I will snap a polaroid of every single child for them to take home as a keepsake along with a class pic. Easy and cute!

Finally, pumpkin bowling! All you need is empty liter bottles painted white and you can simply paint a ghost face on them. Find a small, perfectly round pumpkin at Trader Joe’s and voíla! You have a cute game to burn some energy in the hallways. No disruption whatsoever….said no teacher ever!

Onto the goodie bags. My favorite part!

I’m sharing a small portion of the goodies because honestly, I could go nuts. Quantities vary but you can easily get a dozen items for a couple bucks and the kids really love to have a keepsake of their party. It also gives the teacher a break from the nervous energy. Bless up teacher.

Let’s start with the bags themselves. Simple is ideal because I can grab 50 of these bags in one shade and save the remainder for their holiday and Valentine’s Day parties. $5.19 for 50 bags. You can’t beat it! Onto my beloved photo backdrop. I love this because I can tape pumpkins on it for Halloween and then switch it up for Valentine’s Day with hearts. Talk about cost effective. Last but not least, the goodies. We chose these slime balls, sloth stress balls, jumping spiders…144 for $3.98, 6 dozen tattoos for $5.28 and glow-in-the-dark vampire fangs.

As a final treat, each child will leave with a small clementine because duh, it looks like a pumpkin and it’s safe for all!

As for our house, you better believe this is happening!

Oh yeah, skeleton = check! I mean, what are the adults supposed to eat? Happy Friday friends!