In September of 2015 I became a mother of a preschooler. The preschool we chose is a co-op which is code for “you pay a lot less but have to do A LOT MORE.” My husband and I were so excited to start this new adventure. That is until I was assigned the esteemed title of “Social Director.” It was my duty to be in charge of both the Halloween and the Holiday Parties. At first glance I thought that the Halloween party would be so easy. I thought that we would use a couple fog machines, I’d ask a few of my monster friends to slide out and scare the living daylights out of the kids and then my husband and I would be crowned King and Queen of Preschool Halloweenland.

Then I realized something: not everyone is like our family. While our kids cheer and welcome scary monsters, other kids run away at the first inkling of anything spooky happening. My son loves creatures lurking in the dark but apparently not every kid is ok with things that send chills up your spine.

Cut to panic mode. I had about a month to figure out what to do for 30 or so three to four year olds (and their families) for 3 hours at a party. Besides a few family birthday parties for my son and daughter, I had no clue how to put on a party that didn’t include fancy hors d’oeuvres with an extensive array of booze and wine. I assumed that beer pong wasn’t an activity fit for little ones. How were they going to see over the table well enough to steady their aim?

I’m not going to lie, I enlisted my family and friends for help with ideas (thank you social media) and got some terrific ideas. The ones listed here are intended for all school age children and adults can have fun with them too.

Every kid’s dream and every parent’s nightmare! Don’t be put off by play dough getting ground in the carpet, do this activity outside. I found a great recipe for Pumpkin Spice Playdough that is amazing. The orange tinted dough is simple to make, it makes your whole house smell like Halloween and if a kid puts some in her mouth, don’t rush to call poison control! The play dough is non toxic! Although I don’t suggest eating it because it’s definitely not pleasing to the palate.
Throw some cookie cutters on the table and some little rolling pins and you now have made a bunch of little goblins very happy. I noticed just as many adults playing with the playdough as children. The playdough keeps well in zip lock bags and if it gets a little dry you can add a little vegetable oil to moisten it up a little.

Kids like throwing things….a lot. My husband took some plywood and made monster cut outs for the kids to hurl little bean bags through. These can be easily made with wood or cardboard with some sturdy support. Paint the cut out monsters and make sure that you have several bean bags. They’re easy to make out of fabric and rice or beans. Make sure that the cut outs are on level ground and can stand on their own. Little arms can be a lot stronger than most people realize and no one wants to stand there holding up the monster face while getting pelted with bean bag missiles. Young kids are notoriously underrated for their strength yet grossly overrated for their awful aim.

Potion Station

Now this was a direct rip off of (A) something I would do for an adult party and (B) something that Knott’s Berry Farm did for their “Spooky Farm” event for kids. I bought some plastic test tubes off of amazon.com and I filled them with pre-made Kool-Aide mix. It was rather inexpensive for a few canisters so the colors would be different and exciting. I set up a table with a sturdy cauldron (yes, I have a few laying around my house but you can find them at your local party store or drug store during Halloween season) and plopped in some dry ice with water for a super spooky fog effect. The table also had a few pitchers of water and plenty of clear cups so the kids could mix their potions. The guests, young and old, had a terrific time mixing their own concoctions all the while ooh-ing and ah-ing over the fog that was flowing out of the cauldron. There were even quite a few adults who were flabbergasted by the dry ice effect. Dry ice isn’t hard to find, most grocery stores carry it. A word of advice though-it is quite a popular item during the halloween season so I would suggest calling ahead and reserving an order. Dry ice will burn you so please don’t touch it with your bare hands. And make sure to keep a responsible adult at the table to supervise tiny, curious paws that like to explore. You get bonus points if that adult dresses up like a mad scientist.

Since most kids have the attention span of gnats, 3 to 4 activities should be just enough to peak their interest and keep them happy before they move on to the next thing. Too many activities will result in the children and their parents feeling overwhelmed. Kids feeling overwhelmed will lead to epic meltdowns. Epic meltdowns make parents cranky—and the cycle continues.

Break the cycle! Keep the flow and ambience light to ensure that your guests can have time to play and socialize. Stay tuned for the next installment from Mommy Fearist for more party tips that are sure to bring devilish delights to all your fiendish party guests.