4958

Autumn Harvest Party - Ghost Hunt Game

Sept 2002

Michelle in Hicksville, NY

Honorable Mention

Autumn Harvest Party

My son's Pre-K class is taking a trip to the local pumpkin farm. I thought it would be fun to have everyone over about 2 weeks before Halloween to decorate their pumpkins and have some fun. The majority of kids are 4 with a few younger siblings. Total expected is about 25 kids. 

I sent out invitations asking everyone to bring their own pumpkin to decorate.

To keep cost down and simplify things I'm just serving snack and sweets. Snacks are your traditional party food, chips dip, etc. with some more adult types for the parents. Sweets include the marshmallow peep pumpkins and ghosts, caramel apples cored and sliced (much easier to serve and not a lot of waste). I'm making them ahead of time, but cutting them just before the kids arrive.  I'm also making sugar cookies cut into Halloween shapes for the kids to decorate with icing, sprinkles, candy corn, etc. 

I decided against costumes because of the mess involved with painting pumpkins and cookies, I wouldn't want the kids to ruin their costumes right before Halloween.

Games include PIN THE NOSE ON THE PUMPKIN, BEAN BAG TOSS I made a picture of a pumpkin, ghost, and bat on a piece of plywood that my husband cut out the mouths for me, and made bean bags out of fabric. HOT PUMPKIN, hot potato except with a mini pumpkin RING TOSS USING LARGE PUMPKINS AND HULAS HOOPS. 

My favorite game is GHOST HUNT. My son helped me cover lollipops with tissue paper to look like ghosts and we used toilet paper tubes wrapped with tissue filled with small candies, etc. Just like the name says, before the kids arrive I am going to hide the ghosts (one of each for each child) and have the kids go on a ghost hunt.  I bought a small caldron at a party store and picked up little trinkets as "prizes" that the kids can pick from when they finish a game. I am going to have adult helpers and set up game stations and let the kids move around. Items I got for Prizes include Halloween tattoos, spider rings, with fingers, stickers, etc. (small little inexpensive things)

For the goody bags I got ghost pencils, crayons, A pumpkin punch balloon from oriental trading, and for each child I got them glow sticks that they can use when trick o treating on Halloween, and of course the kids will bring home their pumpkins and cookies if they haven't eaten them, but I made enough cookies for each child to decorate three:)

Decorations include predominately pumpkins with some friendly ghosts I made out of gauze purchased at the fabric store and 2 liter bottles, and my regular things I use each year.

My goal was to make it LOTS of fun for the kids and not too scary yet. The party starts at 2pm and I have allotted 2 hrs.

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