Are you going “batty” trying to plan the perfect Halloween classroom party? We can help! We’ve compiled a variety of fun decorating ideas, treats, and activities for a range of ages and class sizes so that you can choose the perfect combination for your group and allotted party time.

Party Preperation

When planning your classroom party, make sure to consider the following:

1. Number of Children in the Class. If you have a group of 12 or more, consider setting up activity stations at which you can do a craft or activity with a manageable number of children (6-8 depending on the age). For example, if you have 21 students, divide the class into thirds. Play a game such as “Mummy Wrap” (see below) with the entire group, and then send each smaller group of seven to a separate activity station. Rotate the groups so that all of the children get to visit each activity station.
2. Age of the Children. Obviously, some activities may be more appropriate than others depending on the age of the children and their abilities. This consideration is most important when selecting crafts. Preschool children should be given crafts that are not too intricate for little hands or that use objects that might be choking hazards. While this may not be as important when it comes to active games, you might find that preschool children would delight in a non-competitive Halloween version of the classic game Hot Potato while school-age children might prefer an Eyeball Relay Race!
3. Length of the Party. For a two-hour party, you might plan one active group game—such as the Eyeball Relay Race—a couple of craft stations—such as one for our Fall Nature Craft and another for cupcake decorating—and a game station with Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin, Halloween Bingo or Guess the Pumpkin Weight. You might also want to allow 30 minutes for food and, if applicable, a costume parade.
4. Size of the Party Area. Before selecting activities for the party, consider how much space each one requires relative to how much space is available in the party area.

Once you have considered these points and selected an appropriate mix of activities, it’s time to let the students and their parents know about the party. You or the classroom teacher should plan to send a flyer or invitation home with each child at least two weeks in advance, especially if you will need parents to provide:

• monetary donations to offset the cost of the party;
• donations of food, activity ingredients/supplies, or decorations; and/or,
• assistance at the party.

Next, decide on the order of the activities, and make sure to have at least one easy backup game or activity in case you end up with extra time to fill. This can be something as simple as a Scary Face Contest in which children take turns going to the front of the classroom and making their scariest faces or most ghoulish ghost noises.

To complete preparations for the party, read through your list of chosen activities, determine what supplies you’ll need for each one, and gather all of the necessary items.

Devilish Decorating

Bats Galore:
Use a Bat Template to cut bats from black construction paper. Suspend them throughout the party area using clear nylon thread.

Tip: Hanging the bats at various heights and in groups will give the illusion that they’re flying. Also, consider giving special attention to areas where the bats will sway in the air, such as by windows, doors and air vents.

Webbed Off:
If you wish to block access to certain areas of the party room or stairs, use a yarn spider web to seal off the area. Secure the web in six places around the opening using push pins or tape. You can create your own web or work from our diagram below. To use our diagram, start with 1, stretch your yarn to 2, and so on, finishing back at point 1. For added effect, place plastic spiders on the web.

 

Other Terrifying Tips & Tricks:  

•  Use glow sticks instead of candles in carved pumpkins to create a kid-safe eerie green glow.
• Twist together orange and black or purple, green and orange streamers, and hang them along the walls and doorway(s) in the party area. For a fun touch, hang long strips of streamers in a row across the main entryway to the party area, creating a curtain for your guests to pass through as they come and go.

• Serve treats in plastic trick-or-treat buckets shaped like pumpkins or witches’ cauldrons. Consider placing small, plastic spiders in the treat bowls for an extra spooky surprise.
• Purchase synthetic spider webs (available at most grocery stores, specialty stores, and pharmacies around Halloween) to add to tablecovers, windows, outside bushes, and nearly every nook and cranny of the party area.
• Use a marker to draw ghost faces on white balloons and pumpkin faces on orange balloons.

Frightening Food
 

Creative Cupcake Contest:

Ghosts and goblins aside, there is one thing that every Halloween party guest expects—CANDY! Why not quench that desire at the onset of your party and turn it into a treat-making activity at the same time? Children will love decorating cupcakes and talking about each others’ creations, and you will have saved the time it would have taken you to decorate treats for the entire class.

To get started, you will need:

• Plain Cupcakes (1 for each child)
• Paper Plates (1 for each child)
• Plastic Knives (1 for each child)
• Tubs of White or Orange Icing
• Assorted Candy (i.e. gumdrops, licorice strings, candy corns, colored wafers, M&Ms, sprinkles, etc.)
• Small Bowls (to hold the assorted candy)
• 1 or 2 Markers

Ask a parent to bake enough cupcakes for each child, plus a few extra cupcakes for the teacher and the aides. Tip: To make orange cupcakes, add a few drops of red and yellow food coloring to vanilla cake batter, or add ¼-cup orange Kool-Aid drink mix powder.

Tip: If you are throwing a party for a preschool or kindergarten class, you may want to ice the cupcakes with white or orange frosting prior to the party. Before the party, place a plate on the table or station in front of each child’s seat. Write each child’s name in marker on the bottom of his or her plate. Place a cupcake on each plate.

At the party, give each child a plastic knife and let small groups of children share tubs of icing. While the children are icing their cupcakes, place small bowls of candy corn, gumdrops, orange and black sprinkles, and other decorative candy at each table or station. Give the children some time to decorate their cupcakes with ghoulish faces, spiders, or other spooky designs.

After the children decorate their cupcakes, line up the plates on a table or counter. Use a marker to number the plates on their edges. Ask the children to vote for the funniest, silliest, scariest, yummiest, etc., by writing down the corresponding number. After the children vote, use the names on the bottom of the plates to pass the cupcakes back out for each child to enjoy while you tally the votes. Finally, announce the winners! Tip: For first grade or below, you may want to have the teacher give each cupcake a special award, such as best cat, best pumpkin, sweetest cupcake, etc., so that no one feels left out.
 

Spider Snacks:

For this activity, you will need:

• Black & Red Gumdrops or Raspberry & Blackberry Candies
• Black or Red Shoestring Licorice
• Scissors or a Plastic Knife
• A Black Permanent Marker
• Plain White Paper Plates (1 per child)

Before the party, use a black permanent marker to draw spider webs on each of the white paper plates. Then, cut the shoestring licorice into 1″-long strips. Finally, if you’re using gumdrops, separate out the black and red ones from the bag to use as the spiders’ bodies.

At the party, give each child a paper plate, a red or black gumdrop (or raspberry or blackberry candy), and 8 strips of licorice string. Have them place their gumdrops in the center of the spider webs, then put 4 pieces of licorice on the left and right sides of the gumdrops to form their spiders’ legs. Tip: Let older children draw their own spider webs before assembling their spiders.

Spooky Sandwiches:

Use your favorite Halloween cookie cutters to cut soft sandwiches into spooky shapes, like ghosts, bats, and pumpkins.

Ghost on a Stick:

To make 10 Ghost on a Stick snacks, you will need:

• A Cookie Sheet Lined with Wax Paper
• A Wooden Stick or Spatula
• A Wide, Shallow Glass or Microwave-Safe Bowl
• 1 Pound of White Chocolate Pieces
• 5 Bananas Cut in Half Lengthwise
• 10 Popsicle Sticks
• Candy, Raisins or Other Decorations to Form the Ghosts’ Faces

Once you’ve gathered your ingredients and tools, follow these instructions to assemble the Ghosts:

1. Place the white chocolate in a microwave-safe bowl and heat it at 60% power (or level 6) for 1 minute.
2. Stir the melted white chocolate. If there are still some solid pieces in the bowl, microwave it again for no more than 1 minute, and then check and stir it. Repeat as necessary until all of the white chocolate has melted.
3. Once the white chocolate is completely melted, take it out of the microwave and let it cool a bit until it’s just slightly warm.
4. Dip the banana halves in the white chocolate to coat them.
5. Place the coated banana halves on a wax-paper-lined cookie sheet.
6. While the white-chocolate coating is still tacky, use candy, raisins or other decorations to form the ghosts’ faces.
7. Refrigerate the coated and decorated bananas for at least 20 minutes.
8. Insert a popsicle-stick into the bottom of each banana to finish off your Ghost on a Stick snacks, and then serve them within one day.

Ghosts in the Graveyard Cake:

To make a Ghosts in the Graveyard Cake, you will need:

• A Sheet Cake (made from any boxed mix or your favorite recipe)
• Chocolate Icing
• Chocolate Wafer Cookies
• A Large Ziploc Bag
• A Few Oval-Shaped Cookies (i.e. Nutter Butter, Milano, etc.)
• Cool Whip or Homemade Whipped Cream
• Candy Pumpkins

Once you’ve gathered your ingredients and tools, follow these instructions to make the cake:

1. Bake a sheet cake using your favorite recipe or boxed mix.
2. Ice the sheet cake with the chocolate icing.
3. Place the chocolate wafers into the Zip lock bag, seal it, and crush the wafers.
4. Sprinkle the chocolate wafer crumbs over the iced cake to give the appearance of dirt.
5. To form tombstones, press a few of the oval-shaped cookies into the cake, leaving half of each cookie showing.
6. Drop Cool Whip or homemade whipped cream onto the cake by the spoonful to form several ghosts standing beside the tombstones.
7. Add a few candy pumpkins to the cake for additional decoration.

Fudge Spiders:

To make Fudge Spiders, you will need:

• A Saucepan
• A Spatula or Spoon for Stirring
• 18 Ounces of Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
• 1 14-Ounce Can of Sweetened Condensed Milk
• 1 Tablespoon of Vanilla Extract
• Red Licorice Strings
• Red Hots Cinnamon Candies

Once you’ve gathered your ingredients and tools, follow these instructions to make the Spiders:

1. Place the chocolate chips and condensed milk in a saucepan and cook them over low heat, stirring occasionally until the chips have fully melted.
2. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the vanilla.
3. Chill the mixture for two hours or until firm.
4. Roll the fudge mixture into ball shapes.
5. Use red licorice strings to form legs next to the fudge balls, and then add red hots for the eyes.
6. Keep the Fudge Spiders chilled until you are ready to serve them.

Tip: As an alternative, make this recipe with white chocolate chips and cut the fudge into ghost-shapes. Or, add orange food coloring and make pumpkin-shaped fudge.
 

Witch’s Brew:

This eerie green brew is best made by mixing a yellow beverage with a blue beverage. Try using Mountain Dew, Gatorade, or Lemonade for the yellow beverage. Blue Kool-Aid or blue sports drinks work well for the blue liquid. Your goal is a radioactive shade of green, so keep adding a little bit of each colored drink until you get the right mix.

Pour the punch into a plastic witch’s cauldron (available at discount and holiday stores). To keep the punch cold, try any of these ice ideas:

• Wash and fill a plastic latex glove with ginger ale, tie it at the wrist and freeze it. Remove the frozen “hand” from the glove and float it in the punch.
• Place small plastic spider rings into ice cube trays, and fill the trays with water. That way, every drink will contain a small party favor, too.
• Place a gummy worm in each cell of an ice cube tray, add ginger ale, and freeze the tray to create tasty, creepy-crawly ice cubes.

Orange Ice Cream Jack O’Lanterns:

To make Ice Cream Jack O’Lanterns, you will need:

• Navel Oranges (1 per child)
• A Knife or a Permanent Black Marker
• Vanilla Ice Cream and/or Orange Sherbet
• A Cookie Sheet

Once you’ve gathered your ingredients and tools, follow these instructions to make the Jack O’Lanterns:

1. Cut a round lid out of each navel orange.
2. Hollow out the oranges by scooping the pulp out of each.
3. Use a knife to carve a face in each orange, or draw on faces using a permanent black marker.
4. Fill each orange with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and/or orange sherbet. If you carved faces into the oranges, be careful not to let any ice cream ooze out of the holes.
5. Put the lids back on the oranges.
6. Place the oranges on a cookie sheet and freeze them until you are ready to serve them.

Spooktacular Games & Activities

Fun for Children Age 3 & Up:

• Ring Around the Pumpkin – Gather four medium-sized pumpkins, and use a marker or paint to write one of the following numbers on each: 5, 10, 15, and 25. Place the pumpkins in a vertical line about 2′ apart from each other. Using a hula hoop or other sturdy round object, position a player 4′-5′ in front of the row of pumpkins. Have the player throw the hula hoop three times, trying to ring a pumpkin. Record the total score for each player, and award a prize to the player(s) with the highest score. Alternate Version: For indoor parties or those with limited space, place numbered plastic pumpkins or hollow, real pumpkins in a row. Instead of a hula hoop, have the guests toss marshmallows into the pumpkins to score points.
• Blind as a Bat – For this activity you will need several handkerchiefs or scraps of cloth to use as blindfolds, as well as a chalkboard and chalk or butcher paper and markers. To begin, blindfold three to four children. Hand each a marker or piece of chalk, and guide them to the paper or chalkboard. Ask each of the children to draw a Halloween symbol such as a pumpkin, bat or ghost. Everyone should get a laugh out of the wacky images that emerge!

Fun for Children Age 4 & Up:

• Ghosts in the Graveyard – This game is not as scary as it sounds! To begin, have the children lie down on the floor and pretend to be bodies in a graveyard; they must lie still, not moving at all. Next, choose one person to be the “ghost.” Have the ghost walk from child to child trying to make them move or twitch without touching them. The ghost can tell jokes, blow on people, make spooky noises, whisper in the other children’s ears…anything (except touching) to make them move or laugh. When a child moves, he or she also becomes a ghost. Play continues until only one child remains on the ground and is named the winner.
• Mummy Mania – For this game, you will need a roll of toilet paper for each team. To begin, divide the children into teams of three or four. Each team should select one teammate to be the “mummy” who will get wrapped up with the toilet paper. When you say, “Go!” each team should start wrapping its mummy as quickly as possible. If the children start wrapping too fast, the paper will break, causing more confusion and fun. The first team to use all of its toilet paper wins. Tip: Make a rule to avoid wrapping the eyes, noses and mouths of the mummies
• Eyeball Fun – Turn ping pong balls into “eyeballs” by first using a bright blue or green marker to draw a filled-in circle over about ¼ of each ball to form irises. Next, use a black marker to draw a black circle in the middle of each iris to form pupils. Finally, use a bright red marker to draw veins over the remaining white part of each ball to give the appearance of a blood-shot eye. Idea 1: Use an X-Acto knife to cut a ghost shape from a large piece of poster board. Cut out two large eye holes, and paint the rest of the cardboard white, if desired. Fasten the ghost to a trash can or other sturdy object that will not block the eye holes. Give each child three tries to toss the “eyeballs” through the holes in the ghost. Award a prize for a successful toss or award a prize for the most winning tosses.Idea 2: Using spoons and “eyeballs,” have an Eyeball Relay Race. To begin, divide the children into even teams. Line them up, one behind the other, at a starting line. Create a goal line several feet away using masking tape or string. Hand an eyeball on a spoon to the first person on each team, and then have them run to the goal line and back. When a child returns to the starting line, he or she should pass off the spoon and eyeball to the next player in line. Play continues until one team finishes the race. (Note: If a player drops his or her team’s eyeball, that player must start over. Also, if you have an uneven number of children, one child may need to run the relay twice.)
• Ghostly Guessing Games – Purchase a 6-7 pound pumpkin, weigh it on your bathroom scale, and record the weight. Ask the children to pick up the pumpkin, guess the weight, and write down their estimates. The child who comes the closest to guessing the actual weight can take home the pumpkin or a mini pumpkin as a prize. (You may want to have a few favors on hand in case more than one child makes a close guess.) Alternate Version #1: Modify the above guessing game by having the children guess the circumference of the pumpkin using pieces of string. (You’ll need a ball of string and scissors to do this.) One at a time, ask each child to cut a length of string that they believe is the distance around the pumpkin. After everyone has cut a piece of string from the ball, wrap a length of string around the pumpkin and cut it to get the exact circumference. Ask each child to measure his or her string against the string representing the actual circumference, and determine the winner(s).Alternate Version #2: Fill a small jar (such as a mayonnaise jar) with candy corn. Ask the children to write down the number of pieces they believe to be in the jar. As a group, count the pieces of candy corn in the jar. The child who’s guess is closest to the actual number gets to take home the jar of candy.
• Sweet Treats – Using orange Lifesavers and black licorice strings, let each child create an edible Halloween bracelet.
• Boo Who? – The object of this game is to identify each child (i.e. the “ghost”) by his or her eyes. To play, you will need an old white sheet and a pair of scissors. Set up by hanging the sheet from a clothesline, a doorway, or the ceiling, and by cutting two holes in it at the smallest child’s eye level. Alternatively, you can drape the ghost with a sheet that already has eye holes cut in it. The latter may be easier if the heights of the children are widely varied.To play, divide the children into two teams. Send one team out of the room or behind the hanging sheet. Have the other team sit facing the sheet or the entrance to the room. Select one team member at a time from the team which is hidden or outside of the room to be the ghost. The ghost must either put his or her eyes up to the holes in the sheet or put on the ghost sheet and step back into the room. The opposing team then has 10 seconds to guess the identity of the ghost hidden behind the sheet. They get 1 point for every correct guess as the other team members take turns being the ghost. After everyone on a team has had a chance to be the ghost, the teams switch places, and the guessing begins again. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.

Fun for Children Age 5 & Up:

• Pumpkin Bowling – Gather four 2-liter plastic bottles to use as bowling pins. Fill each with a little bit of water to add some weight. Use a small, round pumpkin as the bowling ball. Have the players take turns rolling the pumpkin to try to knock over as many bottles as possible on each roll. Award points to each player based on the number of bottles knocked over, and give a prize to the player with the highest number of points at the end of the game.
  

  Alternate Version: Call the game “Poltergeist Pins,” play with a regular ball, and turn the bottles into ghosts. To do this, push a 4″-5″ Styrofoam ball down over each bottle’s cap. (If needed, use a little bit of hot glue to help secure the Styrofoam balls in place.) Drape scraps of white sheet over each bottle and ball. Secure the sheets at the bottlenecks using string. Use a black marker to add eyes to each.

• Fall Nature Craft – Make fall bird feeders by covering pine cones with peanut butter and rolling them in bird seed.
• Symbols of Fall – Conduct a magazine scavenger hunt with old, fall magazines and scissors. Divide the children into teams, and have each team sit at a separate table. Give each team identical lists of items to find, such as pumpkins, fallen leaves, costumes, fall foods (e.g. apple or pumpkin pie), etc. The first team to find all of the items wins.

Fun for Children Age 6 & Up:

• Scarecrow Relay Race – Divide the children into several teams, and have each team choose one person to be the “scarecrow.” Give each team a bag of similar old clothes (a shirt, overalls, gloves, oversized boots or shoes, a hat, etc.); make sure each bag contains the same number of items. Position the scarecrows running distance from the rest of their teammates. When you say, “Go!” one player from each team should select an item from the team’s bag, run over to the scarecrow, help the scarecrow put on the article of clothing, run back to the rest of the team, and tag the next person who, in turn, should decorate the scarecrow with one item. The first team to completely dress its scarecrow wins.
• Witch’s Brew, Pumpkin Stew – Cut out various Halloween-related shapes from construction paper (e.g. witch’s hats, black cats, bats, ghosts, and pumpkins). Make sure you have enough to give each team of 2-4 children at least 10 shapes (i.e. “ingredients”). Also provide a straw for each child, as well as a small bucket or bowl to serve as each team’s “cauldron.” The goal is for the children on each team to fill their cauldron with 10 ingredients by sucking them up from the table and dropping them into the cauldron using only their straws. Have all of the teams begin at the same time. The first group to make “stew” by adding all of its ingredients to its cauldron wins.

Fun for Children Age 8 & Up:

• Marshmallow Ghost Madness – For this game, you will need one straw for each child (half straws may work best), a bucket of water, and one full-size marshmallow per team. To begin, float the marshmallows in the bucket of water. Divide the class into teams of approximately five children each, and have the teams form lines. The first person on each team must use a straw to suck up one of the marshmallows and pass it to the second person on their team using only the straw to hold the marshmallow, and so on down the line. If a player drops a marshmallow or touches it in any manner other than with the straw, that player’s team must start over. The first team to successfully pass the marshmallow down the line wins. (Note: The shorter the straws are, the easier it will be for the children to suck up the marshmallows and hold onto them.)
• Glue Goop Activity – In preparation for this activity, gather together water, food coloring, two bowls, measuring spoons, Mule Team Borax, Elmer’s Glue-All, and Ziploc baggies. Start by mixing together 8 oz. of Elmer’s Glue-All, food coloring and ¾-cup water in one bowl. In the other bowl, mix 1 T of Borax with ¼-cup water. Add the Borax and water mixture to the glue mixture, and stir until a “glob” is formed. Remove the glob, leaving a little extra glue in the bowl. Make another batch of the Borax mixture, and add it to the remaining glue mixture to make another glob. Knead the globs together into one lump, and you’ve got Glue Goop! You can then divide the Gloop into several airtight containers, such as Ziploc baggies, for the children to take home after the party.

Child-Friendly Halloween Movies:

• Escape to Witch Mountain (1975, rated G)
• It’s the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown (1966, rated G)
• Scooby Doo on Zombie Island (1998, rated G)
• Winnie the Pooh – Boo to You Too (1996, rated G)
• Abbott and Costello Meet Frankenstein (1948, not rated)
• The Witches (1990, rated PG)
• The Goonies (1985, rated PG)
• E. T. (1982, rated PG)
• Casper (1995, rated PG)

These fantastic Halloween Party Planning Tips for your classroom party are provided by our friends at BirthdayInABox!

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