About 3 weeks ahead- reach out to your teacher to determine a time for your party and discuss your ideas for activities/food.
About 2 weeks ahead- send out sign up sheets for food and volunteers.
About 1 week ahead- submit names of your parent volunteers to the Volunteer Coordinator by sending an email to volunteering@stocklmeirpta.org (only cleared volunteers will be allowed to attend).
On the day of: arrive early to sign in at the office/get a name badge and set up.
The usual party formula is a craft, 1-3 activities and snack time.
Q-TIP SKELETONS
Print and cut out each of my students’ faces ahead of time. A black background looks the best. And, this might be the only time I’ve ever used any of my school pictures!
Monster Cookies
At one station, the students decorate pumpkin cookie cutouts to look like monsters. We use candy corn, M & M’s, chocolate chips, marshmallows, etc. to make the faces. I show the students this picture from an old Halloween activity book to help some of my reluctant kiddos think of an idea.
Pumpkin Bowling
These pumpkin bowling pins were made from 2 liter bottles. I simply wrapped the bottle with orange construction paper and added a pumpkin face. You could also turn frosted, plastic cups into ghosts, or even paper towel rolls into ghosts by drawing a ghostly face using a black marker.
This is an oldie but a goodie, and so easy to prep! Simply cut out some pumpkins from orange card stock or poster board, add a paperclip to each pumpkin, and use a magnetic fishing pole. For about five or six years, the kiddos used a DIY magnetic fishing pole that I created using the top insert from an old fishing rod, fishing string and a magnet. You could also use a wooden dowel to make your fishing rod, or grab these magnetic fishing poles from Lakeshore Learning.
Junk in the Trunk
This game was another crowd favorite! To prepare for this game, empty a tissue box, and use an Xacto knife to make two slits into the bottom of the box. Thread an adjustable belt or wide ribbon through the two slits to create a tissue-box-on-a-belt. Removing the thin plastic barrier from the tissue box opening will make game play easier (for younger children) or keep it intact for more challenging play.