Inside: If you want to host a small Halloween party for little kids, I’ve got you covered! Spooky snacks, activities, and easy food ideas coming up!
Over the last few years I’ve started hosting a small Halloween party that kind of feels like an extra fun playdate.
It’s a fun, low-lift way to get the kids’ friends (and the moms) together, eat spooky treats, play, and spend time together!
If this idea is something you want to try this year, you’re in the right place!
If you’re looking for some fun halloween party ideas for little kids, today I’m sharing:
- easy Halloween food ideas
- simple craft & activity ideas
- hosting & playdate tips
FAQs
When my girls were toddlers I used to have everyone over on a weekday morning.
As stay at home moms with toddlers at home, we were all looking for something easy to do on a weekday – and piling the kids into someone’s house with coffee, snacks, and built-in entertainment was the way to go.
Now that my kids are in school, I host the party on a Saturday morning, so it doesn’t interfere with naptime.
-Start a group text with your mom friends (or their friends from daycare, preschool, or elementary school)
-Pick a day & time that works for everyone (I usually do the weekend before Halloween)
-Keep it small (I’d say no more than 5 kids to keep it manageable)
-As the host, tell each person what they can bring (more on this later)
Mom to Mom Tip
Over the years I’ve learned that places like Dollar Tree and Michael’s run out of the good holiday stuff pretty quickly. If you know you’re going to host a Halloween party, try to grab stuff as soon as you can. I always like to load up on plastic tablecloths (great for crafts and messy snacks), paper muffin cups, and holiday craft items. If you think this is something you’ll do every year, grab a reusable tablecloth that you can wipe down.
How to Host a Spooky Fun Halloween Party
Perfect for toddlers & little kids!
- As the host, you’ll want to either tell guests specific items to bring, or offer to get everything yourself (this of course depends on the dynamic of your group).
- For this Halloween playdate party I bought the “main” food (60 count Chick-fil-A nuggets), plus I set up the sensory table, playdough, and coloring.
- In our group text I asked who could bring a fruit salad, chips, juice boxes, and dessert!
- It really just depends on how well you know everyone attending and how comfortable you are with asking everyone to bring something.
Kid’s Halloween Party Food Ideas
Here’s what we served at the party:
- Chick-fil-A nuggets
- PB&Js
- Ghosts & Bats chips
- Fruit salad
- Chips & dip
- Cake pops & cupcakes
- Juice boxes
- It’s totally up to you whether you make everything yourself or take help from the store, but I can confirm that the kids will have fun no matter what.
- For our party, it was like a “semi-homemade” mash-up.
- Mostly store-bought with some homemade touches.
- All of the food was made more fun by adding eyeball stickers or Halloween food picks!
A simple, low-lift way to make the food scream “Halloween party!”
Here are some examples of how we added little touches to the party food to make it more spooky:
The store-bought cupcakes and box cake mix cake pops are fun no-bake Halloween treats for kids.
Here are some more fun, spooky Halloween snacks for toddlers & kids.
Easy Halloween Activities
I like to keep it simple with coloring sheets, play dough, and a sensory table if the kids aren’t too young.
While there are of course tons of fun holiday craft ideas out there, I like these ideas for several reasons:
- Moms don’t have to hover and help glue and cut, etc.
- This is all self-directed, creative play
- Kids can take home their playdough to play at home
- Toddlers love coloring & sensory play!
Shop all of my Halloween activity supplies on Amazon
Play Dough Tray
You know all those little fun Halloween trinkets you end up with from goody bags and the dollar store?
These are the perfect items to include in your Halloween play dough tray.
You can put the tray in the center of the table and let the kids pick what they want! If you use a vinyl tablecloth, the play dough won’t stick!
Halloween Play Dough Tray
Supplies:
- Divided tray (mine is from Dollar Tree)
- Black and orange play dough (get my recipe, here)
- Googly eyes
- Pretend eye balls, spiders & skeletons
- Dried pasta (I found mine at HomeGoods)
- Play Dough supplies (roller, plastic knife, extruder, cutters, etc.)
Halloween craft playdate tips:
- Make the play dough in advance (if that’s something you like to do!) – you can use my foolproof play dough recipe
- Or buy a pack of play dough on Amazon
- Keep “sharing” supplies in the middle of the table like play dough rollers and cookie cutters
- Use treat bags to tie up play dough as a little party goodie bag to take home
Get my foolproof play dough recipe, here
Coloring Station
This is as simple as setting out some coloring sheets and a caddy of coloring supplies.
You can grab some Halloween-theme coloring books at the dollar store, or download & print out this Halloween banner for the kids to color.
Sensory Bin
Depending on the age of the kids involved, I might add an old shower curtain on the floor underneath the sensory table to help keep the beans contained.
What you’ll need:
- a wide shallow bin or sensory play table
- dried black beans (uncooked)
- googly eyes of different sizes
- small plastic spiders and/or spider rings
- Halloween treat cups or muffin cups
- Halloween erasers or other trinkets
- various scoops & measuring cups
This Halloween sensory bin is simple to put together and the black beans are a low-effort item with a big wow factor when you add in the googly eyes.
When we’re done with the sensory bin, I store the mixture in a Ziploc bag and keep it for next year!
Shop all of my Halloween activity supplies on Amazon
What to Read Next:
- How to Host a Fun Christmas Playdate
- 7 Must-Try Halloween Activities
- Healthy Halloween Snacks for Toddlers
- Fall Theme Preschool Curriculum Guide
- How to Make Frankenstein Pudding Cups
Follow Marla on Instagram for more simple holiday fun
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