Halloween Fun

This week we had our second annual Trunk or Treat, as well as our first ever Haunted Trail in the forest behind our building! We held them both the Wednesday before Halloween, which was on a Saturday this year. Despite the slightly drizzly and cold weather (which was only slightly better than the rain on Halloween), we had a pretty good turnout and the kids had a TERRIFIC time!

I was a little unsure about combining Trunk or Treat with the Haunted Forest, and it definitely gave us mixed results. On the one hand, the kids were psyched to try the haunted trail and it was VERY well done - all thanks to a super energetic, Halloween-spirited volunteer from our congregation! They all were excited to stay and try it out. On the other hand, the trail needed several "monsters," which definitely depleted our supplies of people who were willing to supply trunks. There were about 5 less trunks than we had last year, when we'd been really hoping for an increase. That being said, though, the weather may have discouraged some people too - it wasn't exactly the dream night for an outdoor event! However, we soldiered on!

We started out with pizza, games, and crafts in the gym at 6:00, giving the trunk decorators a chance to eat before the trick-or-treaters came around at 6:30. Most of the activities were a HIT, but I think if we're going to continue the half-hour window, we need a few more next year! Here's what we had out:

• Witch's Hat Toss - A ring-toss game I picked up at Meijer's last year for less than $10. The kids enjoyed it, but it didn't take very long for them to finish. I think it might help to have more than 3 rings, or maybe more than 5 targets.
  
• Sensory Boxes - I was SO PROUD of my decorating jobs on the three sensory boxes! I worked SUPER hard on them and yes, it was probably more effort than it was worth, but the kids really enjoyed these! Check them out:

"Frankenstein brains": cold cooked spaghetti

This monster eats "eyeballs" - peeled grapes. Anyone know an easier, less messy and faster way to peel grapes?! My poor husband was roped into helping with this one and let me tell you, I'll be lucky if he ever volunteers to help me with anything again!

Squishy, messy "pumpkin guts" - Jell-O!

Their faces as they felt around in the bin were priceless!

• Candy Corn Sensory Bin: I found this cool idea to have a candy corn-rice sensory bin for the little ones on this awesome blog, but I have to say, mine did NOT look as cool as I was hoping! I dyed the rice just fine, and I was really excited about how "candy corn"-ish they looked - until I actually put the candy corn in. The candy corn stood out SO MUCH! I'm thinking my problem was either that my candy corn was too large (does candy corn come in sizes?) or I didn't have enough rice in there. Another problem I hadn't considered was that, when lots of kids are rummaging through a sensory bin, you don't really want them to eat the candy corn that's been touched by everybody else. Not the most sanitary activity. Oh well!

• Spiderweb Walk - This was a HIT! I used painters' tape to mark a spider web on the gym floor, and stuck plastic spiders all over it. The kids had to get from one side to the other without stepping off the web or stepping on a spider. They had so much fun with this!

 

• Make a Trick or Treat Bag - I think I'd also do this one again, because we ended up with quite a few people who came without their own bags. I gave them ideas, which they mostly pooh-poohed and made their own instead. I left out construction paper, glue, googly eyes and markers - they were all used!

• Monster Goo - Okay, this was the major hit of all the hits. I followed this recipe and holy awesomeness, Batman! They LOVED it! I ended up parceling up the "goo" because everybody needed to take some home with them. This slime in particular was great because it wasn't sticky or messy- so no costumes were at risk of being ruined. This is a must-have for next year!

Finally, we got to trick-or-treating. We marched the kids through the office at 6:30 so our lovely office staff could pass out candy; then it was outside to the trunks! Again, we had a few less trunks than we were hoping for, but the kids still had fun. And we had some great trunks!

Since the Haunted Forest started at 7, some kids ended up hanging around a bit without much to do. (Some went back into the gym for more slime time!) I think it might have worked to have the haunted forest run concurrently with the Trunk or Treating, because they were finished with every trunk within ten minutes - and had twenty more minutes to kill!

I also didn't do a costume contest this year, because I found it so difficult to manage last year. I'd love tips on how you manage a costume contest where not everyone knows each other!