Our wild+free homeschool nature group had a little Halloween party in our forest. It was really fun so I thought I would share to give others some ideas to host their own. It is very easy for me to go overboard with parties. I always add more and more, and want ALL the decorations and games and food. But I am trying to scale back a bit, and keep things simple. Especially with our wild+free group. I want the decor to really be the forest. So as much as I wish I had a bottomless budget and endless time to transform my woods into an epic Halloween scape, I think keeping it simple was just fine. I really love to host these types of gatherings for the kids. One of my goals as a mother is to sprinkle in magic and awe and wonder when I can. Nothing can replace the natural awe and beauty of God’s creation- nature itself. But I like to add in little things here and there throughout the year to make things extra special. I think this Halloween party was a success!
So first things first- I wanted to keep out the creepy gory stuff out. I don’t like that part of Halloween anyways. I am realizing now that Halloween is quite the controversial topic where I live now. Everywhere I have lived, Halloween was celebrated. Here in Virginia in this particular area, in the homeschool community, many family’s do not celebrate for religious reasons. Not to start a debate, but my views of Halloween are that it’s a fun time in childhood. I decorate the whole house and the outside of the house, mainly with jack-o-lantern decor and pumpkins. Nothing creepy or satanic or anything like that, really just cutesy stuff. My boys and I always spend a lot of time picking out or making our costumes, we drink hot apple cider all month long, visit the pumpkin patches, carve pumpkins, watch lots of not scary Halloween movies, do a couple trunk or treats, and then go trick or treating in a good neighborhood on Halloween night. I have some really amazing memories of Halloween from my own childhood, and since my birthday is close to Halloween, my birthday parties growing up were often Halloween themed and we all wore costumes. My mom always made it really special and we played games and won prizes. So I really love throwing Halloween parties for the kids- this was my 3rd one and I will definitely continue to do them.
In past year’s we have played several different games. Bobbing for apples in a big metal bucket, a donut eating contest where you hang donuts from a string and your hands are tied behind your back… a mummy wrap game where teams race to cover someone with toilet paper head to toe. We have done bowling using a pumpkin as the ball, painted pumpkins, made silly masks, and there is always a lot of delicious food for the kids and the mamas.
Like every other year, I create a sign-up sheet where I list some ideas for food and drinks, and the wild+free mamas bring things to share. This takes the financial load off of me tremendously, and it’s always fun to see what each family brings. We do this for all our events, parties, and book clubs.
THE FOOD
- S’mores
- Hot apple cider (heated up over the campfire)
- Fresh veggies & dip
- Pumpkin cookies
- Popcorn
- Clementines (my plan was to draw on jack-o-lantern faces but decided against when my 11 year old asked if the chemicals from the marker would soak through the peel)
- Pretzels
- Mini pumpkin muffins
- Apple slices and caramel
THE DECOR
I really just took a few things from my house and hung them up in the woods. I didn’t want to have to carry a bunch of things back there, uphill, and then back home. I just hung and nailed a little this and that to make it festive. Even the tablecloth and napkins I used was from last year- I always buy things like plates, napkins and tablecloths right after the holiday when it’s on clearance, to use the following year.
THE ACTIVITIES
First I had the kids go on a spooky scavenger hunt while I got the fire started and the wax melting for another activity. This was an old kit I bought from Target a couple years ago. I just keep scanning the scavenger hunt sheets to print more. I used little tack nails and a hammer to hang the little cardboard cut-outs all over the forest. The kids had a blast running around trying to find them all. Not a single child could find the spider, and I forgot where I hid that one until after the party!
Then I had the kids write their names and decorate brown paper lunch bags so they could take home their goodies easier. I already had these stickers leftover from last year.
I had leftover foam jack-o-lantern craft kits from a couple years ago that were a quick and easy little craft for the kids to do, too.
I set out my recently deceased mother-in-law’s tick tac toe board she made for the boys. I know she would have liked that. A few years ago, she hand painted over 30 Halloween rocks that I gave out as favors to our old Wild+Free group back in Montana. She was a crafty lady that made me and the boys all sorts of wonderful handmade gifts that we now treasure even more.
Next I had the kids hunt for some pretty Fall leaves and we dipped them in beeswax to preserve them. These went into their paper bags once they were fully dried and cooled.
And then we of course roasted mallows to make s’mores, which is always a hit.
In the kid’s paper bags I added in some Halloween stickers, little bags of bat-shaped pretzels, and they took home their preserved leaves and jack-o-lantern craft. I didn’t give them any candy because I knew they’d get enough on Halloween.
I had a game planned but we didn’t really have time for it anyways. I think the kids enjoyed the scavenger hunt and the campfire the most. There you have it! A simple and fun homeschool co-op party in the woods. I hope this gave you some ideas to maybe host your own little Halloween party!
I hope you have a safe Halloween season and get to make lasting memories with your family.
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