Prepping for Halloween

It feels like it has been non-stop Halloween around here.  Last Thursday Kari's class had its Fall Party prior to kicking off Fall Break.  I was glad I could be over for the hourlong event and I was in charge of the craft.  I found a quick and easy bat craft and it seemed to go over well.  Instead of candy, we put Cuties in each of the bags.  I really have to applaud Mrs. Younts and her dedication to a healthy lifestyle classroom.  She made a plea at the beginning of the school year to all the parents to be conscientious when bringing in birthday treats and other snacks throughout the year.  From my observation so far everyone has done a nice job of complying.  There was also a game station and snack station, complete with Goldfish crackers and juice boxes.  The kids earned a class reward for good behavior and chose to have Pajama Day.  A big day all around!

Kari handed out small party favors sewed up in brown craft paper.  Inside was a witches' broom and a flying witch eraser.

Shortly after the party, they departed up to Glen Ellyn for a weekend of grandparent indulgence.  They went to Monkey Joe's, rode the train to Wheaton for ice cream and went downtown GE for trick-or-treating sponsored by the shops and boutiques.  

 Spoiler alert!  Kari and Bryce are bats this year!  More pictures to come soon.

I picked the kids up Monday morning so that we'd back in time for a little Halloween party that Kari had invited some classmates to.  We stuck to a bat theme this year.  Because it was still Fall Break, not everyone she invited was able to come, but three did and everyone had such a nice time together.  Not knowing the weather, everything was planned for down in the basement.

 We got out the eyeball goblets from Bryce's birthday party this summer and used the bar as a buffet and activity center.

 We played guess the candy pumpkins.

Everyone got three chances and Jack won.  Two out of three of his guesses were the closest.  There were 83 pumpkins in the vase.  They also played Halloween Bingo.

 I found some Wilton candy eyeballs to simply decorate the pumpkin muffins.

 Witches' hats are an easy standby at the Keckler house.

 Banana ghosts and Cutie pumpkins were also super easy.

 Red and green Kool-Aid and make-your-own mini pizzas on biscuits rounded out the menu.
We played a couple more games.  Everyone really liked balancing plastic eyeballs on spoons and walking around the house.

 The kids ate a little more and then were ready for the little craft: Boogie Monster Tissue Holders.

Tomorrow evening is our neighborhood Halloween party at a house down the street.  We'll fill up on pizza and other goodies before striking out.  It's supposed to be raining buckets all day tomorrow so I suspect we won't be out long.