These easy Halloween craft ideas and Halloween party game ideas will keep the kids busy and giggling through your entire party. It’s always better to have too much to do, because you can always stash the extras away for a rainy day. Running out of activities for the classroom party can mean chaos, so bring more than you think you’ll need.

Mad Scientist Lab- Halloween cupcake and cake pop decorating

You will need:
Donut holes
Lollipop sticks
Slow cooker set to warm- to keep chocolate or candy melts melted
Unfrosted cupcakes
Frosting
Sprinkles, decorations, Dessert Skirtz cupcake wrappers

How to set up the cupcake and cake pop decorating center:

Melt the chocolate and put into warm slow cooker
Push a stick into each donut hole
Set out unfrosted cupcakes
Set out decorations

Have each child dip the donut hole to make a cake pop. While it is still wet, have them sprinkle the cake pop with decorations. They can frost a cupcake and decorate that as well. A clear plastic cup is an easy and inexpensive packaging idea for cupcakes. Just drop the cupcakes in into a clear plastic cup to send the treats home if you choose to not serve them as the snack during the party. The cupcake wrappers will show through the cup for a sweetly spooky party treat to go!

Have the kids make their own (cheap!) Halloween Party Favors

You will need:

Brown lunch sacks, one per child
Raffia
Glue
Markers
Popcorn, caramel corn, candy corn… any flavors of popcorn you choose.
Cups or scoops

First, have the class create their scarecrow treat bags. We found these adorable Halloween treat sacks on the Family Fun website. Set the bags aside to let the glue dry while you do other activities.

At the end of the party, allow the children to fill their own bags with their favorite mix of popcorn from the Popcorn Buffet. Staple the tops closed, and they have made a darling Halloween party favor to take with them… for pennies!

Lollipop Ghost Craft

You will need:
Lollipops- one per child
White napkins- one per child
Markers
Twist ties- one per child
Ribbon- optional- 5 inch lengths, one per child
Zip-top bags

How to prepare for the activity:

Cut the ribbon into 5 inch lengths
Into each zip-top bag, put one lollipop, one napkin, on twist tie, and a ribbon if you choose
Bring extras! Use one kit to make an example of the lollipop ghost while you are showing the children what to do.

How to make Lollipop Ghosts:
Give each child a prepared bag of lollipop ghost “ingredients”
With the napkin still folded, place the ball of the lollipop in the center of the napkin. Pull the corners up to the stick and fasten the napkin to the lollipop with the twist tie.
Tie a ribbon around the twist tie. This step is too difficult for small children, so have helpers, or omit it. Children older than eight can usually do this independently.

Halloween pumpkin bowling

You will need:
Medium sized pumpkin
Bottles of water
Food coloring
Strong glue
Masking tape

How to prepare for the activity:
Open the water bottles and drop food coloring into the water. Green, orange, purple… make it festive.
Put a line of glue inside the cap of the bottle (on the threads) and screw it back onto the water bottle.
Shake to mix the coloring into the water, and let sit to allow the glue to dry

Embellish the outside with a label or scrapbook paper that coordinates with the party theme,
if you wish.

Put a line of tape on the floor, and take about 3 – 5 paces and set up the water bottle “pins”. Use your judgment on the distance, depending on the children’s ages.

How to play Halloween Pumpkin Bowling:
Have each child stand behind the line and roll the pumpkin at the “pins”.

This chic tray of gourmet cupcakes in lively yellow and black cupcake wrappers will be a hit for your next girls’ night! Serve your gorgeous cupcakes with a sparkling adult drink. The yellow and black color combo on these cupcake wrappers is fun and trendy. Show the girls just how much you love your girly breakaway from the usual “must-dos”.

Girls' Night cupcakes in Yellow Tiger Lily Dessert Skirtz cupcake wrappers

Take your cupcakes to the next level by adding some reusable beaded picks as a cupcake topper. It’s not necessary to put them in every cupcake on the tray. Just a touch of bling here and there is better than wearing sequins head-to-toe!

Yellow and Black cupcake Bling!

1. “I’m sorry”-- peace offering

2. Party or wedding favor

3. Party invitation

4. Potluck contribution

5. Welcome to the neighborhood gift

6. Congratulations

7. Thank you

8. Summer block party

9. Girls night

10. Pool Party

Visit the Dressing Room with the Party Divas this week to see photos and ideas of creative ways to use your cupcakes wearing Dessert Skirtz cupcake wrappers.

Topper ideas, free downloads and presentation ideas galore!

Buggy Daze Dessert Skirtz cupcake wrappers are charming for a summer birthday party!

If you are a frosting fanatic, stop reading now! On the other hand, if the sweet stuff is just a little too much for you… check out this list of frosting alternatives.

Marshmallow fluff
Peanut butter, almond butter, or cashew butter-- lightly sweetened with powdered sugar and thinned with milk if needed
Whipped Cream and berries
Sweetened whipped cream and cream cheese mixture
Caramel sauce with a sprinkle of sea salt
Chocolate ganache
Lemon curd
Jam
Ice cream
Nutella
Glaze-- flavored any way you like

Frosting is pretty, but Dessert Skirtz will dress up any cupcake, even without the frosting!

It’s a pajama day on Tuesday. Scrambled eggs and pancakes on Tuesday. Curled up on the couch with a good book and a hot cocoa on Tuesday! Life is good.

The joy and serenity of this beautiful morning lasted approximately two hours and six minutes. The arguing can be heard in the next room. It’s 14 below zero, so I can’t shove them outside and tell them to “go play” to burn off some of the extra energy swirling through their little bodies. Eight hours and fifty-four minutes until dinner. Now what?

So, I pull some tricks from my mommy hat… from back in my days as a mom of toddlers. Keep ‘em busy, so they don’t create their own busy. My busy is always better than their busy, so let get busy…

We make cupcakes! It’s a mess to be sure, but worth it. The kids decorate each cupcake with their own little personal expression. And then, they get to munch on them. I microwave the coffee that I made three hours ago, and grab a magazine. This is more like it!

We decide to travel to Japan. We grab some books and a map to see what it looks like where we are going and then pull out some pretty paper to make origami. The kiddos make fans and cranes and fortune tellers… remember those??, all from paper squares. The instructions for the origami were easy to find and the kids can do them (mostly) on their own. Then, this amazingly beautiful thing happens. The kids create their own game using all of the creatures and items they made with the paper and play peacefully for another hour. No joke.

It’s almost time for dinner. We have had a great day with minimal yelling and crying. Twenty-two degrees below zero now, maybe we’ll have another snow day tomorrow. Should we go to South America, or camp…?

Squeeze ‘em tight and enjoy them now. Soon, they will be 35 and have babies of their own!