The annual costume party for my son and his friends is my favorite family activity to host. It started in Houston when my son was 1 year’s old and its continued to be a fun tradition around our household.
After five years of hosting this, I keep the event pretty simple… we do it outdoors, near a park or with a bouncy house, throw in a few yard games and nerf guns and keep it laid back.
The most time consuming part of this annual fun is the treats… I always want to make several themed treats myself – Frankenstein or Mummy Rice krispy treats, dipped pretzel rods for witch wands, ghost brownies, dipped jumbo marshmallows… our favorite is the Frankenstein rice krispy treats for sure. I also purchase a Halloween themed cake or cupcakes, because frankly cake-making is still stressful and I love Halloween too much to work myself up into a frenzy, lol!
My favorite activities to setup is always the craft table… when kids get tired of racing around, they seem to enjoy sitting down to be creative and artsy. I get most of the crafts from the Target dollar spot, the dollar store or Michaels.
My Extra Mom Verdict? My biggest cost here is on ingredients for treats and food (hot dogs/hamburgers or pizza depending on the year). This is usually only time consuming the day before when I’m whipping up treats, then the day of is a rush to create the art station, the treat table and whatever other games/activities we set out. The party itself is low maintenance and kids seem to love getting to wear their costumes before Halloween.