In the olden days, Halloween meant getting dressed up and going door-to-door gathering boatloads of sweets from neighbors (and probably a banana or oatmeal cream pie from the old lady down the street). While this still exists in some communities, the practice has waned a bit, for various reasons, especially since the pandemic. Many families, friend groups, churches, and preschools have migrated to throwing their own parties instead! If you’re planning a shindig for your littles this year, here are a few non-scary Halloween party ideas for preschoolers.
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Halloween Party Ideas for Preschoolers
Synonymous with autumn and the fall equinox, Halloween has always been a time for honoring the dead with roots tying back to the Celtic festival of Samhain and the early Catholic Allhallotide. However, for most kiddos, it boils down to costumes and lots of candy! While some go all out with gore and horror, the spooky level might be overwhelming for small kids. For this list, we’ve strayed away from the witches and vampires and found kid-friendly Halloween party themes that your children will love.
We’ve chosen party ideas that are fairly easy to produce. The food and decor options are pretty much endless for most of these, but we’ve given you a few cute ideas for each theme to get you started!
1. Celebrate in Candyland
Candyland is the perfect preschool Halloween party theme. It’s cute, clean, colorful, and easy to produce. Plus, the vintage game provides a host of costumed characters to dress up as including King Kandy, Mister Mint, and Lord Licorice.
Decor Ideas
Here are a few ideas for creating DIY Candyland decor. You can also find premade decorations on Amazon.
- A lifesize model of the game in your backyard, allowing kids to play as the game pieces
- Colorful balloon arches with giant suckers interspersed
- A photo booth with candy-themed props
- Kiddie pools filled with colored balls, cotton, or actual cotton candy
- Apothecary jars full of colored candies
Food Options
Obviously, you’re going to focus on candy! You could set up one long table decorated with clear jars and bowls of all shapes and sizes. Fill the jars with assorted candy—think licorice, candy corn, big lollipops, and marshmallows.
It will serve as decor and tasty treats. Colorful fruits, like grapes, pink apples, and cuties can be mixed in for healthier snack options. Grab some small ziploc bags and at the end of the party make a mix treat bag for each guest to take home.
Party Games
A Candyland party lends itself well to Halloween sensory recipes. Fill a few sensory bins with candy corn, marshmallows, and gummy candies. These work great for a classroom Halloween party, especially if you include some small tongs to work on fine motor skills! Other ideas include:
- Giant marshmallow toss (toss giant marshmallows into buckets at increasing intervals)
- Traditional Pinata
- Scavenger hunt for a prize (giant candy-filled egg for instance)
- Tables with traditional games like Candyland, Old Maid, and matching cards
2. A Hootin’ Halloween
There’s nothing cuter than a baby owl, except maybe your baby dressed as an owl. Owls are associated with the woods and that whole fall vibe, so they make a great muse for a preschool Halloween party. Going Harry Potter style, you might even have a “little owl” deliver your Halloween party invitations via paperless post!
Decor Ideas
- Own party gift bags
- Owl inflatables
- Sitting areas for kids made out of brown tulle that resemble nests
- Large branches hanging from the ceiling by fishing line with perched owls
- A large box turned into a birdhouse that children can play in
- DIY plywood owl cutout for photos
Food Options
You can include some traditional favorite party foods for this one. A chocolate-laced trail mix can easily pass as “birdseed.” For a party game that also serves as food, you can guide each child to make their own cute owl cookie. If you’re not the Betty Crocker type, get your hands on these owl cookie cutters before the party. Substitute the hard stuff with some Pillsbury sugar cookie dough and edible googly eyes, no judgment here!
Here are a few more party treat ideas:
- Deviled “Owl Eggs”
- These adorable owl cookie cupcakes
- Rice Krispy Treat “nests” filled with chocolate eggs
Party Games
- Pin the beak on the owl
- Play dough owls
- Paper plate owl craft – Crafts by Amanda has a great tutorial!
- Barn Owl Hunting Game (basically Marco Polo but with a blindfolded owl and some squeaking field mice)
3. Masquerade Ball for Minis
We can’t think of anything more adorable than a bunch of tiny humans dressed up for a traditional Venetian masquerade ball. Think princess dresses, tiny tuxedos, and elaborate masks.
Decor Ideas
In the United States, the easiest decor option for this genre would be to get your hands on some tamed Mardi Gras decorations. They have Venetian inpired backdrops available on Amazon. While not as classy as the traditional European affair, the bright colors and over-the-top nature of Mardi Gras decor are more fun for kiddos. Think giant feather table arrangements, gold, purple, and green balloons, and a pair of golden thrones for the king and queen.
Food Options
Traditionally, skilled waiters with trays serve fancy cocktails and Hors d’oeuvres at Venetian masquerade balls. Take a cue from the olden days and serve your tiny debutants with easy Halloween-inspired finger foods. While you can order some small cups, the aluminum cupcake papers also work well for serving bite-sized treats. Oh, and you’re definitely going to need some sparkling juice and plenty of plastic champagne flutes!
A few more ideas:
- Little Debbie Halloween Brownies
- Candied Applies
- Cotton Candy on a Stick
- Caramel Popcorn
- Yogurt-covered pretzels (orange and brown)
Party Games
Dancing will be the primary activity for this party. You can include guided moments though that help keep children interested. Include traditional games like musical chairs, hot potato using a face mask, or Simon Says. You can also learn to do a traditional dance with this kid-friendly YouTube tutorial.
4. Hello Pumpkins
For a party with a ton of cuteness, you can’t get more conventional than a pumpkin theme. You could do a dessert party where everyone brings their favorite pumpkin-based recipe. You could also do a pumpkin-patch theme, or an outdoor movie night with It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown. This is another great theme to do in class as you can get a great effect with relatively low effort.
Decor Ideas
The nice thing about a pumpkin party is that it’s incredibly easy to decorate. You can buy batches of foam pumpkins in every shape and size for relatively cheap at Walmart or Amazon. You could even have the children help you decorate by coloring free printable pumpkins and making them into door hangers, banners, or garlands for the party.
Other ideas include:
- Photo area with hay bales and pumpkins
- Pumpkin tea lights
- Pumpkin string lights if you do the movie option
- Bushel baskets filled with small pumpkins or apples
- Orange bean bags for seating
- Target Happy Fall Party Pack
Food Options
- Peeled Mandarin or Clementine oranges with a bit of cucumber for a stem
- Hollowed pumpkins as bowls for popcorn, pretzels, and marshmallows
- Pumpkin Pie Smores for movie time
- No-bake pumpkin cheesecake bites from Onmykidsplate.com
Party Games
- Candy Corn Toss (available at Oriental Trading)
- Pumpkin Pie in the Face- Allow kiddos to toss an orange-dyed whipped cream pie at Dad!
- Pumpkin Hat Craft from Freekidscrafts.com.
- Pumpkin bowling
- Bobbing for apples
- Petting zoo
5. Superhero Soiree
Superheroes are a pretty popular choice for little-kid costumes. They’re easy to come by, easy to DIY, and will be a hit with most groups of kids.
Decor Ideas
A superhero needs an alternate universe to operate in, and Oriental Trading has some great options that include backdrops, photo props, and wall stickers. Snag the kit or use it as inspiration for your own DIY build.
Other ideas include:
- Scraps of fabric draped over dining chairs like capes (You can put each child’s name on them for bonus points!)
- Superhero comic books scattered on tables
- A large cardboard box to serve as a jail for the bad guys
- Streamers or fringed door curtains on every doorframe for busting through at light speed
Food Options
- Super-Power Packs- small baggies of trail mix or yogurt-covered raisins
- Ritz Peanut Butter Spider Snacks– (Make them Spiderman-themed by dipping the Ritz in blue chocolate and using red vines as legs.)
- Captain America Shield Bites from A Grande Life
- Hulk Juice- Green Kool-aid or Gatorade
Party Games
- Superhero Obstacle Course
- Save the day- Challenge each little superhero to save their kidnapped loved one by completing the obstacle course and rescuing them from jail.
- Superhero Cape Decorating- Have each little one decorate their very own cape to take home.
- Superhero Bean Bag Toss
6. Woodland Creatures
Lean into the fall theme with a woodland creatures Halloween party. Fill your classroom or living room with tiny foxes, adorable baby bears, and rascally raccoons.
Decor Ideas
If you live in a wooded area, and the weather is nice, have your party outside! If not, DIY decorations include cardboard trees and fake rocks to create a forest wonderland for your little critters. Set up a few tents for children to play in! Strands of ivy make a great garland, fuzzy throw blankets bring in an element of fur, tree trunks make great seats, and even common houseplants can help transform the space. Woodland Creatures is a popular theme for baby showers, so you’ll be able to find plenty of adorable party kits online as well.
Food Options
- Kisses Acorn Treats
- Woodland Creatures Cookies (These from Just4YouTreats are adorable!)
- Forest Berries – Small cups of assorted berries
- Mushroom Pops- Small marshmallows on a toothpick with raspberries on top. The marshmallow forms the white stem and the raspberry acts as the mushroom top.
Party Games
- Find the Pinecone: Have the children decorate pine cones with glitter and paint. Once dry, an adult can hide them all for a pinecone hunt.
- Make smores
- Hide and Seek
- Woodland Memory Match Game
- Leaf rubbing craft
- Nature walk or scavenger hunt
7. Yo Ho Ho Pirate Parade
Who doesn’t love a pirate? Pirate costumes are a DIY (and last-minute) staple. Boys and girls both love the theme, and it’s a theme you can go really big with!
Decor Ideas
If you can get your hands on a few small fishing boats, they make great decorations, seating areas for kids, and play areas. You can mix in sea monsters, mermaids, and pirate treasure. Sprinkle gold chocolate coins on your tables. Fill a few treasure chests with pirate booty. Fishing nets work for hammocks or table accessories. Both Amazon and Oriental Trading have a plethora of pirate-themed party kits as well!
Food Options
- Skeleton Bones- Yogurt or white chocolate pretzels
- Pirate Booty- Caramel popcorn in a treasure chest
- Shark Bait- Gummy sharks or Swedish Fish
Party Games
- Walk the plank- Use a bench or dresser with a bean bag landing
- Buried Treasure Scavenger Hunt
- Conquer the Cracken- Have an adult dress as a crocodile or sea monster. The children will line up on one side of the lawn or living room and try to pass to the other side without being caught by the beast. The last child standing wins.
- Inflatable Sword Fight
Time to Plan Your Halloween Party!
Now that you’re loaded up on ideas, it’s time to get creative! Whether you’re a teacher looking to entertain a classroom of preschoolers or a caregiver indulging the Halloween spirit, take one of these non-scary ideas and run with it. Our suggestions are just a starting point; go wild and have fun creating a party catered to your crew!
Remember, when it comes to Halloween party ideas for preschoolers, you can always go with their current obsession whether it be Paw Patrol, Spidey & Friends, or whatever. But, they tend to get excited about anything adults are exuberant about. If you’re all in, they will likely roll with the punches, and have a great time. Pick a theme that you know you can rock, and get after it!
Happy Halloween Ya’ll!
Looking for more family-friendly fall fun? Check out our newest blog, “Exploring the Arkansas Ozarks.” There’s nothing like the beauty of the Ozarks in the fall!