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School Halloween Parties: Easy Ideas for Busy Parents

Knife-wielding slashers and bloody limbs might be fine for an adult-themed Halloween party, but you’ll want to prioritize fun over scary for kids. Here are a few easy ideas for busy parents that promise to have all the ghouls of your kid’s school howling for more. 

 

Treats You Can Sink Your Teeth Into

 

Food is the highlight of any Halloween party, and the key to knocking it out of the graveyard is to offer treats that balance flavor with fun visual appeal. Sugar is always going to be a hit, but keep in mind kids tend to overload on sugar during the month of October with parties, festivals, and trunk-or-treat events. So be sure to mix in a few less-than-sugary healthy treats as well. 

 

Monster mouth: Slice up some green apples and put a spoonful of peanut butter between two apple slices. Place sunflower seeds or yogurt raisins in the peanut butter to create a healthier alternative to caramel apples.

 

Puffed rice pumpkins: Mix up a batch of marshmallow rice Krispy treats, but add a dash of orange food coloring. Form the mix into balls and finish each one off with a pretzel stem on top. 

Ghost cheese sticks – Break out the black Sharpie marker and draw a ghost face on the wrapper of each cheese stick. Halloween treats really don’t get any easier than this. 

 

Witch finger cookies: Buy some slice ‘n bake sugar cookie mix and add a few drops of green food coloring. Roll the dough into finger shapes and place an almond where the fingernail would be. After baking, put a dab of strawberry jelly on the almond to create a bloody fingernail. 

 

Spooktacular Decorations

 

It doesn’t take a lot to transform your child’s school classroom into a beautiful party space. You might not have much time to set up, so the key here is going to be decorations that are easy to put up and tear down. (Save the elaborate stuff for the neighborhood haunted house contest). 

 

Door decor: A few construction paper ghosts or skulls on the classroom door can serve as a welcoming invitation to the fun that awaits inside. 

 

Paper Streamers: Hang some orange, black, black, and purple streamers around the classroom door to add a festive flair. 

 

Spider balloons: Blow up a few black balloons and cut out strips of black construction paper that you can tape to the balloons for legs. Finish the spiders off with some yellow paper eyes. 

 

Monsterific Games

 

If there’s one thing kids love more than Halloween treats, it’s the games. These party games promise to be a graveyard smash!

 

Mummy race: Divide the class up into groups of two or three and designate one child as the mummy. Give each group a roll of toilet paper to see who can wrap their mummy up the fastest. 

 

Pumpkin bean bag toss: You’ll probably want to opt for a plastic pumpkin to avoid a mess, but have each child take turns tossing a bean bag into the pumpkin as you gradually move it further back after every toss. 

Kyle is a wonderful community for families with plenty of things to do, especially during Halloween. If you’d like to learn more about all this city has to offer and find a home in the Crosswinds master-planned community, reach out to us today.

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Blog Events Family Fun Kyle Texas

4th of July BBQ + Party Ideas

Independence Day may be over a month away, but it’ll be here before you know it, and it’s not too early to start thinking about how you’ll celebrate America’s birthday. If you’re looking to plan the perfect 4th of July for your family and friends, here are a few ideas to make the red, white, and blue celebration a memorable one. 

 

Fireworks Spectacular

 

Independence Day fireworks shows are an American tradition, with celebrations honoring our country’s independence stretching back more than 200 years. Kyle will host its annual 4th of July fireworks show on Tuesday (July 4) at 9:30 PM. 

 

The fireworks will be firing off from Plum Creek Golf Course, so that the area will be closed that day, and residents will have a perfect view of the colorful explosions from the area surrounding the Hays Performing Arts Center. For an added touch of patriotic celebration, you can tune into 88.7 FM for music that will accompany the fireworks show. 

 

Food and Fun

 

While fireworks mark the end of any successful Independence Day, the food and festivities leading up to it are often just as fun. After all, the July 4th holiday is all about classic American recipes and lazy, carefree summer enjoyment. 

 

DIY a Red, White, and Blue Theme

 

Red, white, and blue are to the 4th of July what orange and black are to Halloween and red and green are to Christmas. 

 

Here are a few simple ideas that will help create a festive theme and won’t break the bank:

 

 

All of these DIY decorations will help to give your yard or home a festive touch, and the supplies can be picked up at pretty much any local crafts store. 

 

Good Eats

 

No 4th of July get-together will be complete without a spread of delicious food. The obvious go-to is probably going to be the grill. Whether you’re smoking a brisket and ribs or keeping it simple with just some burgers and hot dogs, you can’t go wrong with firing up the grill. 

 

Be sure to offer your guests who don’t eat meat or simply want some additional sides to snack on a few options. A potato salad made with red, gold, and purple potatoes adds a festive touch, and a strawberry salad can be a colorful and light alternative to heavier cookout offerings like baked beans. 

 

Don’t forget dessert, of course! A berry cobbler is a classic dessert that screams Americana, and red, white, and blue frosted cupcakes are sure to be a hit with the kiddos. 

 

Fun in the sun

 

Because this is Texas, it’s a safe bet that it will be hot on the 4th of July. DIY yard games like sponge dartswater balloon pinata, or a firefighter bucket race will keep guests cool and have fun at the same time. 

From cookouts to fireworks, there’s nothing quite like celebrating the 4th of July holiday in Kyle. If you’d like to learn more about finding your home here, reach out to the Crosswinds team.