Any ideas for food, games etc that wouldn't be too scary? Thanks
Go on pintrest they have lots of kids holloween things that are fun not scary!!
Toilet paper mummy contest. Eye ball spoon carrying race. I just saw a great craft where you cut out 1/4 of an apple and then let the kids use candy and things to create their own monsters.
Oriental Trading has a lot of cute, inexpensive gifts and goodies. You can get some really cute things there that aren't scary. You could encourage all the kids to wear something fun costume-wise or just say "this isn't a costume party, but Halloween colors or themed shirts are appreciated." I would decorate with purple, white, orange and maybe black, but purple might be better than black. I'd make everything smile - all the pumpkins, ghosts, scarecrows, etc.
You can also do printable crafts. This one is cute: http://www.holiday-crafts-and-creations.com/printable-hal...
And you might let them play with homemade slime. :)
If you can get pumpkins at a good price I would let each child draw their own jack-o-lantern faces on with markers, then send the pumpkins home as party favours. The parents can do the carving themselves, so you don't have to worry about the mess and using knives. Bake pumpkin shaped cookies and let the kids decorate with icing and candies. The toilet paper mummy is really fun for that age. For a pumpkin cake a bundt cake and a cupcake. Put the cupcake upside down on the top of the cake. Use green frosting for the cupcake (stem) and orange for the cake. Decorate as a jack-o-lantern. Hide H'ween candy and do a candy hunt.
One easy way to do this would be to attach it to a character you child likes. For instance, Winnie the Pooh: There are plenty of decorations, etc. with the Pooh characters in non-scary Halloween costumes. That lets a young child see safe, beloved "friends" dressed up for Halloween. I'm sure Dora and other characters have Halloween items.
Not sure that I would tell kids this age that they are doing "eyeball on the spoon" races or things like that. It's fun for slightly older kids but a child just turning three might seem fine with it, then get scared later when he or she percolates that idea through his or her very impressionable mind ("Can my eyeballs come OUT, mommy?!") . So I'd avoid anything like "stick your hand in this bowl of guts" (spaghetti) as is done with older kids, or references to mummies. A pumpkin theme with smiling jack-o-lanterns could be great.
One terrific party would be at a pumpkin patch -- the kind of place where they have fall-themed things going on. But keeping up with kids that young at that kind of place might be tough.
Have them decorate mini-pumpkins with magic markers and glued-on, construction-paper hats etc.
