I received complimentary product from Oriental Trading to facilitate this post. As always, opinions remain 100% my own.
One of my favorite parts of being a parent is sharing on holiday traditions from my own childhood with my kids. Growing up, no holiday season was complete without watching the associated Charlie Brown holiday specials. My kids fell in love with Charlie Brown last Fall, as soon as I showed them It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown for the first time. We then read the book almost every night before bed through Thanksgiving… so this year, we decided to have a Great Pumpkin Watch Party – making for the perfect, not so spooky kids Halloween party.
What Makes a Great Kids Halloween Party
Halloween can be scary for kids – from the decorations to the older kids costumes, plus being out in the dark. For younger kids, a Peanuts themed Great Pumpkin Watch Party is a perfect theme to celebrate the less spooky side of Halloween. For our kids Halloween party, we invited a few friends over to watch It’s the Great Pumpkin with us. While that was the main event, we also made some fun crafts, baked some pumpkin flavored snacks, and my favorite part of any party, had a fun photo booth set-up!
Baking Pumpkin Treats
Both of our pumpkin recipes are super simple – my preschoolers needed very little assistance helping to make them. First up… Pumpkin cookies!
Last year, we made these quick and easy 3-ingredient Charlie Brown cookies. We followed the same recipe, only this time we used plain white cake mix, substituted 1/2 cup pumpkin puree for the eggs and added 1/2 a tablespoon of pumpkin pie spice. You can do this with any recipe – subbing 1/4 cup of pumpkin puree for each egg – for a healthier or Fall twist on your favorite baked goods.
While our cookies baked, we mixed together a Fall version of traditional snack mix. I kept the candy pumpkins and candy corn separate from the mix when we made it, and let the girls choose what they wanted to add to theirs later.
I recommend starting the party with the baking, so while your treats bake and cool, you can make the crafts, including treat bags for your movie watching snacks!
Great Pumpkin Craft Activities
While our cookies and snack mix cooled, we decorated pumpkins with these fun Great Pumpkin foam stickers.
We used similar foam stickers featuring the Peanuts gang to decorate treat bags. We filled these with our snack mix, then I let the girls choose what additional Fall candy they wanted to add to their mix. With snacks ready to go, it was time for the main event – watching It’s the Great Pumpkin!
Great Pumpkin Photo Ops
After watching the Halloween special, the girls had great fun re-enacting their favorite parts. It was even more fun with this super fun photo backdrop and colorable Snoopy house. It made for lots of fun photo ops too, and perfect party decor.
More Peanuts Party Supplies at Oriental Trading
Find all you need to throw the perfect kids Halloween party, featuring your favorite Peanuts characters, at Oriental Trading. You can get everything you need from paper goods and decor, to craft and favor supplies. While you’re there, take a peek at all the fun Peanuts supplies they have for Thanksgiving and Christmas too!
Happy Halloween, kids!
Which Peanuts holiday special is your favorite? If you liked this post, you might also enjoy this simple Halloween party game for kids – Pumpkin Toss. For more fun party ideas, follow our Birthday Party Ideas board on Pinterest!
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