A PRE-PARADE HALLOWEEN PARTY

Our town has so many wonderful events throughout the year. One of my favorites is the Halloween costume parade. It is quintessentially perfect. The children all gather in front of town hall and then a firetruck leads the way of the costume parade with all the kids following! It’s really just one loop around the block and it ends back in the center of town where everyone is welcome to trick or treat in the various stores. (And there’s a magic show and a handful of cute little booths with activities set up.)

Last year, Jack was a new walker but we still did the parade and it was so cute. I knew he would be obsessed with the parade as a two year old and, let me just say, it did not disappoint. I was telling someone this weekend that everything that’s challenging about two year old toddler is also what makes it so, so magical and FUN. He’s talking and has opinions and can tell us what he wants and what he likes (and vice versa 😆). He’s experiencing everything as a kid who just wants to discover and learn and explore. I love seeing what he’s drawn to! The spooky vibes (as long as they’re not too spooky) have been so much fun and everything is a “dragon” (thank you Room on the Broom).

With the parade scheduled in town, I thought it’d be fun to have some of Jack’s friends over for a pre-parade party! The plan was to have everyone over for a little party and then all walk downtown together in time for the parade!

I’m not a natural hostess, but I ended up having so much fun putting this together and I think all the kids had a lot of fun. (There is nothing cuter than a crew of toddlers in Halloween costumes playing!)

The parade started at 12:30 so we had everyone over for a little early lunch/brunch with bagels, coffee, PB&Js and little snacks for the kids. Thankfully our Saturday rain curse ended and we ended up having a beautiful sunny (albeit quite warm!) day.

I rented a little table and some kids chairs from Petite Seats– highly recommend! They have so many different styles! They are local to us, but deliver within the tri-state area.

It wasn’t a very long party so I didn’t plan specific activities. We just had outdoor toys out and then I got Halloween coloring sheets and crayons and Wikki Stix. I scooped up tons of fun Halloween themed items for the kids table and love how it all looked together.

Thought I’d round up some of the snacks I tried from Pinterest and what was worth it:

The clementine pumpkins were the biggest hit. I thought they would be the least desirable and I was wrong! They’re just peeled clementines with a tiny slice of celery on top. The bananas were the only things that weren’t popular actually. I wish I had done two times as many clementines and skipped the bananas entirely.

I saw this string cheese on Pinterest and really thought they couldn’t be simpler. I figured I’d make them just because it was so low effort it wouldn’t be a waste. Well I’m glad I did…. big hit. I was opening up “spooky cheese” left and right for toddlers 🤣

Lastly the PB&Js were also crazy simple to make and they were also an easy win. The bread I bought was not the right choice– it ended up being a little too crumbly when I used the cookie cutters… but that was user error. Even if you’re just doing this for a lunch box I think it would be simple and fun.

These were the things I was most looking forward to making. I bought a bunch of different flavor pouches from Trader Joe’s and wrapped them in crepe paper (cut in half). Add some googly eyes and boom, mummy pouches! Also a big hit!

Everyone made it to the parade and it was just a great afternoon. Jack was falling asleep on Mike’s shoulders on the walk home and he took a solid nap before playing with friends even more before bedtime. What a time to be two years old!!

These are the little (big) moments I always dreamed about. Creating holiday magic feels like the most wonderful privilege! Seeing how much fun Jack and his buddies had was just the best. I felt giddy with excitement of getting everything all ready for the party. And we haven’t even gotten to the real trick or treating on Halloween night yet!