Well it's done, and it went really well (in my opinion ). We had apples, caramel dip, Halloween Oreos, Chex Trail Mix, apple cider (regular and spiced-NOT a hit), Sunny D, and individual pkgs of candy corn.
The teacher did an excellent job of working it into a lesson plan about the seasons and what happens in Fall. She also pointed out that we here in South Florida don't have the obvious signs of the change of seasons like most of the country. I'm glad I did it-and I'm glad it's over.

My son's class was asked to bring in $1.00 each to have a pizza party on Halloween. I am glad, not that pizza is the healthiest food, but my kids get soooo much candy at Halloween. Drinks will also be provided. For those who can't afford it (and there may be some) it is no biggie, the teachers and aide, and some of the other parents will cover it. The pizza will come from one of our local pizza businesses. Our school gets a discount from one store because they get so much business from us.

Busymom's idea's for an activity are great, but maybe you want to add a craft. My son's 4th gr. class will make ghost windsocks out of sheets of white construction paper stapled "into a cylinder" with pieces of crepe paper glued at the bottom like streamers. Then they'll draw a ghost face on it (2 eyes & a "boo" mouth) and attach a piece of orange yarn to the top for hanging. What kid doesn't love a craft? Also, one year as a party favor I took latex gloves (or vinyl) put one candy corn in the tip of each (as a finger nail) and filled the rest with popcorn. Then tied it shut with some orange & black curly ribbon. I hope these ideas help!

Our elementary school has "harvest" parties instead of Halloween parties. For the classroom parties we have simple/healthy snack items. Fresh cut apples and the carmel dipping sauce is always a hit. As for activities, we have found that the simpler the better. Pictionary on the chalk board using fall words (scarecrow, pumkin,etc.), make copies of a picture search with a fall theme, the hidden picture craze should help as far as availability. Our paper publishes one every week. Don't fret too much about the minor details and lose sight of the fact that the kids just want to snack and socialize with their classmates. Have fun!

Help! I need ideas for a quick fall party for my son's 4th grade class; his teacher is sneaking in an hour long celebration (not allowed to have "parties") and she doesn't want it to be Halloween themed so much as a Fall theme. We are restricted to only commercially made foods-nothing homemade-and she doesn't want a lot of candy. So far I've come up with apple cider/juice, candy apples sliced into 1/4's, caramels, Halloween Oreos, and maybe cupcakes. I was thinking of pumpkin pie, but that could be pretty messy. That should be enough, but I'd like them to have something that makes them feel like, "Wow, that was really cool!", I just don't know what it could be. The party is Tuesday after lunch. Any suggestions? Thanks.