Depending on your number of people you expect- you can get some very nice little "kits" of crafts from Oriental Trading Company. They have things to match alomost any theme.
Some of them can get a little pricy- but some ideas are easily copied.
Another idea might be to ask a craft store in your area to help conduct the Workshops on some crafts (Michael's around here will do knitting.crocheting workshops, and some easy kids crafts as well.- so parents can be busy and kids have fun too.)
Home Depot also has "dad/kid friendly craft ideas... just need to get the lumber and materials. Maybe a willing business partner will sponser the night.
We do a Children's Christmas Craft Night. We do charge, but only about $3. For the fee we do several crafts, decorate cookies, and we take pictures of the children with Santa. These have been really nice and I haven't had to battle the long Santa lines at the mall the last 2 years because our Santa is so good with the kids and his costume is so realistic. We also cash in some of our Scholastic Book Fair points and give each child a book when they visit Santa. We MIGHT do this on a Saturday morning this year and offer breakfast with Santa...we're still in the planning stages.
This sounds like so much fun! I'm hoping we can try it next year. We have a GREAT art teacher who I know will be so thrilled with the idea. I'm just wondering what were some of the acitivities that you did? What was the expense? I would love to do this at no cost to our families. I'd be grateful for any tips, ideas, or words of caution. This site has been a wonderful source of information. THANKS!!!