Halloween Guide 2021

HALLOWEEN

guide

HALLOWEEN EVENTS FOR THE FAMILY TWIN CITIES MOM COLLECTIVE

OCTOBER 2021 TWINCITIESMOM.COM

DIGITAL ISSUE ONLY

HALLOWEEN GUIDE 01

09

HALLOWEENS PAST

02, 03 & 04

HALLOWEEN EVENTS

NORTHERN SUBURBS

10 HALLOWEEN EVENTS

HALLOWEEN EATS & TREATS

05, 06 & 07 PLANNING THE PERFECT HALLOWEEN PARTY FOR LITTLE KIDS

EASTERN SUBURBS + WESTERN WI

11 HALLOWEEN EVENTS

SOUTHERN SUBURBS

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08

HALLOWEEN EVENTS

HALLOWEEN EVENTS

MINNEAPOLIS & ST. PAUL

WESTERN SUBURBS

13 HALLOWEEN EVENTS

ONGOING EVENTS

TWIN CITIES MOM COLLECTIVE We are a locally-focused parenting resource for moms and families.

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HALLOWEEN GUIDE

HALLOWEENS HALLOWEENS PAST PAST Share your family's Halloween photos and tag us @twincitiesmomcollective on Instagram!

HALLOWEEN EATS & TREATS Rachel Nevergall

Ask me to name my favorite witch or wizard, and I’ll bypass Oz, Hermione, Glenda, and Merlin and show you one of the greatest, most underrated (and underpaid, I might add) wizards of all time: the Mom. A Mom can utter incantations that fix broken lego creations, find lost shoes, heal skinned knees with a single kiss. She holds a power she never knew she possessed before children - to be multiple people at one time: a caregiver, teacher, coworker, community organizer, bus driver, chef, therapist, and a friend. And in the last year and a half, she developed the necessary skills, even without a wand, to conjure celebration from every canceled plan that came her way, and she did it with humility and grace.

But my most favorite Mom wizarding trick of all is her incredible ability to turn an ordinary day into a magical one.

One of the simplest ways to make magic for your children is making their meal times special for the season. All it takes is a bit of imagination, and maybe a good stock of sprinkles and a moment as simple as breakfast can transform the whole day.

Are you ready for some bippidee boppidee boo type of magic in your kitchen? Grab your wizard hat, apron, and a little trust in your own creativity, and then dive into these fun Halloween meal inspirations, sure to make your children look at you in awe and wonder.

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HALLOWEEN GUIDE

BREAKFAST GREEN MONSTER PANCAKES These pancakes get their monster-like qualities from a boost of vitamins as well as my number one favorite item to have this time of year—googly eye sprinkles. Seriously, throw those eyeballs into your next grocery order. They can make even spinach look fun and festive this time of year.

GREEN MONSTER SMOOTHIES Make your kids’ favorite green smoothie recipe and throw it in a clear cup decorated with sharpie monster faces. You could even make an orange smoothie and draw a jack o’ lantern face. This is where you get to let your creativity shine! Maybe even hand them a marker and draw their own monster face!

BLOODY GUTS CINNAMON ROLLS This one is great for the older kids who get a kick out of the gruesome side of Halloween. Who knew intestines could taste so delicious?

LUNCH MUMMY HOTDOGS This one takes a bit more time to prep peeling tiny strips of croissant roll dough and wrapping it around the dogs, but looks so cute when it’s done. Who doesn’t love a play on pigs in the blanket? Another time when those edible googly eyes come in handy!

PB&J SPIDERS Here is a great reminder of how easy it is to take something your kids already love and simply add a couple of elements like pretzels and raisins (or those eyeballs again!) to make mealtime a delight.

MAC & CHEESE PUMPKIN This recipe uses a delicious casserole in their pumpkin. Still, I think it would be just as tasty to add your favorite boxed macaroni and cheese into a pumpkin at mealtime. If you have children in the house who have a motto of The Grosser, the Better, you could also carve a face out of the pumpkin and have the macaroni and cheese coming out of the pumpkin as if he is losing his lunch. Although I don’t know about you, but I would like as few reminders of that possibility in my house as I can!

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HALLOWEEN GUIDE

SNACKS

DINNER HALLOWEEN POT PIE Take your favorite pot pie recipe and add a spooky face. Halloween dinner is served!

SPAGHETTI & MEAT-EYES I’m not sure why eyeballs in a meal are so much fun but it works every time. This recipe makes homemade meatballs but I’ve been known to use my favorite frozen meatballs and everyone is just as happy, or spooked out but satisfied. Want to take it up a notch? Look for the black noodles in your store this time of year. Call it worms and watch them squirm with delight!

APPLE MOUTHS These make my kids giggle every year. Also a great way to take the snack they have every single day this time of year (anyone else still trying to use up all those apples from the orchard visit?) but make it festive and silly.

HALLOWEEN SNACK BOARD Snack boards are already the most magical way of serving any meal to a kid. It works great with everything from cheese puffs to carrot sticks and you just might trick them into liking it all!

Just be sure to take a picture of it before the cuteness is all gone!

BLACK BEAN SOUP SPIDER WEB This is sure to conjure up giggles from your crew.

Add in spider rings on the edge of the soup bowl and that will make everyone laugh. If making spider webs out of individual bowls feels like a lot of work (it does to me) bring the soup to the table in one big pot and just add the web to the top of the soup pot. Or let them try to make their own webs. Bonus points for writing words like Charlotte!

Name it Something Fun—This is my final and most important tip of all. The best way to take an ordinary day and make it magical is not in the fancy kitchen tricks; it’s in the always accessible world of the imagination. There is no need to change up your menu plan, buy different snacks, make all those fancy and complicated cuts just to make the day special. All you have to do is give it a different name. With imagination, your kid’s morning waffle is now a dragon’s heart, their grilled cheese is a bat’s wings, their pepperoni pizza is a goblin’s webbed feet, and their pretzel sticks are witches fingernails. So open up a world of creativity with words and watch as your kids jump into the fun, too! After all, every good mother wizard is simply a teacher preparing the next generation of witches and wizards.

Happy Halloween eating to all the mom wizards and their little wizards in training!

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HALLOWEEN GUIDE

Planning the Perfect Halloween Party for Little Kids Cammi Haines

One of my favorite parts of being a mom is making the holidays a bit more magical for my kids. This can be as simple as reading holiday-themed books or as grand as throwing a party filled with age-appropriate activities and games. In this post, I want to focus on the latter by sharing some of my favorite ideas for planning a perfect Halloween party for little kids.

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HALLOWEEN GUIDE

ACTIVITIES SCAVENGER HUNT A scavenger hunt is a great way to entertain kids of all ages for a while and requires minimal prep. A quick Google, Pinterest, or Etsy search will bring up a ton of printable clues you can print and cut at home, or take it a step further and create your own using Canva. Grab some extra candy and little toys to hide and enjoy the fun as your kids search the house to find their prizes.

"MONSTER" COOKIE DECORATING If you don't want to go through the hassle of Halloween-shaped cutouts, this is the perfect idea for you! Prepare or purchase your favorite sugar cookie dough, roll into a ball, flatten with the

For slightly older kids, create a little science experiment

bottom of a cup, and bake according to the directions. While your

with a witches brew/potion sensory bin. I love the idea of

cookies are baking, prepare your frosting by separating them into

using a cauldron, but any bowl or dish should work.

multiple bowls and adding food coloring in desired colors (e.g., orange, purple, green). Set out sprinkles and candy eyeballs and

Start by adding some baking soda to the bottom of your

let each child decorate their own monsters.

dish. Next, fill some glasses or containers with vinegar and add a few drops of food coloring to each. Set out additional

CREATE A WITCHES WAND

containers with different "ingredients" the kids can add to

This is a fun little DIY that only needs a few supplies but has

their brew (little eyeballs, fingers, bats, bones, glitter,

endless potential. First, search your yard for some straight-ish

sequins, etc.). Now let the experience begin! Grab some

sticks or grab some wood dowels at your local craft store. Next, set

droppers and have the kids make the magic happen by

out some paint, sequins, glitter, ribbon, or yarn and encourage kids

squirting the colored vinegar into the baking soda mixture

to decorate their own witch wands.

for a fun, bubbly surprise!

Pro-mom tip: grab a plastic table cloth at your local dollar store to

You can also do this the opposite way but adding the

keep the paint and glitter contained for easy cleanup!

vinegar to your dish first and adding in the baking soda with little spoons. I guarantee they'll love the reaction they

Halloween-Themed Sensory Bin

get either way!

Sensory bins are a great way to keep kids entertained and encourages the use of fine motor skills. My favorite base for

PUMPKIN DECORATING

sensory bins for littles (who still tend to put things in their

A classic Halloween activity that requires minimal effort. I

mouths) is Jello. Add in some little toys (e.g., mini bats,

think the easiest way to decorate pumpkins with little kids is

eyeballs, bones, etc.) and scoops, and let your young kids

with paint. Pick up some acrylic paint in the spookiest colors

squish, scoop and dig to their hearts' content.

and let the kids go to it. Then, step it up by laying out some glue and sequins for older kids to use as decoration.

Pro-mom tip 1: Search for glow-in-the-dark paint for a fun nighttime surprise!

Pro-mom tip 2: If you don't want to deal with paint, check your local craft store for DIY decorating kits. This option allows kids to turn their pumpkins into unicorns, cats, witches, etc., with a lot less mess.

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HALLOWEEN GUIDE

GAMES PUMPKIN PONG This fun game allows kids to use their gross motor skills by tossing a ping pong ball into a pumpkin bucket. To set up, all you need is 4-6 pumpkin trick-or-treat buckets and a few ping pong balls.

Depending on the kids' ages, set up buckets in a line or in a triangle shape and see how many balls they can make in the buckets.

ROLL & DRAW A MONSTER Encourage your kids to showcase their artistic abilities by drawing a monster based on rolling dice.

For this one, all you need is construction paper, markers or crayons, and a dice. You will also need a printable key that identifies what the kids should draw based on what face of the dice they roll (Pinterest and Etsy have tons of these templates). Have each child roll the dice and reference the template to draw their own monster.

WITCHES HAT RING TOSS This game requires minimal prep and can be reused for years. First, you will need to purchase some sport training cones (like the smaller version of the orange traffic cones), black spray paint, and glow necklaces. To create your witch's hat, spray paint your cones

HALLOWEEN BINGO

with the black paint. Once dried, use the glow stick necklaces to

I don't know about you, but bingo is a game that I will never turn

toss over the cones and see how many the kids can make.

down when I have the opportunity to play. To make it more kidfriendly and Halloween-themed, find bingo boards that use photos

Pro-mom tip: Make this educational for older kids by adding point

instead of numbers. Search Amazon or Etsy for Halloween-themed

values to the "hats." Have them add up their score for each ring

boards (I've also seen Dollar Tree and Target carry holiday-themed

they land.

bingo kits, too) and grab some candies to use as markers.

PASS A TREAT DICE GAME This is a fun game for younger kids to practice counting and to learn their left from right. First, create a key with 6 instructions the kids need to follow (one for each dice side). Some ideas include having everyone pass a treat to the right, steal a piece from the person on your left and make two people swap.

To start the game, give each child a pile of candy and/or toys and have them sit in a circle (preferably at a table). Then, have each child roll the dice and figure out what they need to do with their treats. You can set a timer or have each child get a certain number of turns - it's up to you on how you want to end!

I hope these activities and games have sparked some excitement for planning your next Halloween party for little kids.

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Palace Community Center - St Paul

HAUNTED ROUNDHOUSE

TRANSYLVANIA TROLLEY

6:00-8:00PM

Jackson Street Roundhouse - St Paul

Como-Harriet Streetcar Line

GREAT PUMPKIN HALLOWEEN CELEBRATION

10:00AM-4:00PM

12:30-4:00PM

Landmark Center - St. Paul

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HALLOWEEN DRIVE THRU

HALLOWEEN BASH

BIKE-O-WEEN

Merriam Park Recreation Center - St Paul

Lake Nokomis - Minneapolis

HAUNTED ROUNDHOUSE

Hazel Park - St. Paul

6:00-8:00PM

9:00-11:45AM

Jackson Street Roundhouse - St Paul

10:00AM-4:00PM

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ANIMAL MASQUERADE PARTY North Mississippi Regional Park Minneapolis

1:00-3:00PM

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HALLOWEEN GUIDE

NORTHERN SUBURBS

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BOO BASH

HALLOWEEN PARTY

HALLOWEEN HIKE

Brookview Community Center - Crystal

Centennial Park - Brooklyn Center

Wirth Lake Beach - Crystal

6:00-7:00PM

5:30-7:30PM

9:30AM-12:00PM

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FLASHLIGHT PUMPKIN HUNT & FAMILY DANCE Brookview Community Center - Crystal

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ROSEVILLE SPOOK-TACULAR

HALLOWEEN FAMILY FUN DAY

Centennial Park - Brooklyn Center

Harriet Alexander Nature Center

Springbrook Nature Center - Fridley

Weaver Lake Park - Maple Grove

11:00AM

4:00-7:00PM

5:00-9:00PM

12:45PM & 2:45 PM

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NOT-SO-SPOOKY MYSTERY: WHO IS THE SCARIEST ANIMAL IN THE WOODS?

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BIG PARADE OF LITTLE PEOPLE

LITTLE GOBLINS COSTUME PARTY

HALLOWEEN PARTY

Anoka | Main Street

Wargo Nature Center - Anoka County

5:00-7:00PM

1:15PM-2:15PM

6:30-8PM

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4:00-6:00PM

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Vandas Heights Community Park

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OSSEO LIONS HALLOWEEN EVENT

PUMPKIN NIGHT IN THE PARK

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Zanewood Recreation Center - Brooklyn Park

MAPLE GROVE TRUNK OR TREAT

STELLALUNA STORYWALK

2:00-5:00PM

Wargo Nature Center - Anoka County

Mississippi Gateway Regional Park Brooklyn Park

SPOOKTACULAR

6:30-8PM

Eastman Nature Center - Maple Grove

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HALLOWEEN GUIDE

1:00-3:00PM

HAUNTED FOREST Steve Michaud Park - Lakeville

5:30-8:00PM

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Savage Sports Center

Wood Lake Nature Center - Richfield

Whitetail Woods Regional Park Farmington

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HALLOWEEN FEST ON THE GO

COBWEBS AND CACHES

Lac Lavon - Burnsville

4:00-5:00PM

Lebanon Hills Visitor Center - Eagan

6:00-8:00PM

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6:00-8:00PM

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TRUNK OR TREAT: TRUNKS OF THE DECADES

TRUNK OR TREAT IN FARMINGTON

Northern Life Wellness - Burnsville

1:00-4:00PM

11:00AM-1:00PM

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HALF-HAUNTED HALLOWEEN

5:00-8:00PM

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SAVAGE HALLOWEEN BASH

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TRICK OR TREAT TRAIL Normendale Lake Park & Bandshell Bloomington

3:00-5:00PM

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HALLOWEEN GUIDE

Faith Church - Farmington

Veterans Memorial Community Center - Inver Grove Heights

HALLOWEEN HOOPLA TRICK OR TREATING ON Ojibway Park - Woodbury MAIN STREET 3:00-5:00PM

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TAMARACK TRICK OR TREAT

ZYWIEC’S FALL FUN FEST The Haunting Experience Cottage Grove

Tamarack Nature Center

12:00-3:00PM

11:00AM-3:00PM

1:00-4:00PM

2:00-5:00PM

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SPOOKY NOCTURNAL ANIMALS HIKE & FLASHLIGHT SCAVENGER HUNT! Willow River State Park - Hudson, WI

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KIDS HALLOWEEN PARTY Pinehaven Farm

10:00AM-3:00PM

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TRUNK OR TREAT

Downtown Stillwater

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The Grove United Methodist Church Woodbury

6:00-8:00PM

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GHOSTLY GATHERING

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EASTERN SUBURBS + WESTERN WI

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KIDS HALLOWEEN PARTY Pinehaven Farm

10:00AM-3:00PM

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40TH ANNUAL HALLOWEEN PARTY

OLD-FASHIONED TRICK-OR-TREAT

MINNETONKA HALLOWEEN PARTY

GOBLINS ON ICE

Westwood Hills Nature Center St Louis Park

The Landing - Shakopee

Minnetonka Township Community Center

12:00-1:30PM

4:30-8:00PM

6:00-8:00PM

St Louis Park Rec Center

BURWELL SPOOKTACULAR

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HALLOWEEN AT THE LAKE

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NOT-SO-SCARY NATURE TRAIL

Parkers Lake Playfield - Plymouth

Eden Prairie Outdoor Center

5:00-8:00PM

5:00-8:00PM

6:00-8:00PM

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Charles H. Burwell House - Minnetonka

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ENCHANTED FOREST HALLOWEEN

HALLOWEEN PARTY Chanhassen Recreation Center

HALLOWEEN IN HOPKINS

Lowry Nature Center - Victoria

5:30-7:30PM

Downtown Hopkins

10:00AM-3:00PM

3:00-5:00PM OR 6:00-8:00PM

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SPOOKY FAMILY FUN NIGHT Lions Park - Shakopee

3:00-6:15PM

ONGOING EVENTS

ANOKA HALLOWEEN October 1-November 1 Anoka, Minnesota

JACK-O-LANTERN SPECTACULAR October 1-November 1 Minnesota Zoo

THE GREAT PUMPKIN FEST

SCARECROWS IN THE GARDEN

Saturdays & Sundays October 2-31 Valley Fair

September 18-October 31 Minnesota Landscape Arboretum

SCREAMIN' GREEN HAUNTOWEEN September 25 - October 31 Crayola Experience - MOA

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TWIN CITIES MOM COLLECTIVE

HALLOWEEN GUIDE

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