A Zombie Halloween Party for Kids

Zombie’s seem to be all the rage now with shows like “The Walking Dead!” This is a fun way to throw a zombie party anyone of any age would enjoy!

This year I sat down and started compiling pinterest boards full of fun images and ideas from construction birthday parties, camping parties, dinosaur parties and the like.  So when I grabbed my soon-to-be four year old and had him come take a peek at my boards to let him choose, he ever so politely told me that he didn’t want any of those for his birthday.  Instead, he told me he wanted a zombie party!  What a funny kid!

(FYI: his love of all things zombie comes from Plants vs. Zombies)

So, to start off, I always like to send a photo of the birthday boy with the invitations, so we got him all made-up and had a blast!  Admittedly, the face paint turned out so much more ghoulish than intended…I even think it scared him a little when he looked in the mirror!  But that didn’t last long and my little ham played it up for the camera!

This year, I swore up and down that I was going to STICK TO A BUDGET!!  I never do, which is dumb, because I spend far too much money, and end up running out of time to get everything done and then it’s all a huge waste anyway!  This year’s budget for decor, food, games,  and favors was $200.  If you’ve ever thrown a DIY party before, I think you can agree that is a very reasonable (and moderate) budget.   I did pretty darn good!  I made a few things (regretted a few things) and shopped at the dollar store and in the end, I LOVED every bit of it!

To start off, I learned how to make my tissue poms here and modified it just a tad.  Instead of rounded the edges, I cut them into points.  The rounded edges give it a soft look, not quite right for a Halloween party.

I was fortunate to have a very good friend make our brain cake!  We weren’t sure how to make it round without paying the pricey dollar point for a rounded baking pan (honestly, when would I really use it again?)  So after doing a little research, I found that many of my food blogging friends simply use their glass pyrex bowls, and just cook at a slightly lowered temp for a little longer.  This cake was delicious and the inside was purple as well, which made it all the more cool!

I ordered the spooky table cloths from Amazon, and the flameless flicker light candles (so much fun btw!) I got from Hobby Lobby with a 40% off coupon.

I also wanted to make sure I included healthy Halloween treats and snacks so it wasn’t just the usual candy buffet (which is always FAR too many goodies…and frankly, even still, we had far too many treats!)

So we had banana ghosts which are just too dang cute and a veggie platter.

This brew below is delicious and too easy to make!

1 can of limeade concentrate (make according to directions)

1 liter 7-up

1/2 gal. lime sherbet

I got those little skulls from walmart, and the flowers from Dollar Tree and just added some glitter.  I wanted the whole party to fit the theme, but since it is a 4 year old after all, I kept it colorful and not too scary…glitter helped…I think anyway.

I ALWAYS love cake pops!  There are a million ” How to make cake pops ” tutorials out there, but really, it’s super easy.  I had my son help me make the zombie heads and eye balls, and even with a 4 year olds help, they turned out so cool!

The quick and dirty on cake pops:

They are fun to make, but plan to take 1-2 hours total (that’s including back and cool time).  I Love making them with a friend, especially my little 4 year old best buddy!

Oh and ps:  NEVER buy the molds!! They’re expensive and genuinely don’t work!

Directions (yeilds approx. 4 doz)

1 box of your favorite cake mix

1 16oz container of frosting (I always opt for the cream cheese!)

1 package Candy melts or dipping chocolate  (Candy melts comes in a variety of colors)

50 sticks

candy eyes (got mine at walmart)

Styrofoam block (I get mine at the dollar store)

*gel food coloring if you are making the eye balls

black decorating gel (for the pupils and zombie faces)

Fine tip paint brushes (I got a pack at walmart in their craft section for less than a $1)

Bake your cake according to the directions in a 9×13 pan, be careful not to under cook. (or over either, but if you do err, err on the done side) Let it completely cool.

Once it has cooled, cut off the very edges of the cake and divide into 4ths.  Grab 2 sections and begin to rub them together over a large bowl.  Be sure to crumble any large pieces that fall off.   Repeat with the next two sections to finish crumbling.  Keep it very fine, or your cake balls will turn out lumpy and can fall apart.

Add about 1/2 of the container of frosting.  Mix it in using the back of a large metal spoon until it is completely mixed in.  The mixture should be moist enough to hold it’s shape when rolled into a 1 1/2 inch balls.

Roll cake balls with your hands and set them onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. (Don’t let the cake particles build up too much.  Wash your hands with just water often and then be sure to completely dry them before continuing to roll.)

Cover with plastic wrap and place in the freezer for 15-20 minutes.  You want it firm, but not frozen.

Take your styrofoam block and simply poke holes evenly spaced about 2 inches apart so that you’ll be ready to stick your pops into it later on.

Follow the melting instructions on your candy melts, or dipping chocolate package, but generally speaking, you’ll want to place it into a deep, microwave safe container.  I usually melt about 16 oz at a time.

1 minute on 50% power, stir then continue to melt at 15 second increments at 50% power until just melted (DO NOT OVER HEAT!!)

Then I usually take about 10 balls out at a time and put the rest in the fridge to keep firm.

For the pops on a stick, dip the tip of your sticks into the chocolate about 1/2 inch and immediately insert into the cake ball no more than halfway through.

Dip your cake ball on the end of the stick all the way into the coating and pull it out all in one motion.  This way you don’t get too much on there, and it gets too heavy and falls off.  If you find that your coating is too thick and your cake balls are just falling off or getting stuck, add some shortening to help thin it out. 1/2 tsp. to start and add more as needed.

As you pull your cake pop out, slowly twirl your cake pop over the coating mixture to let the excess drip off.  You can gently tap our wrist if the excess needs a little encouragement coming off, but don’t tap the stick itself or your lose your cake ball.

Once most of the excess has come off and it’s not dripping anymore, stick the cake pop into the prepared styrofoam block.  If your coating drips down the stick, just wet a paper towel and wipe it away.  (or let’s be honest, just wipe it with your finger! 🙂 )

Then quickly add your candy eyes while it’s still wet.

Repeat with the remaining cake balls and let them dry completely.

Once they’re dried, you can take your black decorating gel and have fun making the zombie faces!

OKAY for the eye balls, the only difference is that you don’t use a stick (well, mostly).  Once your candy coating is melted and ready to use, place one ball in at a time. Spoon over extra coating over any uncovered areas of the ball to completely cover.  Then lift out the cake ball with your spoon (DO NOT stir it around in the coating) and holding the spoon over your coating, tap the handle of the spoon on the edge of the bowl u til the excess falls off.  The great thing about the eyes is that, if this is your first time, or if you have littles helping you out, it is pretty darn hard to screw up!  Then, let the coated cake ball gently slide off the spoon onto your wax-paper covered cookie sheet.  For this, it’s completely okay for the coating to pool around the base of the eye, but if you don’t want that, a simple toothpick can be used to draw a line around the base of the cake ball before the coating dries.  Then it’s easy to break off any unwanted coating.

Repeat with remaining cake balls and let dry completely.

Then I took my black decorating gel and placed a dot in the center for the pupils.  With my fine point paint brushes, I put a small glob of gel food coloring onto a plate and began painting the rest of the eye.  There’s no real rhyme or reason to it.  My son painted a few of them and they all just looked awesome!  I got the idea from here.

My FAVORITE part about this entire party were the marshmallow guns!!  I was very tempted to buy ones I saw online, until I realized just how easy and cheap they really are to make!!! I got my marshmallow shooter  (gun) tutorial here.

I made 14 guns and spent exactly $11.  (not including paint, but hopefully you already have some)  Home Depot was kind enough to make all of the 60+ cuts for free!!  When painting, be sure to use a gloss finish.  You DO NOT want to put your mouth on a matte finish! Yuck!

I got these science test tubes from amazon here (yes, they’re shooters, but I loved the bright colors!) The kids had to drink the virus (sprite) to turn into zombies.  Immediately after taking the virus, all the parents helped turn the kiddos into zombies.  It was seriously awesome!! And I HIGHLY recommend asking parents to stay at least long enough to help with that, since it takes a while to paint faces.   The mommies that came to our party were just fantastic!! xoxo

 

(We’re missing a few zombies in this pic, but oh well.)

The eye ball hanging in one of the photos above was also a pinata, which you can NEVER go wrong with a pinata! (Thank you mama for sending us that! LOVED it!)

Just to give you my party itinerary (which didn’t go as planned, but was super fun anyway):

Upon entering the party, the kiddos promptly became zombified. Then, we ate the food.  (I also had hot dog mummies for the dinner, but they were not photo worthy, delicious, but ugly.)

Then we took our marshmallow guns and went outside for the fight to ensue!  It was a blast! I think the mamas loved it even more than the kiddlets!   I had planned to tie zombie-faced balloons to golf tee’s and stick them in the ground so the kiddos could shoot them, but they promptly blew away in the stupid wind.  Ugh.

I had planned a glow in the dark game where the kids would take glow in the dark necklaces and toss them onto colored road cones I sprayed with glow in the dark paint.  I had lots of glow in the dark balloons and such to light up the room (enough not to be scary) but we ran out of time.

Then we had the pinata and finished up with presents and cake and ice cream.

 

This party was so fun to throw and the best part is that the kids LOVED it!  All of the decorations are easily reusable, in fact, we’re just leaving most of them out until Halloween…why the heck not?

Here’s the pinterest board I made for this party, there’s LOADS more ideas if you would like to peruse!

Linked up with The Pin Junkie, A Dish of Daily Life,  Saving 4 Six and Katherine’s Corner.

 

xox

 

6 comments
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  • Camille Walker

    Simply in awe lady! You are amazing. I LOOOOOOOVE this.ReplyCancel

  • What a fabulous party! And I really love how you accomplished it for so little money. 🙂ReplyCancel

  • Samantha Cooke

    Great Ideas..here is one more. We have our kids and my students, plant THE Zombie Plant, a real plant that plays dead by closing all its leaves and then reopening them minutes later. We found the Zombie Grow Kit online and Amazon. Great alternative to candy.ReplyCancel

  • Can I steal this idea for a grown up party? Not really, but it is super amazing! This party is absolutely fabulous!ReplyCancel

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MyMommyStyle Meet Camille

Hello! I am Camille, a wife, mother of four, Disney obsessed, certified teacher, and reality optimist. Motherhood comes with its ups and downs, and I hope while you're here you'll find something that makes your #momlife easier!

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