Fall is the perfect time for a themed party here in South Florida. Here are details of how I plan and execute my Storybook Costume Parties for kids.

LOCATION: My Home

TIME: Immediately after Maghrib

I had limited space to work with, so I asked everyone to pray at home.

MENU: Pot luck style

DECOR: All things FALL.

To decorate for the theme, I used a variety of different pumpkins, fall leaves, burlap, and hay bales. The foam pumkins and leaf garland were all bought from Hobby Lobby. The hay bales were from Joann.com. Everything else came from Amazon, because its just so much easier than having to shop with little kids. I will link all my purchases at the bottom of the post plus additional decor pieces that I intend to stock up on next year. The only item I could not link were my fitted tablecovers.

The most important part

Sure, the menu, location and decor are important but the most important part of the entire event is THE KIDS PART. It’s the whole reason for having such an event. If your adult guests are willing, it would be fun to include them in the dress up. Set a prize for the family that best coordinates with each other.

Example- if the kids are dressing up as Harry Potter and his friends, Dad can be Dumbledore and Mom can be Professor McGonagall.

Regardless of whether or not you choose to include the adults, dressing up is a must for the kids. It’s the whole point of having this event. The children were asked to dress up as their favorite character from a storybook, and bring their book with them to the party. It helps to make the connection, and it serves an important part in our activities itinerary.

Meet Repunzel, Geronimo Stilton, Amelia Bedelia, and The Cat in the Hat

The costumes can be store bought, or created. Encourage kids to get creative with their outfits, use their immagination to bring their favorite character to life. Check out Ms. Frizzle from magic school bus here. All homemade (by an 8 year old) using some construction paper, ribbon and glue.

Also, I’m loving this little hungry caterpillar, box car, and Tacky the penguin.

The program

1. As we waited for everyone to arrive, the kids were escorted to a coloring station. Kids of all ages love to color. We printed out storybook pages and fall themed coloring sheets from a simple google search. Having a variety ensured that all the kids had something they would enjoy coloring.

Kids Wolf Costume — Meet the Wolf from the 3 Little Pigs

Book Reading - The very hungry Caterpillar — 2. Once everyone arrived, we picked 3 of the books from among those that the kids had brought with them. After all, this is a storybook party. We wanted to make sure that every member of the family participated and enjoyed. So, we got the dads to read the stories. We took a vote and selected the dad with the most votes. He picked a story from among the selection, and read it to the group of patiently waiting kids. Then, we voted on the next dad, and so fourth until at least 3 books were read. The dads really got into it, and the kids enjoyed a lot.

3. The highlight of the event was the PARADE. Even though there weren’t too many kids and everyone got to see all of the costumes, there’s just something about the runway-like attention that gets every kid excited, even the shy ones. It’s really cute, actually. The kids stood in the single file line with the smaller kids in the front (the younger ones have the least patience, so its best it they get the turn first) and waited for their name to be called. When their name was announced on a karaoke microphone, they walked around the area where the dads were seated and then towards where the moms were. The announcer (my husband) announced the chid’s name, the name of their character and the title of the book.

2. Once everyone arrived, we picked 3 of the books from among those that the kids had brought with them. After all, this is a storybook party. We wanted to make sure that every member of the family participated and enjoyed. So, we got the dads to read the stories. We took a vote and selected the dad with the most votes. He picked a story from among the selection, and read it to the group of patiently waiting kids. Then, we voted on the next dad, and so fourth until at least 3 books were read. The dads really got into it, and the kids enjoyed a lot.

3. The highlight of the event was the PARADE. Even though there weren’t too many kids and everyone got to see all of the costumes, there’s just something about the runway-like attention that gets every kid excited, even the shy ones. It’s really cute, actually. The kids stood in the single file line with the smaller kids in the front (the younger ones have the least patience, so its best it they get the turn first) and waited for their name to be called. When their name was announced on a karaoke microphone, they walked around the area where the dads were seated and then towards where the moms were. The announcer (my husband) announced the chid’s name, the name of their character and the title of the book.

4. I prefer hosting on Friday nights since I don’t like competing with the many other events that are going on around town. Kids are usually tired friday nights since they’ve had a long day at school. Keeping all that in mind, I served dinner immediately after the parade.*tip: if you are serving in chaffing dishes or warmers, use the daddy storytime to set up the buffet table. If you are like me, and taking pictures during daddy storytime, have your mama friends do it.

5. Last on the program is Mommy & Me crafttime. For the crafts portion of the event, I let all my mama friends know that they must help and supervise their kids regardless of age. When you have a bunch of kids of varying ages, glue, staplers, scissors, glitter and small decorative items, anything is possible. It is better to include the moms and have an enjoyable experience. The crafts that we chose to do were very simple, but attractive to a wide age range of kids. There are so many options for crafts, but we chose to stick to our fall theme. I thought a scarecrow craft and fall wreath craft would be the most suitable for our group of kids. The crafts we used were kits bought from Oriental Trading. The crafts kits are linked below. Amazon also has a huge selection of craft kits. However, craft options are limitless. To get more ideas on fall crafts. please check out my Pinterest board.