Following Morton Grove’s bigger Halloween event earlier in the month, the Morton Grove Park District offered two smaller get-togethers specifically for kids from age 4 to 12.
The park district for the first time offered Halloween Spooky Treats and Halloween in Hollywood – with both events held Saturday, said Morton Grove Park District Marketing Manager Kathy Herrmann.
The park district’s big annual event a week earlier attracted nearly 1,000 people for games, bounce houses, hayrides, mystery rooms and more, she said.
By design, she said, the two Saturday events were smaller and attended by about a dozen people in total.
Halloween Spooky Treats for children ages 4 to 6 had children making spider treats, dirt cups, mummy snacks and a Halloween-themed craft to take home, Herrmann said.
Halloween in Hollywood for kids ages 7 to 12 allowed children to experiment with the science of shocking Hollywood gory special effects makeup, she said.
According to Herrmann, there was an educational component to the latter session, which included bleeding blisters, bad bruises, wicked wounds, bloody brain slime sculpting, designing gross teeth and the revealing of secrets from the movies.
“This (was) a STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) class that we offer seasonally,” Herrmann said. “But this time, it was Halloween-themed, which made it interesting.”
Similarly creative classes that stress STEM learning are held at other times of the year and around other holidays and subjects, she said.
“As a park district, we do offer STEM classes and try to come up with creative ideas around them,” she said.
Children presented their best special effect to the class in a “Shark Tank” style pitch to Hollywood producers, she said.
The program was run through Lisa Lombardi Coaching, which says it aims at “inspiring children through a fusion concept of pairing up science and entrepreneurship with self-esteem booster activities.”
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