Halloween is a great excuse to dress up, act silly, and eat lots of Treats! This year, we’re having a Halloween party to share the fun with some of our friends. We’ve invited friends from age 2 to 14 along with their parents for a spooktacular evening of fun and treats!
Here’s 10 Tips for throwing a spooktacular Halloween Party for all ages:
1. Set the scene with spooky decorations.
Hit the discount stores for a variety of party decorations; spiders and webs, creepy cloths to drape on tables, and yellow “caution do not cross” streamers to tape across the door. Use things around the house to decorate like dark coloured sheets or tablecloths, antique looking picture frames and candle holders, and lots and lots of candles. Have the kids make several Halloween Jack-o-lanterns out of orange paper to hang around the room. 
2. Serve an easy dinner.
Our Halloween traditional dinner is a big pot of chilli with rolls. Let it simmer in the crock-pot and your guests can self-serve and eat at will. Sprinkle with some shredded cheese and a dollop of sour cream, and you are set!
3. Serve ghoulish green punch.
Make a fruit punch turn green simply by adding some blended spinach. No one will taste the spinach, but it will make your punch a slimy green colour. Add some gummy worms to the punch for some added fun, and serve from a glass punchbowl. Another variation is a deep red punch with floating gummy eyeballs (which are only available this time of year). Ewww!
4. Make an ewwy, gooey “touch box”.
Drape a box with a black cloth and have the kids reach in and touch different items without them looking at what they are touching. For example: have them reach their hands into a bowl of cooked spaghetti, and tell them they are worms. A bowl of canned peaches feels like slugs, and overcooked rice coated with oil feels like maggots Peeled grapes make great eyeballs, and pipe cleaners make great spiders. You can get as gross as your audience can handle, or tame it down a bit for little ones. It is fun to watch the expression on the kids faces, as they really believe what they are feeling is real! Be sure to have a hand rinsing station nearby. No one wants to walk around with worm juice on their hands all night! 
5. Serve Treats, Treats, Treats!
Caramel Apple Kabobs- this is a simple and fun variation of caramel apples that are easier to make and easier to eat! Cut a granny smith apple into bite size pieces, and put them on a toothpick alternating caramel pieces with apple pieces. Yummy! Carrot Pumpkin Head- arrange a bag of baby carrots to look like a pumpkin. Use broccoli for eyes, and capsicum for a mouth. Watch the kids gobble down the veggies! Here’s an example of one version here. 
Pumpkin Cake Pops- cake pops are all the rage, and the round shape makes a perfect pumpkin pop. Cake pops are easy to make (I learned how on YouTube.com). I made skull cake pops for my party.
6. Play Torch Tag, have a Scavenger Hunt, and Bob for Apples.
Torch tag- to play torch tag, it must be dark, and whoever is “it” uses a torch to find people.
Scavenger Hunt- make clues for the kids to follow until they find the hidden treasure at the end. They can work as a large team, or split up into groups.
Bob for apples- this traditional Halloween game involves a big tub of water with floating apples. You must keep your arms behind your back and bite into an apple to retrieve it. This game has lost popularity in recent years due to the inevitable passing of germs, but it is still fun!
Pin the Boo on the Ghost- a spin on the classic game of “Pin the Tail on the Donkey”.
7. Have a Costume Parade and Costume Contest.
Have the kids line up littlest to biggest for a “Halloween Costume Parade”. Play some music while the kids march around the backyard, into the house…wherever you lead. At the conclusion of the parade, the kids all sit and watch the “Costume Contest”. Have an adult call the children up one at a time for an introduction. Choose 3 adults to judge the best costumes. Make up several categories so there will be plenty of winners!
8. Make some Halloween Crafts.
Have the kids decorate paper bags to use in the “Trunk or Treat” activity below. Set out paper, glue, scissors, markers, and let the kids create!
Or how about making these ghosts from recycled grocery bags stuffed with newspaper? Super easy! Make a bunch and hang them all around the yard before the party to help you decorate.
9. “Trunk or Treat!”
Ask the parents of party goers to bring a bag of treats to share, so the kids can all go “Trick or Treating”. For this activity, the parents must sit in the trunk (boot) of their cars and pass out treats to all the kids that come by and say, “Trick or Treat!”. If the car boots are not an option, then setting up stations around your house or garden for “Trick or Treating” works as well.
10. Have a “Haunted Garden” walk-through.
For the older kids that like to be spooked, set up a haunted garden for them to walk through. All that is necessary is creepy sounds, fake spiders, a few parents willing to pop out unexpectedly, and a freaky story teller to lead the way.
Hope you have a Happy Halloween!
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