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Posts Tagged ‘Halloween party’

Planning your kids’ Halloween party need not be bubble, bubble, toil and trouble. Here are ideas and recipes for a unique party that your little witches and warlocks will talk about for months to come.

When planning a Halloween party, the first thing to do is to send invitations. You can make invitations very easily using your computer and, if your children are old enough, they may like to design and print these themselves.

To avoid the frustration of people turning up at your party who have not RSVP’d, a good tip is to purposely omit the party’s commencement time from the invitation. Instead, try adding the line, ‘Please RSVP to know the party’s start time’ – this should significantly decrease the number of ‘gatecrashers’.

Costumes are next on the ‘to-do’ list and to kids this is one of the most exciting aspects of Halloween. Before talking with your children about the options, bear the following in mind:-

• Select a costume for your child that won’t disintegrate before the night’s festivities are over and one that won’t make the child feel too hot or cold.

• For safety’s sake, ensure the costume will not hamper your child’s movement.

• Face paint is a safer alternative to a visibility-impairing mask.

• If the costume is elaborate, dress your child in simple clothing underneath. This way they can easily step out of it to play games, to take a break or even visit the toilet.

Costumes can be bought, hired or home-made. If you’re considering the latter, there are hundreds of websites with a glut of unique ideas – head for Google!

As with any party, you can choose to either keep the décor simple with streamers and balloons or go all out and create your own Haunted House. When planning the party’s décor, bear in mind the ages of the kids who are attending. Younger ones may find just a few hanging bats sufficiently scary, while most teenagers enjoy a heavily themed venue with scary ambient music and sound effects.

Store-bought cobwebs and dimmed lights are wonderful additions to the Halloween atmosphere too. Older kids delight in sitting down to eat at a themed party table. All you need is a black or purple tablecloth, a vase of dead flowers, tealight candles and a scattering of small party favours to set the scene for a ghoulish supper. If the table is not large enough to accommodate all your guests, use it to display your food and beverages and provide a buffet meal.

Now….what would a party be without food? A quick Google search will result in many Halloween recipes for some superb but gruesome sounding food including Kitty-litter Cake, Baked Bones and Dracula’s Blood Pudding. You can really get creative when it comes to Halloween food but it’s best to keep it simple and not too gross-sounding for the younger elementary ages.

When it comes to quenching thirst… a Halloween party isn’t complete without a bowl of punch. Maybe you’d like to try a Blood Bath? This is made by mixing 64 ounces of cran-raspberry cocktail and four cups of apple juice with four cups of vanilla ice cream. Or perhaps you would prefer a Toxic Punch? For this wicked mix, combine four litres of chilled green lemon-lime soda, 24 ounces of orange juice concentrate, two packets of blue Kool-Aid and a few drops of green food colouring.

When planning your Halloween children’s party, prepare two to three games ahead of time. It’s also a good idea to have an extra little game or activity ready just in case. Children can be unpredictable and you need to be flexible – so, if a game is not working or is not being enjoyed, having a back-up means that you can easily substitute one with another.

Many well known party games can be given a Halloween twist – for instance Pin the Hat on the Witch and Pass the Pumpkin. Halloween’s classic and traditional game however is Bobbing for Apples in a bowl of water. At our parties we quickly follow this (with faces still wet) with a game of Bobbing for Marshmallows – on a plate of flour.

Making ‘Ectoplasm’ is always a big Halloween party hit. This eerie substance is made by combining two cups of cornstarch, one cup of water and a few drops of green food colouring. It is made in seconds, is a great consistency to play with and guests can also take some home in a sturdy zip-lock bag!

It is always a good idea to provide a quiet corner at parties for children who are not into games. Crayons, some colouring-in sheets, a batch of play dough and a few biscuit-cutters will keep little hands occupied. At sites like Hello Kitty Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Hello Kitty coloring sheetswhile little boys would perhaps enjoy the coloring sheets at Pokemon Coloring Pages.

As an extra activity, fill a plastic jar with sweets and have each guest write their best guess as to how many are in the jar. This is a great game to play at the beginning of the party, as guests filter in. Announce the winner at the end of the party – the champion wins the jar! As your guests leave, surprise them with some spooky treats to take home.

One of the simplest and most effective inclusions in the traditional goody bag of sweets and chocolates is the Ghost Pop. Place a square piece of white tissue paper (or kitchen roll paper) over a lollipop, tie with a small elastic to make a head and then use a black marker to draw eyes on the ghost. These small treats also make great prizes for games.

Finally, remember to charge your camera and camcorder and capture each spell-binding moment.

Halloween will soon be here and many are wondering how and where to celebrate this spooky annual event.

When it comes to All Hallow’s Eve….there is no lack of variety in what is available. From trick or treating to hosting a scary movie marathon, finding something not to do would actually be more of a challenge! Here are some frightfully good ideas that will make for an interesting evening.

If you live in a friendly neighbourhood, you could consider trick or treating. This works especially well if you fore-warn your neighbours of your intentions by leaving a note on their doorstep a few days before Halloween. Certain neighbourhoods, appartment blocks and gated communities really make an effort to be prepared with treats and some even decorate their front gardens. My children still remember the house of the guy who turned his whole front yard into a dark catacomb and who then sat quietly in the dark as we walked up the path before scaring us all half to death!

If Halloween falls on a school night this year, young children who need an early night will still feel as though they celebrated if you set up a few special treats, some arts and crafts and perhaps a fun movie before bedtime.

Print a few coloring pages and activities for them based on their favourite characters, for instance little boys love Spongebob and Pokemon and at sites like Pokemon Coloring Pages you’ll find the best Pokemon coloring meanwhile at Spongebob Squarepants Coloring Pages you’ll find heaps of coloring pages of Bikini Bottom’s most absorbent dweller!

Halloween fancy dress parties are great to both host and attend and if you are stuck for costume ideas, again – head for Google and do an image search! If you have teenagers, they may scoff at the thought of having a Halloween party but may like the thought of a night of terror and suspense. Depending on their age, you could arrange to rent DVDs of movies such as Hocus Pocus, Psycho or the Blair Witch Project. Just add a bunch of their best friends, popcorn, soda and a pizza delivery for instant teenage heaven.

Scour the web elsewhere too for a variety of activities including paper plate pumpkins and pipe cleaner spiders. Older children may enjoy making slime with two cups of water, half a cup of cornstarch and a few drops of red or green food colouring.

Murder mystery dinner parties are great fun and if you pick one with a Chinese, Indian or Italian theme you don’t even have to cook – you can just order a home delivery from your local Chinese or Indian take-away or from your favourite pizza place. Choose guest with a sense of fun who will get into the spirit of the evening by dressing up and taking on the mannerisms and accent of the character you have chosen for them and you are in for a memorable evening.

To spend the evening playing games with family is also a great way to pass the time. Board games such as Cluedo or the types of jigsaw puzzles that involve solving riddles are just perfect. Prepare some themed nibbles and a few drinks and you will have spent some true Halloween quality time together.

These are just a handfull of ideas that will keep you occupied this eerie evening – happy howling!

Halloween recipes

For a novice event planner, nothing is more daunting than the question, “Mom, can I have a Halloween party?” There are Halloween decorations, costumes, recipes and activities to plan, which can be a big task. To throw the best party, try to keep the group small (10 is ideal) and organize Halloween fun games. Whether you’re planning for a teenager, a pre-teen or a young child, there are a number of fun and affordable games to keep the entertainment rolling!

Halloween party games for younger kids can range from silly Halloween fun and getting-to-know-you games, to spooky ghost story telling and puzzle solving. An easy first game is “The Name Game,” where index cards with monster or Halloween character names written on them are affixed to the back of each guest. Then the person asks another guest “yes or no” questions until the right answer is guessed. Some kids love “pumpkin golf,” which is a homemade golf game made out of a cardboard ramp, a carved pumpkin with an extremely large smile and a mini-golf set.

“Ghost hunter” scavenger hunts always go over well for grade school children. First wrap lollipops up like ghosts using white tissue paper and a black magic marker. Then hide them around the house and write clues about where they could be. To make it more competitive, create teams, such as “the witches,” “the goblins” or “the werewolves,” and have each team race back to place their lollipops into a bin as they find them, awarding a special prize to the winning team.

Or you may want to put a letter on each ghost that will form ten different Halloween words and award prizes as the kids guess them. You can also turn on “The Monster Mash” and have kids dance like monsters, freezing when the music is stopped. This will definitely have them cackling at the Halloween fun! Check out www.partygamecentral.com for more do-it-yourself ideas.

If you’d rather buy a few games than make them, then here are some Halloween party suggestions. Little kids will love the “Halloween Role Play Game,” which can be purchased for $4.99 at Oriental Trading and plays up to six kids. The game includes a 10″ spinner, 6 each of 8 assorted character cards, 6 “surprise” cards and instructions. They’ll spin, pick a card and do an action, such as making bump sounds with their feet, talking like Frankenstein, doing the Monster Mash and acting like they’ve been zapped! Oriental Trading also has “Halloween Bend Game,” which is an awesome seasonal version of Twister that kindergartners to teenagers will love! “Color Your Own Halloween Bingo” is another great game you can purchase for almost any age. “Inflatable Halloween Limbo” or the “Inflatable Spider Ring Toss Game” are sure to add Halloween fun to your child’s party. Ouija Boards are always creepy Halloween fun for teens. “Halloween Jenga” may be more your speed, with red and black blocks, custom rules and a special glow-in-the-dark die. If you roll a “pumpkin,” then the direction of play is reversed; roll a “haunted house” and remove any piece or roll a “bat” and you can only remove an orange block. The Harry Potter “Scene It” DVD game is another fun one, testing kids of ages 8 and up with trivia from the Harry Potter movies.

Here is one last suggestion for a kids Halloween party; “Mr Ween’s Body Parts.” This classic game will have kids squirming, giggling and ultimately “creeped out.” Prepare cups full of food ahead of time, have everyone sit in a circle, shut off the lights and start the story. “Once in this town there lived a man named Hal O. Ween. T’was years ago this very night that he was murdered out of spite. They say these are his remains. Here is his brain, which now feels no pain.” (Pass around the wet squishy tomato cup). “Here are his eyes, still frozen with surprise.” (Pass the two frozen peeled grapes or olives cup). “Here is his heart. Be careful lest it start!” (Pass the large lump of uncooked liver cup). “Now we have his hair, which once was so fair!” (Pass a handful of corn silk or wet fur or yarn cup). “Feel these drops of his blood. All the rest turned to mud.” (Pass the ketchup thinned with warm water cup). “One hand all alone, just rotting flesh and bone.” (Pass the damp plastic glove filled with red gelatin or ice cup). “Now touch his ear. He nevermore will hear!” (Pass a dried apricot in a cup). “This is his nose. T’will never smell a rose.” (Put a pickle, a hot dog or a soft chicken bone in the cup). “These worms are all that’s left to feel. For them Brown was a lovely meal!” (Pass the wet spaghetti cup). Once you turn the lights back on, have the kids feel the cups again and try to guess what was in each one, awarding a prize to the winner. It’s amazing how much Halloween fun this game brings!