Tips to a Great Halloween Party
Put aside a room in the house for the Halloween party to keep the mess and chaos in one place. A conservatory, a back room, the garage or even a shed would be ideal. If the weather is mild (which could happen in a lifetime), devote the garden.
Cheap Halloween Decorations
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Halloween garlands can be found at cheap prices with effective themes. Kids love to see suspended bats, black cats, pumpkin heads or Frankenstein faces hovering above the Halloween table. Spray cobwebs can easily add a spooky ambience to the whole occasion. A table centrepiece in the form of a skull holding a lantern or a witch’s punchbowl (filled with non alcoholic fizzy of course) cannot fail to create a talking point between kids.Halloween Lighting for Kid’s Parties
Creating a spooky ambience can easily be achieved with simple lighting. A plug-in disco globe will really get the party started, although pumpkin-shaped candles sitting on the shelf can be very effective. However, if you prefer not to see your curtains singed, illuminated pumpkins or skulls make a safer alternative. Although simply turning the lights off will not only scare the kids, it will save on the electricity bill.
Simple Halloween Food
Who wants to slave over a stove for the sake of hyper kids who probably wouldn’t care if your pumpkin pie came from a Delia Smith recipe? I keep it simple with cheese biscuits, pizzas and cookies cut into Halloween themed shapes such as crescent moons or cats. Plastic Halloween cutlery is preferable to my treasured crockery and I particularly like the pick-your-nose paper cups which never fail to make kids snigger. And don’t forget bin bags. Big ones
Halloween Music
You can buy spooky music CDs for Halloween, but to be honest, any music will do. Last year’s party, I played seventies disco music. If you can dig out an old CD of Michael Jackson’s Thriller, all the better.
Kid’s Halloween Party Games
I like Halloween games that require little or no preparation but provide lots of fun. Relay races never fail. This involves dividing the kids into teams, and getting each to pass an object between them without dropping it. The object could be a white ping pong ball with an eyeball painted on it (complete with blood and stuck-on red wool to suggest optic nerves) or small gourds with witches faces painted on. Extra difficulty can be introduced by using spoons instead of hands, or by passing the object beneath legs, or behind backs.
Or how about Mummy-wrap? This involves the use of cheap loo roll. Again, divide the kids into teams of two. One must stand mummy-like, while the other races around the mummy, wrapping the toilet roll around the mummy until completely wrapped. The first to do so wins.
Traditional party games will do well too, such as musical statues or musical chairs. Turning the lights off always provokes excitement in kids.
Simple Halloween for Kids
Preparing a Halloween party for young kids need not take lots of time or energy. Simple decoration such as spooky garlands or window stickers can really set the mood. Ambient lighting cannot fail to get kids started, and once in the swing of the party, will only care whether the food provides enough energy for the party games. Once the chaos is over with, the kids will be zonked, and all that is required is a few minutes clearing the debris into those very large bin bags.
Links to my Halloween Shops
Halloween party accessories
Kid's Halloween makeup and fancy dress
Halloween gifts
party bag fillers
Photo credit: Calvin Ballantine, Wikimedia Commons
