As the excitement builds toward Oct. 31, take advantage of the eerie enthusiasm to host a Halloween bash for your kiddo and a few of their friends. Plan the party along with your kids to make it their own. Whether it’s spooky, creepy or just plain fun, here are some ideas to get your boo bash started.
Note: This was written before the COVID-19 pandemic, so please practice social distancing and proper safety precautions when celebrating Halloween. Stay safe!
Get Spookified
Amp up your Halloween decor for some extra fun, whether it’s spider webs on your bushes or a smoke machine at your entry. Turn your front door into a giant monster to welcome your party guests! Get creative with two giant eyes, some funny hair and gnarly teeth. Then turn up a Halloween-themed music playlist to get your guests dancing like mummies. Encourage attendees to wear their actual Halloween costume or a mask or funny headwear of their choice.
Monster Meal
Skip the plain party pizza and make your meal haunted. Turn peanut butter and jelly sandwiches into spiders by cutting them into circles, then adding thin pretzel sticks for legs inside the sides of the sandwich and two chocolate chip eyes on top. Turn those hot dogs into morbid mummy dogs. Cut the lower half of the hot dog in half to create legs, then two small slices on the top sides to create arms. Wrap with strips of crescent roll around and around to create a mummy. Bake on sheet pan at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. Don’t forget the bloody ketchup on the side!
Goblins, Ghouls and Games
No bash is complete without a few activities and games for your guests, so set up a few stations that your guests can rotate through. Create a giant uglified monster on a poster board and play “pin the eye on the monster” blindfolded. With some black construction paper, glue and Q-tips, see how creative the kids can be making their own skeletons. Line up a row of pumpkins and use glow stick necklaces for a ring toss in the dark. Have a mummy wrapping contest with toilet paper! So many options, such little time!
Frightening Flick
Depending on the age group of your guests, pick a movie that will capture their attention (and not leave them with nightmares!). For littles, try “Room on the Broom,” “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown,” or “Monsters, Inc.” Older kids would like “Hotel Transylvania,” or even the classic “Ghostbusters.” Give each guest a bag of “bewitched popcorn” that also has gummy worms, edible eyes and candy corns mixed with the popcorn.
Tricks and Sweet Treats
There is no such thing as too many sweets and candy at a Halloween party, so make the desserts howl with some fun twists. Create spiderwebs by laying out thin pretzel sticks in a circle pattern and drizzling melted chocolate around in circles on top. Put a plastic spider on top and then let chocolate harden. Turn traditional Rice Krispie treats into monster treats by cutting them treats into squares. Then dip the top half of the square treat into melted chocolate and apply as many edible eyes as you desire.
Parting Ways
Let the magic of the party continue by giving your guests party favors as they head home. Create lollipop ghosts by wrapping a tissue around a Tootsie Roll or Blow Pop. Then tie at the base of the lollipop with cute ribbon and use a Sharpie to make two ghost eyes on the head. Another use of lollipops is to twist black pipe cleaners as legs and glue two googly eyes to create spiders. Better yet, create witch’s broomstick bags filled with candy goodies for each guest to go home with and to use as decor.
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