Kids Halloween Party Ideas
Halloween is a secular holiday that dates back to Celtic history and medieval Christians
. The Celtic link is with the end of summer and the beginning of the dark half of the year. The Christian connection is with All Hallows' Eve which is the night before All Saints' Day a celebration of the saints and departed faithful. Today, Halloween is associated with costume parties, carving pumpkins, bonfires, trick-or-treating and all things scary. Ghosts, witches, skeletons, devils, zombies, bats, vampires and other monsters are all associated with Halloween.
What Halloween is all About
Traditionally, children dress up in Halloween costumes and go from house to house threatening to do damage, called a trick, if they are not given a treat. In this way children collect a bag full of candy and other edibles and this is the main attraction of the day. For older children the trick is the most fun and they spread toilet paper over trees and gardens, draw pictures with soap on cars that have been parked on the street and many other innocent and not so innocent tricks.
Costumes are the Key
A kids Halloween party is a great way to channel all this enthusiasm with lots of games and prizes along with a variety of refreshments including candy. The costume is essential and one of the best parts of Halloween. Horror is not the only theme for costumes, as many people go for characters from literature, movies, cartoons and TV shows. Kids costumes can be simple homemade affairs such as a white bed sheet with two holes cut for eyes or very elaborate purchased costumes of their favorite characters. Some costumes are of objects such as a banana or a TV remote.
Children love costumes that make them feel the part. Whether they are a carrot or a pirate they want the costume to impress others. Often little girls like to dress up like fairy princesses and boys like to dress up in Spiderman or
Batman costumes, but there is a huge variety of Halloween costumes online that can spark the imagination. Children may like to see other possibilities.
Halloween Party Ideas for Kids
There are three main types of Halloween parties. One is for young children that should be fun and not too scary. One is for teenagers that should also be fun but the scarier the better and one for adults that gives them the opportunity to express an alter ego.
For children 3 to 7 years there are games with a Halloween theme:
Halloween Bingomake Bingo cards with pumpkins, black cats, witches etc. in the grid squares. These can be made with stickers.
Eyeball Tossmake ping pong balls look like eyeballs with markers and toss them into a hollowed out pumpkin.
Candy Hunta good way to limit the amount of candy they get and yet they have fun looking for it.
For older kids the games are a little more sophisticated. Scavenger Hunt is a traditional Halloween game and can be great fun and challenging. Lists are compiled with the objects to be found, the children choose teams, two to four people on a team, and the time limit is set. The first team back within the time with all the items on the list is the winner.
One game that can be played several possible ways is played with food. A person is blindfolded and has to guess the body parts put in front of him. These body parts are made with food. Pealed grapes for eyeballs, cooked spaghetti for intestines, mashed potatoes for brains, unpopped corn for teeth, thin carrots for fingers are a few suggestions. Usually a story goes with the game such as this is all that is left of a dear, departed friend.
Horror movie or TV trivia is a good subject for a quiz or guessing game. This takes a little time to research, but children love to exhibit their knowledge and it's a good time to remember all the scary scenes in movies. It also makes a great charades game.
Set the Mood and the Food
The most common Halloween decorations are pumpkins and black cats, but there are a lot more possibilities. For the young children's parties, large colorful decorations are fun with bats, spiders, witches on broomsticks and possibly a skeleton or two. For older kids there are some great possibilities for making a spooky atmosphere. Turn off the lights and light candles, provided it can be fire safe. This adds confusion as well as surprise. Make some ghastly heads out of Styrofoam, acrylic paint and modeling clay. Use them as centerpieces on the buffet table. The food on the buffet table can also be part of the decoration. Spider cookies made with cream filled cookies and pretzels for legs and foods that fit the orange and black color theme such as baby carrots, cheddar cheese cubes, licorice, orange slices and dark purple grapes.
Halloween is the time when people turn to indoor fun, at least in the northern hemisphere, and a Halloween party for kids is something special. It is a day children especially enjoy, and a party can combine costumes, atmosphere, prizes for games and food for a great experience.
Kids Halloween Party Ideas
By: Jeffrey L. Wallace
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