At this year’s Halloween party, your young ones will love a dance contest, Halloween bingo, classic ring toss game and a pinata. As long as you have Halloween recipes for cupcakes, they’ll be happy. For pre-teens, you’ll need creative options, such as a scavenger hunt, a story contest and Halloween twister. Teenagers may enjoy role playing games, Ouija boards, tarot cards or creating their own films. Adults may be more inclined to have a “murder mystery dinner,” play a few wild Halloween drinking games or watch a horror movie. No matter what age you’re planning for, Halloween fun is there if you seek it.
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.
Halloween party board games can definitely be a ton of Halloween fun, particularly for teenagers. “Last Night On Earth” is the latest and greatest zombie game, which sold amazingly well at Amazon and FunAgain in 2007. Players choose character roles with different skills and abilities, and try to race across the map to kill the undead, find weapons and useful items, all before sunrise. A zombie master will raise the dead and push them into ambush positions to thwart the other players’ efforts. For a longer role playing/cooperative adventure game (3 hours compared to 1), try “Arkham Horror & Expansions,” where kids race to keep the arch nemesis from opening demon portals, eating all the first born baby heads and remaking horrible 80s TV shows. “Tannhauser” is a WWI strategy game where German occult units battle American Special Forces in their attempt to release demon hordes. “Betrayal at House on the Hill” is a different sort of board game, where players build a haunted house by drawing board tiles. One of the players will become the traitor, which makes for a delightful twist. “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Boooo-opoly” are also great Halloween party games that will appeal to slightly younger kids.
One of the best Halloween party games for adults is the “murder mystery dinner.” Each party member will receive an advance invitation with instructions on the role they’ll be playing. In your kit, you’ll receive instructions on Halloween recipes to cook, what Halloween decorations to set up and even how to dress. Usually, character booklets, scripts and CD or DVDs will guide you through the plot to discover whodunnit. A few recommended murder mystery games include: “Lethal Luau Murder Mystery Party Game” with a Hawaiian theme, “A Taste for Wine and Murder” with a Hollywood theme or “A Murder on the Grill” with a summer of 1950s theme. All are from Bepuzzled.
This Halloween, parents will equip their kids with a laundry list of Halloween safety tips. “Be mindful of strangers, only go to houses with a light on, stay together and be home on time,” they’ll say. Then, when the children arrive home, the parents will outstretch their arms and demand, “Now let me see your Halloween candy,” and then they will inspect each and every piece for evidence of tampering. Children never quite understand where these parental fears come from. In fact, many parents aren’t quite sure either. The “Fact or Fiction” themed website snopes.com uncovers some of the urban legends surrounding October 31st and chronicles some of the very real fears as well.
Since the 1970s, Halloween safety has focused on the fear of contaminated candy. In 1970, 5-year-old Kevin Toson died from a heroin overdose. A few days later, officials found that the boy hadn’t eaten heroin-laced candy, as originally believed. Rather, he had accidentally gotten into his uncle’s heroin stash and the family had sprinkled heroin in the boy’s candy afterwards to protect the uncle. Similarly, in 1974, 8-year-old Timothy Mark O’Bryan died from cyanide poisoned Pixie Stix in Houston, Texas. However, upon closer inspection, detectives found that the boy had in fact been poisoned by his own father. Even though these poisonings were far from random, parents still feared for their kids’ safety amid the Halloween fun.
Even though there are many urban legends surrounding Halloween, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention reports that, on average, four children are struck and killed by cars each October 31st, which is four times the fatality rate on any other night. The statistics do not even include accidents that occur in driveways or on sidewalks, so the numbers are suspected to be higher. Experts say kids in dark costumes and vision-obscuring Halloween masks dashing through the streets for delicious Halloween candy is a recipe for disaster. To protect the kids, costumes and candy bags should have bright reflecting tape on them, parents should accompany little ones and older kids should be given the pre-trick-or-treating huddle to discuss serious safety rules. Kids should be told not to run, to stay together at crosswalks and to carry a flashlight.
Last year, the US recalled 440,000 Halloween toys that were contaminated with lead. Among these dangerous items were: Galaxy Warriors figures, plastic disguise teeth, military-style Elite Operations action figures distributed by Toys R Us and Ribbit board games. The Consumer Product Safety Commission said the fake teeth were particularly disturbing, with 100 times more lead than what is deemed “safe.” Parents are advised to check labels when buying trick or treat toys and avoid the aforementioned products altogether.
Halloween is a great time to get creative with homemade Halloween crafts. It’s also a fun time to involve the children and have them create their own scary creations. Making homemade Halloween crafts is a great way to decorate the home inexpensively. The best part is that you don’t usually need to go out and buy anything special because everything is already at home.
Even very young children can get involved with the crafts and they really will love it. Choose crafts that are simple enough for them to handle yet remain creative and it should be fine. Just be ready to put down lots of newspaper and monitor closely to prevent any messes.
Egg Carton Bats
One of the easier homemade Halloween crafts is to make bats out of egg cartons. This is practically no cost depending on how fancy you want to get with the bats. Take an 18 count egg carton and cut off sections so that each piece has three egg holders to make one bat.
The two egg holders on the sides are supposed to be the wings. Cut a scalloped shape on the front and back of the side sections to create the wing shapes. Small children might need some help with the cutting but older children should have no problem doing this part. You could even use craft scissors to give a little more shape to your wings.
Make a hole in the center of the middle egg holder so that you can later hang it up. Now paint the egg holders black. After the paint has dried, stick on eyes or use two pieces of white paper with black dots to make eyes. The children can get creative by adding fangs, glittery wings and other personal touches to their bats. String up the bats from ceilings, fans, lamps and the inside of windows (or even outside in the trees).
Invitations
Having a Halloween party? Homemade Halloween crafts often include clever invitations. This is one of those easy homemade Halloween crafts that children always love to participate in. Trace around the children’s hands onto a piece of cardstock or construction paper. The card can be any color, brown or mustard yellow for monsters, or green for witches. Silver or white can be used for ghost hands.
Stick on fingernails with scrap cardstock or paper. Monster nails can be black or gray and square shaped. Witches nails can be more colorful and longer; and for the ghosts, silver or gray are the best colors to use. Decorate the hands however you think monster, witch or ghost hands should look like. You can add wrinkles, scars, cuts or even fake blood. Write your invitation on the reverse side, hand them out and they are sure to be a huge hit.
Between carving pumpkins, dressing in costumes, and creating decorations, Halloween has certainly become a great holiday for families to be creative and spend time together. Making homemade Halloween crafts is an exciting way to fill the holiday and ooze with Halloween spirit!
One of the most exciting parts of Halloween is choosing the perfect Halloween costume. Each year, people spend thousands of dollars creating the most unique Halloween costume for that special costume party. Usually one of the most popular costumes at any party is the homemade Halloween costumes. These costumes are unique; one-of-a-kind costumes designed and created by the person wearing it.
You can create a homemade Halloween costume using everyday household items or you can create your Halloween costume using some of the most expensive and elaborate materials available. Choice of materials and amount of time put into the homemade Halloween costume is completely up to the person designing it. Regardless of the time and money put into this Halloween costume, it is still going to be the hit of the party, simply because it is homemade.
To Create or Not to Create: That Is the Question
How do you know when you should create your own homemade Halloween costume or not? This is not a very hard question. Anyone having trouble finding the perfect costume in a retail store or a costume shop should consider making their own homemade Halloween costume. Anyone who wants to be extra creative or finds creativity to be like second nature should create their own costume. That way, you can create it uniquely to fit your own needs and wants, and definitely in your size.
How to Create Your Homemade Halloween Costume
Creating a homemade Halloween costume is surprisingly not very hard. As a matter of fact, it is often simpler than purchasing a Halloween costume. You can create a costume out of old clothes, clothes bought from a second hand store, and other things lying around the house. Think about what type of costume you would like to create, and then get the things you need to create it. Look around your house or while you are traveling for the inspiration to your big project.
Most of the time, it is actually cheaper to make your own homemade Halloween costume. Many costumes in retail stores and costume shops are incredibly overpriced because they are in such high demand. When you create your own costume, you can generally create it for half the price you might pay for a similar costume in a store. Therefore, it is more beneficial financially to make your own costume.
Finally, if you really wants to have an unforgettable costume at your next Halloween party, you really should consider making your own homemade Halloween costume. Of course, it will take time and effort to make a homemade costume, but in the long run, it will be well worth it when you are the biggest hit of the next costume party.
It’s Halloween Night. The sexy costumes have been purchased, the Halloween recipes are made and the Halloween decorations are up. The only question remains, “What happens once all the people get here?” It can be bad news to have everyone standing around in costumes with nothing to do but make the same host of remarks about everyone’s costumes again and again for several painstaking hours. The best Halloween parties have some sort of theme in mind and a few key activities planned.
Comedian (“Strangers with Candy”) and Entertainer Extraordinaire, Amy Sedaris, recommends hosting a Halloween Night Movie Party. “The fun of the party to me is the movie I’m featuring,” says Sedaris, who personally recommends classics like Dracula and Frankenstein, Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte, The Trilogy of Terror, The Bad Seed, and What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Of course, there are countless movies from which to choose. To create the in-home theater, she moves the TV to the center of the room and arranges cushy beanbag chairs and furniture around it so everyone can see. Then she places food trays around the room in accessible spots.
She serves meatloaf, mashed potatoes and corn because “you don’t have to see it to eat it” and she also highly recommends pumpkin pie dessert and pumpkin seed snacks. She likes to start the Halloween fun with a pumpkin carving activity too. Drinks can include a Bloody Mary, a Berry Rum Punch, Sangria or a witch’s brew. Sedaris also recommends sending out invitations that look like a movie ticket or film reel, draping red velvet around the room, playing elevator muzak, setting up 25-cent concessions booths and throwing a few of the more traditional Halloween decorations around. “Entertaining alone is one of the most creative and rewarding experiences I can think of,” she concludes.
If you fancy yourself the neighborhood socialite or would simply like to get to know your neighbors better, then consider organizing a Halloween Night block party to bring the community together. Yes, it is a lot of work, but it’s not insurmountable. Start planning the Halloween fun several months in advance and meet with neighbors to assign tasks. Divvy up the Halloween recipes, set someone in charge of games, ask someone to organize prize bags, put someone in charge of the costume contest and be sure to check with City Hall about permits, insurance and zoning. You’ll need the city to close down the street, which will require a permit and barricades from the local police department, which you’ll need everyone to chip in to pay for. Encourage neighbors to decorate their yards for Halloween, so you can have a contest to award the best Halloween decorations. While it may sound like a Herculean task, imagine the example it will set for the children and how the renewed sense of community will bring your neighborhood together!
Don’t kid yourself. The #1 thing people look forward to when it comes to parties is the food. If your food stinks, then your party will stink, even if people have no other way to spend their Halloween night. Appetizers like bacon water chestnut rolls, hummus platters, olive puffs, spiced pumpkin seeds, black bean chili, cornbread muffins and popcorn balls work great. For the main course, you can go with goulash, pulled pork sandwiches or meatloaf, if you’d like. The website www.epicurious.com also recommends devilish eggs, deviled ham, roasted deviled potatoes, deviled fried chicken, black linguine with orange and red peppers, braised short ribs and roasted golden nugget squash. You may want to go with a pumpkin pie dessert, devil’s food cake, creepy Halloween decorations made with a Jell-O mold or tarantula cookies.
As soon as October 1st hits, children can’t wait for the Halloween activities to begin, especially Halloween class parties.
Here are a few games that will get even the littlest goblin in the mood!
The Brain Game
The object of the game is to pick through a “rubber brain” to figure out what is inside. It’s easy to create this game at home. Start with some Jell-O and fill it with gummy candies such as worms, bears, small candies or little trinkets. When the children stick their hands into the Brain (bowl full of Jell-O) they have to guess what is inside. It is goopy and messy and exactly what kids want on Halloween!
The Spaghetti Game
It’s a good idea to have some smocks or aprons handy since this one can be messy. Make a large bowl of spaghetti and fill it with items such as small plastic bugs, gummy worms, and other small strange feeling toys. Like the Brain Game, the kids feel around in the bowl of spaghetti to try to identify the items inside. After each gets a chance to feel around, each child will make a list of all the items they felt in the bowl and whoever has the most right wins.
Less Messy Than The Spaghetti Game
Same premise as the spaghetti game but a lot less messy. Paint a cardboard box black on the inside as well as the outside. Cut a small hole in the top. The hole should be large enough for the kids to get their hand into. Fill the box with all sorts of items such as small pumpkin, plastic snake, plastic spiders, and other great items. Have the children guess what is in the box and who ever gets the most right gets the box and all the items inside.
Halloween Word Search and Coloring Pages
Word searches are always popular for holidays and they are a great way to get the children to settle down after an active game or activity. The word “Halloween” is perfect to see how many words the kids can create out of that one word.