Halloween Party Ideas for Kids

Boo! It's that time of year again, and most kids are excited about celebrating Halloween. Why not do it in style by hosting a Halloween party for your favorite ghosts and goblins? Here are some fun Halloween party ideas:

Invitation idea: Attach the party invitation/information to a small pumpkin. Ask the invited guests to decorate the little pumpkin at home and bring it to the party for a contest. They can use paint or whatever to decorate their pumpkin.

Food idea: Most older elementary school kids love "gross stuff". So, serve up some brownie eyeballs. They are simple to make. Just bake a batch of fudge brownies. (a box mix of that has fudge in the title works great) After the brownies cool, trim the crusty edges and discard (or eat). Take a spoon and smoosh up the remaining brownies in the pan. Then scoop up a portion of brownie that's a little smaller than a golf ball and roll it around in your hands to form a ball. Then set aside on a platter. After you have prepared all of the balls, melt some white chocolate in the microwave. Then drop one or two of the brownie balls in the melted chocolate at a time to coat. Then place on a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. After all of the brownie balls have been coated with the white chocolate, place the tray in the fridge for about thirty minutes. Then it's time to make them look like eyeballs. Use the little tubes of gel frosting to make the iris, pupil and some veins too. Store them in the fridge until you're ready to serve them. Kids love eating up these gross, but tasty treats. Be prepared for requests from other parents about how to make Brownie Eyeballs. They ar e always a huge hit. (At Christmas time, you can make these and just leave off the gel frosting part - we call that version Brownie Balls or Snow Balls around my house.)

Game ideas:
1) The floating hand: Blow up a surgical glove and have the kids bat it around like a balloon. If someone lets it hit the ground then they have to sit out for the rest of the round. The last person remaining wins a little Halloween trinket. (pencil or some similar item)
2) Drawing Game: Set up an easel with a large pad of paper on it. Have some colored markers handy. On small pieces of paper, write Halloween-related words (e.g. witch, cat, moon, vampire, wolfman, ghost, haunted house, candy, mummy, etc.) Place the pieces of paper in a sack, bowl or hat. Have one person draw one of the slips of paper out. They secretly look at the paper and begin drawing the item - trying to get the other party-goers to guess what it is. Whoever guesses it gets to be the next person to draw.
3) OOOHHH, That's Gross!: This game works great being set up in a small, dark place - like a small bathroom. Make up bowls of the following: a) cooked spaghetti noodles, b) grapes, c) jello, d) licorice sticks. Then place the bowls in the dark area you have selected. Blindfold two of the party goers and lead them into the dark area. Having candles glowing in the room helps with the mysteriousness. Describe the contents of one of the bowls, (e.g. for the grapes - Here we have the eyeballs stolen from the graves of the cemetery on Elm St.) and have each blindfolded party goer place their hand in the bowl. Repeat for each bowl that you have. After they have experienced each item, lead them back to the group. After everyone has had a turn, ask the group what they thought was REALLY in each bowl. Then show them the bowls.
4) Freeze Dance: Play silly Halloween music and have the kids dance. When you stop the music they have to freeze. If someone keeps moving, then they're out. Continue until one person is left and they win a small prize. (When everyone is frozen, snap some pics with your camera and email some of them to the kids' parents for great mementos of the party)

Happy Halloween!