Halloween Party Planning Guide

Halloween parties are a fun way to express yourself without many of the cumbersome and tedious tasks associated with throwing other types of parties. Read our guide below for tips on making your next Halloween party fun and stress free.

Planning a Halloween party is unlike any other party. For a spectacular party begin by planning your theme early. June or July is best because it still leaves plenty of yard sale time to gather your Halloween props and decorations. Yard sales offer alot of fun items to use for your party. Old lamps, broken or not. Crystal dishes of all shapes and sizes to fill with candies and candle holders and wall sconces.

What type of party are you having, with kids, without? Scary, or safe? I like the scary side, with lots and lots of dusty corners, tree branches in garden pots with orange and black lights. Whatever the theme, unless its a children's party, add candles, LOTS of candles. Turn off the lights and use candles to set the mood. Stack them, hang them and group candles of different heights in different areas.

HALLOWEEN PARTY IDEAS

- Kids Halloween Party

Of course you want to decorate. Let your kids help.

Cut out pumpkins and ghosts from construction paper and hang from the ceiling with string or yarn.

Run orange and black twisted crepe paper streamers across the ceiling and intersperse orange and black balloon around the room.

Get a couple bales of hay and dried corn stalks and fill up a corner with some pumpkins or gourds scattered about!

Now is the time to use those orange Christmas tree lights and now producers have all kinds of Halloween party lights, streamers, garlands etc.

Food is very important at any party, so check out some of the recipes we have for you by clicking here.

GAMES

What is a party without games?

Ghost: a variation of hide and seek. The person who is IT tags the kids he finds and they become ghosts who roam around and help IT find the others.

Ghost Bingo. Modify the traditional bingo using the letters G H O S T. Make new playing cards with orange construction paper and draw a pumpkin or other Halloween item in the center 'free' space and putting the letters G H O S T at the top instead of Bingo. The caller will call the numbers changing the B I N G O letters to say G H O S T.

Provide candy corn to be the markers that the kids can eat after the game. The winner will shout out BOOOOO instead of Bingo.

Play a few games and give out prizes to the winners. Every child who did not win should get some kind of consolation prize/token.

Jack - o- lanterns. Instead of carving them, have the kids use magic markers or water paints to paint the faces. They get to take their new friend home with them after

Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin. Just like pin the tail on the donkey, however make a big Jack-o-Lantern out of orange paper and make a face with out the nose. Make several noses that the kids can pin on Jack

HALLOWEEN PARTY IDEAS

- Adult Halloween Party

Halloween is the perfect excuse for the old fashioned costume ball. It can be formal or informal.

Decorating is easy. You may or may not want to forego the crepe paper streamers and balloons, but it is a perfect time to set up all the spooky decorations you can assimilate.

From graveyards in your yard, black lights and fluorescent items hiding around every nook, even a mini spook alley. It is all up to you and your budget. Don't forget the dry ice in your punch bowl, awesome effect.

Make sure any background music includes Monster Mash and the other classics. We used a paid service like Napster or Rhapsody the last two years and it provided non-stop music the entire evening.

Games are not only for the young. If you choose to play games, be sure to consider the traditional bobbing for apples.

You can also hang apples from the ceiling and have two people try to eat it without using their hands. (that can be interesting).

Another fun way to incorporate the traditional apple is to create teams (as many people as you want as long as they have the same number). An apple is placed between the neck and shoulder of team member one who has to pass the apple to the next person in their team. The apple must be transferred between the players without using their hands. If it is dropped, the team has start over.

If you are going to have drinking, the host or hostess should consider gathering up car keys and make sure there are designated drivers before returning any keys. If anyone over indulges in the beverage department, the guest should be able to spend the night, have a sober driver take them home or call a taxi. NEVER LET SOME ONE WHO HAS BEEN DRINKING DRIVE. 

ExtremeHalloween: 1000's of Costumes to Choose From.

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