Halloween Decorations and Party Game Ideas
The first decoration item that most people think about when thinking of Halloween is a pumpkin. You can decorate a pumpkin in many ways. Most people carve them with funny or spooky faces. But you do not have to get your hands dirty like that if you don’t want to. You can leave a pumpkin plain and group it with other pumpkins of varying sizes to make a lovely display. You could even use paints to decorate your pumpkin. Anything goes when it comes to a Halloween pumpkin.
Another Halloween decoration to have around are mini ghosts. You can even have your children make these with you. You just need some small squares of gauze (any size square that you prefer is fine), cotton balls, yarn and a marker. Take the gauze and place three cotton balls in the middle of it. These will form the head of the ghost. Then tie the yarn around the neck to close up the head portion. Draw a face on the ghost if you want and hang them anywhere. You could also use fishing line instead of yarn so that you will have an “invisible” string to hang your ghost with.
If you are planning a childrens Halloween party then here are a few party game ideas to include. All children love party games. A good one to do, which includes the pumpkins you purchased to decorate with, it a pumpkin ring toss. Line up three large pumpkins with their stems. You can use plastic rings or just make some out of rope and duct tape. Make a toss line on the floor and let the children take turns trying to throw the rings onto the pumpkin stems. You can give the winner a prize or just award each child with a small prize like a spider ring or small bubble necklace. For younger children you could use small hula hoops as the throw rings.
Another fun activity for a Halloween party is a Guessing Jar. Fill a jar with candy corn and at the beginning of the party let each child take a guess at how many candy corn pieces there are in the jar. At the end of the party you can announce the winner. Whoever came the closest wins the jar of candy! You don’t have to use candy corn, you can use any type of candy you would like to use.
A YUCK! box is a fun Halloween party activity. Take a box and cut a hole large enough to place your hand in. Have the children take turns feeling and trying to guess what the items are inside the box. You can use things like cold cooked spagetti noodles, olives, slime, jello, anything with an interesting texture to it. Tell the children they are things like, eyeballs, intestines, brains. You’ll enjoy the shock on their faces.
Do You Remember is another interesting party idea. Fill a tray full of Halloween themed items. Show the tray to the kids for a minute or two and then take the tray away. Let the children see if they can remember all of the items on the tray. A funny thing about this game is that children will come up with all kinds of things that weren’t even on the tray. A variation on this game is to take away one item from the tray and see if the children can guess what is missing.
Bobbing For Apples is always a traditional Halloween party idea. All you need is a large tub of water and plenty of apples for everyone to have a turn. It would also be a good idea to have several towels handy to dry off little faces.
Pin the Nose On the Jack-o-Lantern is another fun Halloween party idea. It’s just like the donkey version only you have a pumpkin picture on the wall and a nose in your hand. Kids really enjoy this.
How about a cotton ball relay race. Have several large mixing bowls full of cotton balls. Give each child a plastic spoon. Tell the children that everyone gets to scoop out as many cotton balls as they can in one minute without using their fingers and hands. Only use the spoon. Once it’s over, see who has the most cotton balls and award them their prize.
No Halloween party would be complete without party favors. You can save money by making your own goodie bags. All you need are brown paper lunch bags, paints, stamps and markers. Use the stamps and paints to make Halloween designs on the bags. Once they dry you can use the marker to write each child’s name on their goodie bag. Doing this will save the hassle of knowing who’s bag is who’s if they get set down somewhere. To make a sugarLESS goodie bag, fill the bags with things like small toys, bubbles, crayons, stickers, glow sticks or just anything fun and Halloween related. The kids will love all the goodies and the parents will appreciate a little less candy in their homes.
Halloween is a fun holiday. Enjoy!
