A lot of children have birthdays in October, so why not have a Halloween-themed party for them? Whether you have small children too young for trick-or-treating, or pre-teen children, that are too old for trick-or-treating, these ideas are guaranteed to provide fun for everyone.
If you know someone with a PC, get them to create some simple invitations to pass out at school or by mail. They will need the time, place, maybe a list of activities, the fact that it is a costume party, and whose birthday is being celebrated. Add your phone number to encourage RSVP’s (responses).
Address Decoration
Even though you may want to include a map on the actual invitation, some guests may need a little help finding your house once they are in the neighborhood. Draw a ghostly outline on a piece of white foam core (stiff poster board that won’t flap in a breeze). You can buy this at most hobby shops and some art stores for next to nothing. Make the ghost point towards the house; you can draw on both sides if you paint the supporting stick white. Use an X-Acto knife to cut around the shape of the ghost so that the sign stands out when placed in your median strip in front of the house. Write your child’s name and “party is here”. Attach a couple of orange balloons or black and orange streamers to draw attention for your guests that are unfamiliar with your address.
Game
Use a piece of foam core and trace out a large block image of Frankenstein’s head and shoulders with his mouth open. Paint the face green, add a scar across his forehead and draw bolts on his neck. Give him grey shoulders and use an X-Acto or craft knife to cut out his mouth. Take 2 bags of dry pinto beans and separate into 4 half-bags; then put the halves into individual Ziploc bags to make 4 small pitching bags. Use socks in orange and black (or your choice of colors) to cover the bags; cut the socks to fit over the bags and stitch the opening shut. Now you have a great bean bag game!
Cake
Small parties can use this Spider cake idea: Cook a round single layer cake and 8 cupcakes using one cake mix. Frost the cakes with chocolate icing and use black licorice to create legs. Place four cupcakes on each side of the large cake in the middle of a cookie sheet covered with green foil or construction paper. Use orange Dots (the candy) for eyes. Finish off the spider any way you like. For a larger cake, bake one in a rectangular pan and while it’s cooling, visit the Internet for an outline of a spook house. Once you find one you think you can outline onto paper, use white icing to trace the outline onto a cake that has been iced using chocolate frosting. Use candy decorations to outfit the house and put candy tombstones out in the “yard” to finish off the design.
Party bags
There are many small toys that are sold in sets of 6 to 12 for under $5.00 a set. Look at Party City, U.S. Toy Company or Oriental Trading web sites (or even Dollar stores) for ideas, and fill small bags for birthday guests to take home as they leave the party. Marble puzzles, pencil toppers, and finger puppets are great in these bags as well. You can also make your own! Find 9-12 Halloween images like Jack-o-Lanterns, cats, Frankenstein heads, etc.) from the Internet and import them into PowerPoint using a 2×2 inch grid system. You can insert each picture into one grid and then print off the number of pages to match guest count. Cut the pages apart and using orange construction paper as a cover (cut out 2×4 inch rectangles for covers). Then just staple the cover over the 9 or 12 mini pages and you have a cute coloring book for guests to take home.
No matter what you decide to spend on the party decorations, games, cake, and gift bags, don’t forget to have a camera ready! Great photo ops occur during games and gift-opening, as well as those candid moments when kids are just having fun talking to each other. Make sure you get a group photo and either email a copy to parents or send it to school the next school day so that kids (and parents) remember what a great party you threw!
Coloring page web sites:
Frankenstein head or black cat
Black cats and Frankenstein head
