Hosting a Halloween party.

Rainbow Halloween Star

All kids love Halloween, all kids from age 0 to 110. Making costumes is fun, but you need to show them off. Some parents are concerned with  letting their kids go door to door though. It is a shame to miss out on dressing up and having fun, so there is a simple answer. A Halloween party! Hosting a party can be as simple or as complicated as you like, but here are some tips taken from my experiences working as a party magician.

1) Find a venue for hosting your party.
If you have a large space at home or not many people coming for the party then you should have no problem hosting at home. However hiring a venue may be a lot cheaper than you realize . Club together with other parents to hire a village hall or even the school hall. (one school hall I know costs £20 for 2 hours, between 10 parents that isn't much at all). Many village councils are even offering a reduced rate for Halloween parties to help keep kids safe and off the streets.

2)Decorating your party space.
There are packs available for decorating your party place but these can become expensive. Now would be a great time to start Halloween Bunting making. Black and Orange Poly Cotton makes great bunting. For a added touch  cut out the pendants with pinking shears to give your bunting a zig zag edge. This will also help the bunting last longer. Covering furniture with white cloth can help stop it getting mucky, but also give the room an eerie Haunted house feel, like a house where everyone moved away long ago. Check on line for creepy stencils to download to make cardboard cut outs as well.

3)Music and Games
All the big shops do  mix cd's of Halloween party music and princes start for £5 or so. As for games, if possible keep it non-elimination. Many people have started to complain about the lack of elimination games in schools as they can prepare kids for the little knocks in life. This may be true BUT if you have elimination games in your party you will have a bunch of kids sitting around twiddling their thumbs waiting for the game to end. This will not be fun for anyone. Here are some games to try.

Esrella Amis Stars

Pass the Parcel  Take a price, be it a toy Dinosaur or a sweet treat and wrap in one sheet of paper, then take another treat and place that on your parcel then wrap with paper again. Repeat until you have a layer for everyone. Play music and stop it at random points, a child unwraps and ill have one small treat, continue the music and stop again, if your quick you can make sure everyone gets a prize BUT no-one knows who will get the big one at the center.

A Monster's tail. You need a long scarf or decorate a strip of fabric about 3 metres  long to look like a dragon's tail (think glitter for scales, or bright colour stripes. get the kids in a line and pop the hands of the kids on the shoulders of the kid in front of them. Wrap the fabric around the waist of the last  kid leaving a tail of suitable length. Now the head of the dragon has to catch the tail . A great game with lots of space. when the head catch the tail they become the new tale, leaving a new kid upfront to be the head. if you have enough kids split them into teams with a prize for the first team team where every kid gets to be the head and tail.

Skull and Crossbones fabric

The Balloon pass Challenge. Get the kids into two teams, and  get them to stand in a row. Get a balloon for each team and make them pass the balloon from the  front of the row to the back. When the balloon gets to the back the kid at the back runs to the front and then repeats the process. The first team where every kid has been to the front wins.Make the game harder by mixing up whether the balloons  have to be passed over their heads or between their legs.

Apple Bobbing. The classic apple bob. Some schools have banned this fearing germs. According to the Health And Safety executive though there is nothing to fear. If you are screamish about the idea there is an alternative . Cut out apple shapes on pieces of paper, on one side write a challenge like "3 press ups" or "recite Mary had a little lamb backwards". Then pop a paperclip on each one and  place them writing side down in a bowl. Attach a magnet to a piece of string and tie the string to a pencil to make a rod. Now the kids can go fishing for challenges.


Other things to Think about. 

Red Spider Web 

If some kids are going to be at your party without their parents then make sure you have contact details for them. If you are partying in your own home  spend 10 minutes taking the breakable items out of the room first. You will be a lot more relaxed if  you're not panicking about your favourite vase. Chocolate is lovely but can be messy. If you avoid chocolaty treats you will be spending less time the next day trying to clean the carpet and sofa.

Being at parties is always fun, but hosting them can be amazing fun. So get together with friends and family now and start planning a little adventure for yourselves and those around you.