Planning the spookiest Halloween party is easy as ever - all you need are a few ghoulish decorations, scary snacks, and fun activities, and you can turn any home into a haunted house!
Invitations
The first step for any great Halloween party is to have some "killer" invitations. The right invitations can set the theme for your party. Whether you want a totally scary ghost party or a fun Monster Mash, picking invitations is a fun way to start your party planning!
Pumpkins: festive pumpkin invitations perfect for a Halloween bash.
Witches and Pumpkins: spooky printable color invitation.
American Greetings: great selection of free printable invitations, from ghosts and ghouls to pumpkins and candy.
Halloween Cards: pumpkin, jack-o-lantern, and vampire cards that allow you to fill in the details of the party before printing.
Evite: provides some pretty cool invitations that can be sent via e-mail.
Decorations
Once you've chosen the theme for your party with your invitation, you can get to the fun part - decorating! Your local party store will have plenty of scary decorations, but why buy them when you can make them!
Jack-o-lanterns make the perfect Halloween party accessory. You can carve some before your party, or provide pumpkins and supplies and ask your guests to carve their own!
Use fake spider webs to create the ultimate haunted house look. Stretch them over furniture, across doorways and in corners. Don't forget to put a great big spider in the center of one of the webs - preferably fake!
Print out some Halloween coloring pages, color them with crayons or markers, and hang them up around your home for a spooky treat!
Don't forget to decorate your table! Ghoulish colors like green, black, orange, and purple look great.
Make sure your guests join in the fun with Halloween costumes too! You can tell them to follow a theme (monsters, ghosts) or have them dress as whatever they want. They can be part of your Halloween decor, too!
Make sure to light plenty of candles (with an adult's supervision, of course) and turn off all the lights. Having the spooky glow from the candles light your party will have your guests jumping at what is - or isn't - lurking in the corner.
Is there a monster in here? Use black construction paper to cut out giant monster feet, and tape them to the ground. You can have them randomly throughout the house, or have them leading somewhere ominous...like the basement!
Treats
For your perfectly spooky Halloween party, not just any old snacks will do. They have to be just as creepy and crawly as the rest of your party! There are plenty of ways that you can jazz up your ordinary treats to make them more ghoulish. Whether you're into spooks and thrills or blood and guts, there are dozens of ghastly snacks to choose from for your party!
Ghostly Pumpkin Pudding
Vampire Punch
Activities
After you've decorated and set out snacks, you're going to need some fun activities to do with your guests!
Watch a scary movie! There are plenty of spooky movies that are sure to send chills down your spine!
Do the mummy! Have a few rolls of toilet paper on hand to make living mummies out of your friends! Pair up guests into teams, and see who can wrap their partner from head to toe like a mummy the fastest!
Hide-and-go-seek Halloween style is fun! Make sure the room you'll be playing in is not well-lit - use candles or nightlights - and have guests take turns being "it". Having a creepy soundtrack will make this game extra scary!
The pumpkin toss is a great game for everyone. All you need is a hollowed-out pumpkin and some mini candy bars to toss inside! The guest who gets the most in wins all the candy bars!
A costume contest is great fun for everyone involved. Have categories like Scariest Costume, Prettiest Costume, and Best Costume Overall. Don't forget cool prizes or trophies for the winners!
Everyone loves crafts! To spice up your guests' costumes, these paper plate pumpkin masks are great for kids of all ages, while these easy ghost necklaces will keep the scares going all night!
From the perfect invitations all the way to creepy decorations and spooky snacks, planning the perfect Halloween party is easy! All you need is a little imagination!
Article written by Janice D. McDonald