☆ Featured Recipes
☆ Snack Ideas
☆Printable Invitations
Save time and money with our exclusive printable invitations for your Halloween Party. Some of our designs we've created to print on orange-colored paper for an easy, custom made look. We also have decorating printables like a Halloween banner and a tabletop decor -- check out all of our downloadable PDFs.
☆ Decorating Ideas
Halloween Banner- Create this quick homemade Halloween Banner, spelling out "HAPPY HALLOWEEN." Simply print out each letter from the PDFs provided at the bottom of the page, then attach the letters to orange ribbon or crepe streamers and then hang up in your home for an instant Halloween decoration. You can also print every other letter on orange colored paper.
Pumpkin Sign-In Board- Build a pumpkin-shaped sign-in board to place near the party entrance. Then have guests sign in as they enter the party using their most ghoulish handwriting. Any doctors in the house will win this one!
Supplies:
- glue stick
- 1 large orange oak tag
- 1 large foam board
- craft blade (handled by adults)
- green construction paper
- several markers
- green leaves (either real or faux)
Instructions: Glue orange oak tag onto foam board; draw a pumpkin shape including the stem, then cut it out using the craft blade. Next, cut out the stem shape from the green paper and glue on over stem. Attach leaves around stem.
Spooky Eye Windows
Spooky window design -
Left Eye
Spooky window design - Right Eye
Try this quick decoration idea that gives your home an instant haunted look from the outside. You will want to select two windows of your home that will give the appearance that the house has eyes. Trim out a sheet of black craft or wrapping paper to fit the inside of your windows. Then, before attaching the paper with tape, trim out spooky eye shapes, like cat eyes or the ones below. Afterward, turn the light on in the room with the windows to give an eerie glow shining through.
Giant Spider
Perfect for a lawn decoration, this giant spider will not only help your lawn get cleaned up, but will give guests goose bumps while heading to the door!
Supplies:
- 1 black trash bag
- Leaves
- 4 pairs of black, opaque tights
- newspaper, crumpled
- wire hangers, unwound
- black electrical tape
Fill the trash bag with leaves so that it’s full. Add a few rocks to weigh down the bag, close tight. Cut each pair of tights down the waist vertically. (Visit your local dollar store for a great value on the tights.) Fill each leg with crumpled newspaper, then insert the wire hanger through the middle of each leg, being careful not to poke through the hose. But don’t worry, even with a run in the leg, it will add to the spider’s appeal. Tie up the end of the tights’ legs, trimming the end, but leave enough to attach to trash bag with electrical tape. You will want to tape each leg, 4 on each side, to the bag nearest to the ground. Then shape each leg so it arches out. For an added touch, you can glue on large googling eyes. Then leave the giant spider lurching by the pathway for big Halloween impact!
Floating Ghosts- Create ghosts out of tissue paper! First crumple up one sheet of tissue paper into a ball. Then, place the ball in the center of a fresh sheet of tissue paper. Pick up the corners, and twist around the crumpled ball. Use a piece of yarn around the ghost’s neck to keep it in place. Draw on a spooky face with a black felt-tip pen, and your ghost is ready to fly! Hang them all over the party space to set a fun and spooky mood.
☆ Activities
Monster Hands
Here’s a fun party idea that kids can really get their monster hands on!
You will need enough clear, food handler's gloves for each guest, various Halloween stickers and curling ribbon. Follow the recipe instructions for
Monster Hands to create the caramel popcorn mix for the filling. (You will want to double or triple the recipe ingredients based on the number of guests.)
Have each guest place candy corn in the ends of each glove finger for fingernail; then pack the glove tightly with caramel corn. Close bag tightly at wrist; tie with ribbon and then kids can decorate their bags with stickers. Be sure to label each hand so they can be used as goodie bags. For an added touch, give spider rings to tie on.
☆ Game Suggestions
Halloween Charades - Write Halloween character names on slips of paper (ex: Frankenstein, Witch, Ghost, etc). Put the slips of paper in a hat*, and have the first participant draw a character. The guest then act out the character on the slip of paper while the others try to guess which character they are. The guest to correctly guess the character draws the next slip of paper from the hat.
☆For older guests, add an element of excitement by putting put the slips of paper inside a balloon. Then have them pop the balloon in order to get the paper out.
Spooky Scavenger Hunt - Here is a game played outside in the dark of night or a blacked-out room. You will need several inexpensive flash lights and sets of Halloween items like: gourds, small pumpkins, plastic spiders or bats, a witch’s hat, a wizards wand, ghoulish decorations, etc. Scatter items in a large room of the house without too much furniture, such as a basement or in the backyard. Once items are scattered and it’s dark enough, have guests break up into pairs along with a list of the items they need to find in the dark using their flashlight. This game works best for older grade school kids who have outgrown a fear of the dark. Things will definitely go bump in the night!
Spider’s Web - This is a fun activity that’s sure to get the guests giggling as they unravel their way to the spider’s secret treasure. Buy enough balls of yarn that there is one color for each guest. Tie the end of each ball of yarn to a trick-or-treat bag of candy, and hide the bags in a closet, drawer, or other hiding place inside or out. Then take each ball of yarn and walk around the party space, looping it around furniture, in and out of different rooms. Make sure you leave enough yarn to get back to the desired starting place, where you will tape the ends to an object, such as a paper plate, and label it with a number or name of a guest. As you create the “web”, make sure different colors of yarn criss-cross, so participants will have fun and use teamwork. When it’s time to play Spider’s Web, give one end of yarn to each guest and watch as they tangle and untangle their way to the secret treasure!
☆Tip: If it’s too difficult to get each ball of yarn to end in the same place, that’s okay! Guests don’t all need to start from the same spot.
Skeleton Building Race - Use stencils to draw skeleton bones on white poster board or construction paper, then cut them out. Put one set of bones in a sac (a pillowcase will do) along with enough brads to serve as the skeletons joints. (“Brads” can be found wherever scrapbooking supplies are sold.) Make enough sacks of bones and brads for each team of 2 or 3 guests to have their own. To play, give each team a bag, the first team to correctly put together their skeleton wins!
Mummy Wrap - Divide the guests into partners. Give each pair a roll of toilet paper and instruct them to choose who will be the mummy. When you say “Go”, the person in each group with the toilet paper turns their partner into a mummy by wrapping them up. The winning team is the pair who uses their whole role of toilet paper, then mummy-hops over the finish line first. After applauding the first winning mummy, have the players switch roles so everyone gets a chance at being the mummy. Don’t forget to take pictures!
Musical Pumpkins - Another great use for those decorative pumpkins! This game is exactly like musical chairs, but with a Halloween twist. Set the pumpkins on the floor in an open space (one for each guest). Play fun Halloween music (think Monster Mash) and have the guests dance around. When the music stops, everyone must be touching a pumpkin with his/her hands. After each round, remove one pumpkin. The person left without a pumpkin after each round is out. The last person in the game is the winner.
☆Tip: To keep “losing” guests happy while the game continues, have lollipops ready to award each participant when they are out.
☆ Party Favors
- Trick or Treat Goodie Bags - Fill small gift bags with some fun tools to help keep them safe when Trick-or-Treating in the dark: Glow in the dark sticks, necklaces, or a small flashing pin. If you have enough small flashlights that were used in the Spooky Scavenger Hunt, you can add these back in as well. Then add some Batty Cookies or Zombie Eyeballs tucked into a waxed sleeve for an extra treat.
- Don’t forget the Monster Hands!
☆ Not all activities or party ideas are recommended for all ages. For the safety of all in attendance, no party should be held without adult supervision.
☆ Party Accessories
Click on any item below to download the themed accessory. You can then print and use them to help make your event a success!
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