It’s entirely possible that Halloween might be your child’s favorite holiday. Aside from Christmas there really isn’t a bigger deal to a young kid. There is so much surrounding Halloween that is fun and exciting for all kids, both the big and the small. Having a Halloween costume party is a great way to get your child into the spirit of Halloween and can actually be a lot more fun than even trick or treating. Certainly it will give your child a chance to celebrate in and show off his/her costume. Which brings me to my next point.

Oftentimes a lot of effort goes into coming up with an idea and creating a Halloween costume. If you save it’s use exclusively for trick or treating on Halloween night you might be disappointed. Halloween nights are dark and cold and our kids are often forced to bundle up in coats on top of their costumes. All that thought and effort and they are trick or treating in a coat! That’s just how it is sometimes. Maybe there is a better way to show off that costume.

Consider having a really great Halloween party for your child and his good friends. This will give your child and all his buddies a great chance to really go all out with their costume choice as well as have an opportunity to really show it off to their friends. Of course this isn’t the only reason to celebrate Halloween with a party. Food, games and fun complete the event and make it very memorable and special. It’s also a safe way to celebrate that will be enjoyed by all.

I’ve compiled a list of tips for you so that your child’s Halloween party can be as successful and fun as possible!

Send invitations. You have to be a little bit careful about when you have your party when it comes to Halloween. There are many kids out there who will not want to substitute trick or treating for any party, so if you plan your party during prime trick or treating time (Halloween night) you make lose some of your attendee’s. Sometimes it’s better to plan your party for the weekend prior to Halloween or perhaps even in the late afternoon the day of Halloween as a prelude to trick or treating so that there is still time to go house to house for candy afterward.

Once you have the perfect time in mind for you party, it’s time to compose your guest list. Obviously a lot of factors go into deciding how many kids to invite. Consider first of all the age of the kids. If you are inviting very young children, you may want to keep your party to a small group. The other factor you want to consider is what type of activities you are planning and how many kids will fit in to your game plan. Obviously you will want to think about the amount of space you have available for kids, as well as costumes along with all of their props. You will want to plenty of room for any games that you will be playing during the party.

Keep your invitations simple, but do something appropriate for Halloween. You can obtain Halloween-themed paper that is simple to put in your computer printer for an easy invitation. If your kids are old enough, you may want to enlist their services and have them make and address the invitations themselves. In any case, make this one more fun Halloween activity that will build their excitement and enthusiasm! Make sure your invites include all the basic information needed for the party. Date, time, and location of the party should be included. Make sure you include the fact that this is a costume party and the kids should come dressed up. Don’t forget this information-especially if your party isn’t on Halloween. If a child inadvertently didn’t dress up they would feel very excluded and you don’t want that to happen. Mention in the invitation that there will be prizes awarded for various costumes. This will get the kids motivated to put some extra effort into the experience.

Decorate! Simple decorations are often the best. A bag of fake “cobweb” can go very far to create a scary ambience. Add small plastic spiders, of course. Obvious other decorations would include lit Jack-o-lanterns and spooky lighting. You can swap out some of your normal light bulbs for colored bulbs for a creepy effect. Put Halloween themed tablecloths on the tables where your kids will eating/playing games. Simple crepe paper streamers in black, orange and a little purple will make your party look more festive. These same streamers can be used to enhance your table settings as well and cost very little money. Your decorations do not have to be expensive or elaborate to be really fun and create a great Halloween atmosphere.

Have simple but great Halloween food. This is going to take a little bit of organization, but it doesn’t have to be complicated. One of my favorite ideas for Halloween kid food is to have “make-it-yourself” Jack-O-Lantern style pizza. Kids love pizza, and if you have appropriate toppings (Cut-up pepperoni, olives, green pepper’s, mushrooms, etc.) they can easily be assembled by the children as one of the party activities. Use ready-made pre baked pizza crusts, or you can even use English muffins to make smaller pizzas. Even fairly young children can do this with adult assistance. Of course you or another adult will want to be in charge of all cooking and making sure that the pizzas cool a bit before eating.

Another favorite Halloween party treat is the “Cup of Dirt.” These can also be made by the kids if you don’t mind a little mess, as they are easy to assemble and kids love to do this. You will need to have a bowl of pre-made chocolate pudding, crushed Oreo sandwich cookies and gummy worms. Have each child spoon pudding into a clear plastic cup, about 2/3 full. Add the crushed Oreo cookies on top. Garnish the pudding cup with gummy worms. These can be refrigerated for later, or the kids can just go ahead and eat them. It’s that simple! This is Halloween treat is both yummy as well as fun.

Of course there are many more ideas for Halloween food that you can find. Talk to your kids and see what they come up with and be resourceful. Whatever you do keep it kid-friendly and simple-when it comes to food, sometimes less is more.

Play Fun Halloween Games. The most important game of the evening is going to center around the Halloween costumes and having the opportunity for the kids to show them off and win prizes. Have a costume parade if you like. Award prizes for many different categories, but I recommend having each child get a prize. You can invent new categories as you see what costumes have arrived in order to make this happen, but it’s a nice touch for each kid to be rewarded for their costume efforts. Prizes can be simple, but make them Halloween-themed. A novelty store is a perfect place to go for these items.

Another games that is both traditional and fun is bobbing for apples, which involves trying to retrieve an apple out of a large bucket of water using your mouth only. Have a few towels handy to dry off wet faces! Another Halloween game that is hilarious for kids is the Mummy wrap game. Divide the kids up into partnerships or small groups. Each group will need to select which child will be the mummy. Using toilet paper and having a set time interval, each group will wrap the designated child into a toilet paper mummy. Give prizes at the end for the most creative mummy, etc. Make it fun and be sure to take pictures of this event afterward, the kids will love this!

As you can see, having a kids Halloween party needed be daunting or difficult. With a little planning and forethought you will not only be successful with your party but your kids will be thrilled that you did this for them as well. Halloween can and should be a very fun and memorable time for children as well as adults. Having a party is just one more way to ensure that the fun happens and also makes memories you will have for a lifetime! Xo J.

We recommend using the web to find a large selection of Halloween costumes for kids. There are a lot of options.