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Calling all little ghosts and ghouls – it’s almost Halloween! Pulling together a party for kids can feel a bit overwhelming, but there are a ton of cute ideas out there for making your bash both easy and memorable.
Check out a few of our favorite kid-friendly ideas for food, activities and decorating.
Food
Witch Hands
Pick up a box of vinyl disposable gloves for this easy take-home treat. First, put a candy corn ‘fingernail’ in each finger of the gloves. Stuff the fingers and palm of the glove with popcorn, and tie a ribbon around the wrist to seal off the snack. You can also swap out popcorn for Halloween-themed trail mix.
Mummy Dogs
This fun appetizer is a great project for kids! Have your helpers wrap breadstick dough (or crescent roll dough cut into vertical strips) around bun-length hot dogs. Spray your mummies lightly with cooking spray, and place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Add mustard eyes to bring your mummies to life.
Spider Cookies
All you need for this creepy-crawly treat is Double-Stuf* Oreo cookies, pretzels and white chocolate. Using small pretzel sticks, poke legs into the cream on both sides of the Oreo. This will be your spider’s body. If the legs are loose, add a bit of white chocolate to keep them in place. Top off your spider’s body with two beady white chocolate eyes.
*the double-stuffed cookies hold the pretzels better, but regular sandwich cookies can also work
Graveyard Pudding
What’s spookier than a ghost rising from the grave? For this sweet party food, top individual pudding cups with crumbled cookie ‘dirt’ and a marshmallow ghost. If the ghosts aren’t available in a store near you, swap them out for an oval-shaped cookie ‘gravestone’ (Milanos, Nutter Butters, or even arrowroot biscuits work well). Write “RIP” on your tombstones with black icing, and top off your grave with some brightly colored icing flowers.
Donut Vampires
With a box of glazed donuts, some glow-in-the-dark vampire teeth, and chocolate chips (or a tube of icing), you can make some totally terrifying donut vampires. Simply insert the teeth into the hole of the donut and poke in two chocolate chips for eyes. For a more diverse arrangement of vampires, try using assorted donuts.
Pretzel Bones
Your kids will love crunching into these playful white chocolate bones. Poke a mini marshmallow on both ends of a small pretzel stick, and dip into melted white chocolate. Let set until the chocolate has hardened.
Fun
Mystery Bowls
This activity is great for all ages – even adults! Fill up plastic bowls with different objects and invite guests into your laboratory wearing a blindfold to see if they can figure out your spooky specimens. Here are some ideas for the bowls: peeled grapes (eyeballs), tortilla brushed with oil (skin), dried apricots (dried tongues), cold spaghetti noodles (veins or worms), corn husk silk (hair), dried corn kernels (teeth), and chunks of cooked gelatin (brains).
Pumpkin Bowling
If you’re setting up an outdoor component to your Halloween party, this game is an easy set up. For the pins, take ten empty 2-litre soda bottles and paint them various colors. Use stickers or colored construction paper to create jack-o-lantern faces on the empty bottles, and set up in a triangle formation. Provide medium-sized pumpkins as bowling balls.
Mummy Game
Who can wrap their mummy the fastest? Provide two teams with a roll of toilet paper and a designated ‘mummy’. The fastest team to use up their entire roll on the mummy wins!
Best Costume
Give out an award or prize for best kid costume and best adult costume. This will inspire your guests to be creative in their outfits, and may lead to some funny memories!
Decorations
Easy Candy Corn Garland
I can personally attest to the simplicity of this project. Involve all little hands – but you may want to put a cloth down! Paint a two-inch yellow rim on the outer edge of a paper plate. Next, paint an orange ring on the inner edge of the yellow circle. Let the plates dry completely, and then cut into eight pie-shaped pieces. Use a hole-punch to create two holes on the yellow end of your candy corns, and string your art together.
Pumpkins
Did your family take time to carve pumpkins this year? Make sure to display them for your party. For other cute pumpkin ideas that don’t take valuable carving time, check out 8 Easy Ways to Decorate Pumpkins.
Ghostly Balloons
Using a permanent marker, draw some spooky faces on helium-filled white or glow-in-the-dark balloons. If you have lower ceilings, let your ghostly balloons float around between your guests.
See More!
Create Your Own Halloween Costume
Halloween Treats and Desserts
Pumpkin Decorating Ideas
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