How to Throw a Kids Halloween Party Like a Pro

Planning a children's Halloween party is half of the fun of the party itself! For one, kids love the traditionally cheesy Halloween tricks and treats and are more open to any ooey gooey drinks and treats you may have in your mind. And while they love the spooky and fun factors of Halloween, there are still a few things to keep in mind when planning a kid-only Halloween party.

Choosing a Theme

Do you want to fill your home with fun and friendly ghosts and jack-o-lanterns or would you rather turn your home into a spooky graveyard? Your theme effects not only the decor, but also your food and drink selections so this is the first decision you must make before continuing.

Because trick or treating is a big family event for most of my friends, I decided to have the party the night before Halloween. If you're planning an event on Halloween day, you may want to incoporate some time for trick or treating as a group. Make sure you have enough adults to oversee the kids!

Invitations: I was considerate of the ages of my guests' children when choosing the time to have my party. A window that can accommodate most feeding schedules and nap times works best!

The invitation is your teaser for the party. I like to personalize my invitations to make guests feel special. For the Halloween party, I bought an affordable box set of 20 orange invitations, wrote out the copy and scanned them into the computer. I bought black envelopes and decorated them with cute Halloween stickers. Try to stick with your theme when choosing and decorating your invites!

Personally, I like invitations for kids parties to be lighthearted and fun. I always follow up by sending an email with a scanned version of the invitation, in case the paper copy gets lost. Celebrations' online invites are perfect for this.

Kids Halloween Party Essentials

Everyone is watching their budget at this time, but that does not mean you should stop throwing parties! I made a list of what I wanted for decor, serving, and parting gifts. Everything I needed to keep the kids entertained and the grown-ups smiling, I already have.

The Shopping List

Candy, candy, and more candy! Order it online or visit a local candy store.
Happy Halloween popcorn cups
Orange paper napkins
Black Tumblers with Skulls
Straws
Mini pumpkin metal pails
Pumpkin shaped paper plates
Black and Orange Popcorn from The Popcorn Factory
A paper skeleton to hang on the front door
Inexpensive sheets which I cut holes in for eyes so the kids could play ghostly games.

Choosing a Venue

I chose to have our party in my back yard, but if you are feeling a little more creative you can take your party elsewhere! Try and choose a location with lots of open space for the kids to play and feel free in.Here are a few other location ideas that can easily work for a Halloween party:

Pumpkin patch
A local park
Kids play spot
A friends home

Fun and Festive Decorations

Guess what?! At any costume party, the guests become the decor! The rest of the room should play to theme, but don't overdo it. I realized that Baby Lucas and Lulu Flynn will be having a Halloween Party every year, so why not invest in some special house decorations that could be used each year and become funny family heirlooms?

As my overall color scheme I chose: orange, white and black and carried it through all the way from invites, to food, balloons, tablecloths, and cupcakes! Keeping a color scheme also helped separate the party space from the rest of my house.

Here are some easy decor tricks:

Make your home party friendly and kiddie proof. Move anything breakable to another room. Move the furniture around to create a lounge for the parents. Block off rooms "unsafe" rooms with skulls and crossbones and "Caution" tape.

Create a separate play area for the kids in eyeshot of parents.

Buy balloons for any type of kid's party. They provide hours of safe entertainment and are a fun partying gift to tie around a little wrist. I handed out black magic markers and the kids each drew jack-o-lanterns on their balloon.

Buy your smaller decor items, like Halloween plates, napkins, and candy closer to the day of the event.

They always go on sale.

Don't forget to combine what you have from home. I took some sugar free orange Jell-o I had in the

kitchen and froze up some popsicles!

String stretchable spider webs where possible.

Decorate table with spider rings and wind-up chomping teeth to entertain the children while eating.

Invest in some Halloween theme sipper cups to save your Halloween table from spills. Rhode Island

Fill small shot glasses with candy corn and display fun Halloween lollipops

Kid Friendly Halloween Treats

Guests will always enjoy themselves at a party if they are sipping lovely drinks and eating delicious food. Theme parties are no exception. Just because theme parties are light hearted and fun, does not mean the food should not be a joke. 

And as you may already know, we at Celebrations love to play with our food! That means we don't just make deviled eggs - we make deviled egg eyeballs! Here are a few of our deliciously festive Halloween foods the kids will love:

Deviled Egg Eyeballs
Yummy Mummy Treats
Eerie Bloodshot Eyeball Cake Pops
Spooky Spider Cupcakes
Witch Finger Cookies

Party Activities

Whenever you invite a bunch of young children to a party, especially one with lots of sugary candy, you have got to offer them lots of fun things to do with their energy. I love to marry my party theme with fun Halloween party activities. Always keep prizes on hand; it will inspire all of the shy guys and girls to participate. Here are some great ideas for kids Halloween party activities:

Make your own house into a "haunted house"
Contest and prize for the best costume
Storytelling
Put on a Halloween cartoon DVD
Decorate your own candied apple
Carve and decorate your own pumpkin
Have a pumpkin hunt (similar to an Easter egg hunt)
Play Halloween Hot potato with a pumpkin or gourd
Have the adults dress in costumes too!
Halloween yo-yos
Halloween Character Finger Puppets
Ghost Dartboard
Face painting
Bubble Blowing
Make your own pumpkin masks with foam paper or paper plates
Pumpkin patch toss with carved out pumpkins and ping-pong balls