Hey girl, today let's chat about the best Halloween party ideas that will take your party from great to completely unforgettable.
Planning a Halloween party can be daunting, especially when kids are coming. As a mom of 4 kids, I am going to tell you my favorite Halloween party ideas for kids of all ages.
You are going to learn about Halloween invitations, Halloween games, Halloween activities for kids, Halloween food, and so much more.
After learning about all of these Halloween party ideas, you will be able to host the most amazing Halloween party your kids will ever have (yet).
Let's get started with these epic Halloween party ideas.
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Best Halloween Party Ideas
Last year my daughter wanted to try her hand at party planning, with a little help from me. She did an amazing job as host!!!
Our party had about 40 guests of all ages. Let's get party planning.
Halloween Party Location and Timing
Where you want to have your Halloween party is totally up to you. Your house, garage, or yard will be just fine!
We asked to have our party at my parent’s house since it has a large garage and was close to the majority of our guests. It turned out to be the best decision.
Pick a Saturday or Sunday close to Halloween.
Saturday worked best for us. The kids were so tuckered out, that they had Sunday to recover.
Start the party at a time that works for your guests.
There were quite a few kids 10 and under coming to our party so we chose to start the party at 2 p.m. This worked out great.
By the time 7:30 p.m. rolled around all of the kids were so tired that we ended the party. They all climbed into bed and got a normal night's sleep.
Halloween Invitations
Sending everyone a text message is fine for an invitation but if you want to take that extra effort pick up some invitations. And everyone loves getting snail mail, so why not?
Buying Halloween invitations will have space for all the information you need about your party.
Make it clear if you want it to be a costume party.
Ours was a costume party and everyone dressed up. It was so fun to see everyone’s costumes.
We also added on ours to bring a dish to pass and a bag of candy to stuff into the piñatas.
Halloween Decorations
How you decorate for your party is totally up to you.
These decorations are amazing. We used them at our party!
Halloween Food
Do you have quite a few people attending your party? Let them help bring some food, so you don’t have to do it all yourself.
My family was awesome with last year’s menu. Everyone brought something in a certain category and we ended up with more than enough.
We need to rein it in a bit for this year’s menu.
Here is what we had on our menu last year. It was going to be cold so we planned our menu around that and Halloween.
Halloween Food
2 Different Kinds of Soup
Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Hot Dogs
Extras
Buns
BBQ Sauce
Ketchup
Mustard
Relish
Halloween Snacks
Trail Mix
Individual Bags of Chips
Fruit
Vegetables
Halloween Desserts
Pumpkin Bars
Halloween Cupcakes
Various Cookies
Candy Corn
Halloween Drinks
Hot Apple Cider
Coffee
Bottled Water
Juice Boxes
Gatorade
Adult Beverages
Don't forget that you will need to have paper plates, utensils - forks, spoons, knives, cups, and napkins as well.
I forgot them once for my daughter's birthday party. What a scramble that was.
Halloween Party Activities for Kids
Have a few party activities in mind to keep the kids busy. Trust me, having activities at your party will keep kids busy and they will have a blast doing them.
Decorate Halloween Bags
As your guests start arriving, show the kids to a table where they can decorate a candy/treat bag.
We found these orange gift bags and Halloween stickers. Set out a pack of Crayola markers so the kids can put their names on the bag.
This was a great way to let the kids warm up to the party and keep them busy until everyone else arrives.
Bounce House
Kids will go nuts for a bounce house. If you have the room and the money to rent one, do it. You will not be sorry!
I have 7 siblings and we all chipped in money to rent a bounce house. The kids had such an amazing time and it kept them entertained and warm all afternoon.
Pinatas
You can set out bowls of candy for the kids or you can have them take swings at a piñata instead. The kids will have a ton more fun with the piñatas!
We knew we had a bunch of kids coming so we got this monster piñata and this ghost piñata.
On our invitation, we asked every family to bring a bag of Halloween candy for the piñatas.
Our contribution was a bag of candy like this.
Halloween Scavenger Hunt
If you are taking the time to decorate for your Halloween party, you can put up some extras and make a scavenger hunt for your guests.
I have never seen anyone back away from doing a scavenger hunt.
Don’t want to take the time to make your own? See my article: A Halloween Scavenger Hunt Your Kids Will Love
Decorating Pumpkins
Everyone at your party can enjoy decorating pumpkins.
There are so many different ways to do it. Your guests can carve them, paint them, use stickers and so much more.
Carving Pumpkins
Painted Pumpkins
Pumpkin Stickers
You are going to love these pumpkin stickers!
They are fantastic and stick for so long, even when you leave your pumpkins out in the weather.
Halloween Games
There are so many Halloween games that you could have set up at your party. Whichever ones you pick, I know they will be a hit.
We had 3 games at our party - Pumpkin Bowling, Water Wiggler Toss, and Ring Toss.
This was more than enough since we had other activities going on.
Pumpkin Bowling
Set up these bowling pins. Use some small round pumpkins as bowling balls.
Have the kids stand back 5 to 10 feet depending on their age and let the pumpkins roll!
Playing 3 frames, or rounds is about right for the kid's attention span.
Water Wigglers
These water wigglers will do the trick for this game.
Every player needs a partner. Dip the water wiggler into soapy water (or not if the kids playing are little).
Start close together and toss the water wiggler back and forth. If you catch it, you are still in the game and you need to take a step back. Drop it and you are out.
I am partial to Dawn dish soap myself. If you do not have any extra buckets or containers lying around for the soapy water, I like these collapsible buckets.
Ring Toss
Ring toss is an easy game that everyone loves to try and win.
You will need glow stick necklaces and pumpkins for this game.
Halloween Photo Booth
If you are going to have a Halloween party, I highly, highly, highly recommend putting together a photo booth area!
This was so much fun and everyone wanted to have their picture taken. It was a great way to capture everyone in their costumes!
Our theme for the photo booth last year was Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin.
We took the time to paint some life-sized cutouts of Charlie Brown, Sally, Linus, and Snoopy. My Dad helped to zip tie giant yard stakes to the back of them so they could stand up.
The photo booth area was set up in a spot that had a nice backdrop but was also in the mix of the whole party so no one would miss it.
2 hay bales were placed in front of our cut-out characters for a place to sit. And we gathered all the leaves we could to place on the ground.
After everyone decorated their pumpkins, they were put all around the photo booth area to make it even more festive.
It turned out so great that it is requested to be at our party this Halloween.
Halloween Dance Party
Get your party rocking with a dance party! I am sure you know how much kids love to dance.
You can either opt for this giant Bluetooth party speaker with lights (like my sister has) or you can go for this smaller Bluetooth Speaker (which is what I have).
Both are great options and can get turned up pretty loud.
HALLOWEEN PARTY IDEAS
Halloween Prizes
Here are some fabulous Halloween party extras that are just that, they are extra. You don’t need to have these but they sure are fun for prizes and such.
Outdoor Movie
And if you think you may need just one more party idea - try an outdoor movie (weather pending).
This is an amazing outdoor movie projector.
And if I could suggest 1 Halloween movie for kids it would have to be the classic - It's The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown.
This post was all about the best Halloween party ideas.
Leave a comment below about what you are going to include in your Halloween party. We love having our party every year and are always looking for new ideas to change things up for it.
I look forward to hearing from you and thanks for stopping by.