October birthdays are the perfect time to throw a Halloween-themed party. Even young children can get in the spirit of the party, so long as you can tone the scary parts down a bit. This year my children, turning 3 and 6, decided they wanted their annual combined birthday bash to have a spooky theme. I will share how I was able to give them a memorable party without breaking the bank.
Invitations
I have always felt that sending out proper invitations to a party is very important. To save money this year we made our own cards out of construction paper. My children love arts and crafts so I asked them to help me cut ghost shapes out of white paper and glue it to black paper, black triangles glued to orange paper to make a pumpkin card and a circle with legs coming off it for a spider card. I printed directions and party details on regular printer paper and we glued them to the inside of the cards before mailing them off to their guests.
Decorations
There are tons of cute Halloween crafts that you can do with your children that can double as decorations for your party. We made ghosts out of paper plates and white crepe paper. Simply add black circles for the eyes and mouth, and then glue on the stripes of crepe paper about 12 inches long to the bottom of the plate. Add a piece of string and hang in a doorway or in our case from tree limbs.
Instead of buying the more expensive decorative ghost bags from the store, we chose to make our own out of a regular household trash bag. Simply cut a section of bag large enough so that you can stuff a crumpled up piece of newspaper in the center, and then wrap a rubber band beneath it to make a ghost head. Draw black circles for eyes and mouths and hang from string in your party area.
The possibilities for homemade decorations are endless from construction paper bats to spiders made out of pipe cleaners and even an imitation graveyard made out of cardboard cut out head stones. Any of these ideas could also double as activities to have during party time so that the children could take them home as well.
Tricks and Treats
Our treat table consisted of witch hat cupcakes, pumpkin shaped rice crispy treats with tootsie rolls for stems, and caramel apples for each of the kids to take home. We also made homemade glow in the dark slime for take home party favors.
To entertain our guests we decided to set up an obstacle course complete with a “spider web” (simply a couple of ropes wrapped around two trees) that the kids had to climb through Mission Impossible style. I like having the children work in teams so that not just one child wins a prize. Another great activity to consider would be to have a small pumpkin or gourd for each child to decorate with markers, glue, and glitter or foam pieces.
One of the best parts of the Halloween party is having all the guests wear their costume so that they can get one extra use out of them. Our party was a huge hit and yours will be too!
More by this contributor:
Toddler Birthday Party Ideas: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
“Jake and the Neverland Pirates” Kid’s Birthday Party Ideas
Christmas Party Ideas for Preschoolers
