Whatever your age Halloween is a time for fun. And it’s the perfect time for a party.

Arriving with your face painted increases the fun element. Particularly if you match it with a fancy dress costume. And a do-it-yourself outfit is fine. You don’t have to hire a costume. Read more about easy face painting

Some of the most popular face painting designs for Halloween are ghost, vampire, the devil, wolf, cat and a skull. For more inspiration check out halloween face painting

Here are some suggestions for kids party games. Remember to consider the age group of children that will be attending the party. Some party games can be age specific.

*Freeze
Put on some music. Avoid creepy sound effects if very young children are attending the party. The children start dancing. When the music stops the children have to stand still. Anyone caught moving during the freeze is out of the game. A variation requires the children to strike a pose when the music stops. Before the music starts again they’re told what they must be when the music stops. It might be a a broomstick, a pumpkin etc.

*Pass The Pumpkin
This is a variation on “pass the parcel”. The children stand or sit in a circle. Put on some suitable Halloween music and the children start passing round the pumpkin. The child holding the pumpkin when the music stops is eliminated from the game. The game continues until only one child is left.

* Pumpkin Penny Toss
Before the party carve out a large pumpkin and have a large opening at the top. For this game each child is given the same amount of pennies. Taking it in turns each child stands behind spin]the designated mark|a markerattempts to throw the penny into the pumpkin. For each successful throw the child wins a piece of Halloween candy.

* Bite The Apple
Ducking for apples is a popular Halloween party game but it ruins those beautiful face painting designs. This variation keeps the participants dry. The children have to try and take a bite out of a hanging apple. For an indoor game, tie a piece of string to the each apple stem and then loop it securely over a broomstick. The broom stick is placed at a suitable height. For an outdoor game suspend the apples from a suitable tree branch.

* Skeleton Scavenger Hunt
Before the kids arrive hide skeleton parts around the house and/or backyard. The parts can be handmade or purchased from a toy shop of craft shop. Form the children up into teams and allow them a limited amount of time to collect as many skeleton parts as they can. The team that discovers the most skeleton parts is the winner.

* The Wiggly Worm
The children are divided into teams of equal numbers. Between 7 and 10 is best. Each team forms a line, one standing behind another. To create the worm the child at the head of each line puts their left hand between their legs and the child behind holds it with their right hand. This is repeated right down the line. When you call out “boo” the teams must run around a designated marker and back. The team that returns to the start line first wins. Naturally they must retain their “worm” shape.

Prizes for winning a game do not have to be candy. Other possibilities might be homemade spooky faced cookies, a scary mask or Halloween themed pencils.

Decorating the home in a Halloween theme does not have be expensive. There are so many items you can make simply and cheaply at home.

A great way to restrict guests to certain rooms of the home is to put up handmade “Keep Out – Haunted Room” banners across those rooms that you don’t want the children to enter.

As already mentioned co-ordinating a Halloween costume with a face painting design really helps kids get into the Halloween mood. And remember the younger kids generally don’t like anything too scary. There are children’s face painting ideas for every age group of children. Make sure you practice your chosen Halloween face painting design before the day of the party.

Make it a great Halloween party!

This entry was posted on Friday, September 18th, 2009 at 11:45 am and is filed under Parenting Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.