Halloween Birthday Party for 4-year-olds

[Picklemom]

I'm throwing a Halloween-themed birthday party for my twins who are turning 4. I'm having it in our small home, and trying to keep it small (8-10 children, including my kids, maximum) and simple. At the same time, I don't want to leave out something that's expected. I'd appreciate any perspectives on the following.

1: How much food do I need to provide? Are cupcakes + gingerbread treats, some other Halloween themed goodies, sweets, and juice drinks adequate? The party is on a Saturday afternoon from 2-3:30. All of the birthday parties around here seem to provide sandwiches or a full meal, but I chose the mid-afternoon time partly because I wanted to avoid the fuss of serving a lot of food.

2: What are your favorite party games for this age group? I figure we should have about 1 hour worth of games, and I'm thinking we'll do Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin, Duck Duck Ghost, Monster Mash Dance Contest, and a Halloween themed Piñata. But I think we'll need a few extra activities to round out the list--what works best for 4 year olds? Bonus points if you can give it a Halloween twist.

[HorryIsUpduffed]

You don't need much food. Have you seen the various Halloween themed supermarket foods, eg Mr Kipling cakes of various kinds, or ghost gingerbreads, or skeleton Mini Babybels?

I had a small Halloween do for my 4yo last year before trick-or-treating. We had cupcakes with "scary" faces on, and hot dogs (made with butcher sausages not salty tinned nasties). Fancy dress occupied a lot of time as they were so giddy about dressing up. Bit of musical bumps and free dancing.

Maybe a treasure hunt? Hide trick-or-treating goodies and give them a party bag to fill? Pass the parcel with tasks/forfeits in layers rather than Haribo?

Ninety minutes is no time at all for a children's party, honestly.

Oh, and definitely ginger cake or parkin with tea/coffee for the parents who will stay

[cravingcake]

You could do a dress the mummy game. Either you, another willing mum or older child/sibling (possibly two) has to stand there and the kids have a very cheap roll of loo roll each or 2 per team and have to wrap the 'mummy' as quickly as they can. Either set a time limit & the mummy with the most coverage or creatively decorated, or the first team/person to use all their paper first wins a treat prize (chocolate), the other team or people get a trick prize (sour sweets).

[Picklemom]

I suspected I might have made the party time too short... but I also feel these things go best when they are short and sweet, and anyway people are going to linger late no matter what we do.

Thanks for the comments--the dress the mummy game might work well, and the food suggestions are also helpful.

[chanie44]

I did the mummy loo role game at my Halloween part last year. It went down a storm. Probably more to do with the fact that it turned into a loo roll fight and they threw paper all over the room. I made them clear it up and it only took a few minutes.