Help.. inspiration required Halloween

[whynot93]

Ok, so I've been daft no question about it. I've hired a spooky chapel for my son's Halloween themed birthday party. The world and his wife are coming along (I've lost track completely who's invited).. it's a big space and has an adjoining bar lounge area so adults will be fine. Catering provided.. cake being made by my fab friend who's a professional at such things. But.. how the heck do I entertain them all. I have all day Wednesday to decorate the place and have been stock piling pound shop decorations for weeks. Need inspiration on songs and some party type games please.

Dunking for Apple's, donut on a string, maybe have a make and decorate your own toffee Apple table. Every Halloween party I went to as a kid always had stuff in a box (cooked spaghetti, rice, jelly, custard) and you had to put your hand in to try win a little toy or to guess what it was. Split the kids into teams, give them a few rolls of toilet paper and have an elderly guest choose the best mummy. Scouts used to do memory tray game where they showed you a tray of random objects from dollar store usually and then covered it and you had to remember what was on it (anything from creepy spider rings to car keys) and another game moving skittles from one plate to another plate using chopsticks. Is this along the right age range? How old is your DS? Songs can be Michael Jackson's Thriller, Monster Mash, and Purple People Eater.

Thanks! Some great suggestions there.. definitely doing the wrap a mummy with the toilet roll one 😆 I was thinking of an arts and crafts table so will get some stuff for that today. My son will be 6, the kids age range is 5-9 ish so a mixed bag.

Actually making me wish I was throwing a Halloween party now lol, for craft table get coloured string (cobwebs), tissues (ghosts) and more googly eyes than you can ever imagine. Also don't know if they will still be in stock but we got a light up BOO sign from Poundland for a fiver - they have a great range of halloween stuff.

Pin the wart on the witch’s nose (instead of a tail on a donkey). Sleeping vampires (lions).

Songs:
Monster mash, ghostbusters, gremlins theme tune, thriller, x files music, bat out of hell, little ghost (white stripes) that knee bones connected to the thigh bone song, wuthering heights, black magic by little mix.

Spirit in the sky, time warp.

Poundland has been amazing for stuff, I kid you not when I say I have a huge box of decorations including 2 of the BOO signs 😂 I went a bit mad on buying stuff and I feel a second wind coming on for more. Thanks for the song list, I'll be copying that out for the DJ.

Ooh, you lucky thing, sounds fab! It depends on your budget, but yes to apple dunking and all the lovely games others have suggested.

Also, have tables set up with different activities and instruction sheets (Pinterest is your friend here!) - pumpkin carving; make a Halloween puppet - www.pinterest.co.uk/pin/67272588153582667/?lp=true or www.schoolingamonkey.com/shadow-puppet-templates/

If you're after decorations have a look at your local charity shop as well - ours has a great display at the minute with a huge soft toy spider in a red waistcoat in the centre, then bits of cotton wool stretched around him to make webs, and fancy dress costumes and dolls and things around him.

Other activity ideas - keep the balloon in the air for as long as you can (I'm always amazed how people love that one); Hallowe'en themed charades or paper quiz with a small prize at the end for, say, the first back, the most accurate, the one with the best picture of a skeleton etc; guess how many sweets in the jar - closest guess wins the jar; some of our family used to have a game where you have a big black bag of clothes, hats, sunglasses etc, you all stand in a circle and someone plays a song as the bag is passed around, if you're holding the bag when the music stops you have to take an item out and wear it. Game stops when the bag is empty, winner is the one with the fewest or most clothes at the end.

Also, if these Youtube lists are any good go ahead and use them:

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBHb7QCHL6zPIwozmSArn2sMm1fbV7HGd - Halloweeny songs

www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBHb7QCHL6zMxfh60o2eq6g9YqPwPQPZo - I called it Retro dance party, it's more just daft dancey songs than anything else

Have a great time though.

Do you know the chocolate bar game? It's great for all ages. Everyone sits in a circle (might need 2 simultaneous games if you have loads of kids). In the middle of the circle is a large chocolate bar on a plate either unwrapped or not depending on how hard you want the game to be, a knife and fork, a hat and gloves (adult sized gloves make it trickier). Take it in turns to throw the dice, if you get a 6 you go to the middle of the circle put the hat and gloves on and start trying to eat the chocolate one square at a time cutting it into squares with the cutlery, meanwhile everyone else carries on throwing the dice and if someone gets a 6 they come to the middle and take the hat and gloves off the person who is wearing them and have a go at cutting and eating the chocolate. To make it more halloween themed you could use Halloween costume hat and gloves.

Get the lollipop (or variant) out of the flour heap - using your teeth only!
Oranges Under The Chin - kids in teams, standing in rows, they have to pass oranges down the line without using their hands, keeping them under their chins
Doughnuts on a string - Tie long lengths of string across the room, thread doughnuts on differing lengths of string from that, kids have to eat doughnuts off a string with their hands behind their backs
Hunt the pumpkin - small plastic pumpkins or something similar, everyone who finds one gets a small prize (like mini Haribo bag)

Make sure you have a balloon pump or two, an essential piece of kit imo

Wish I was having a Halloween party now