Halloween Party Activities

Whether your preschooler is too young to appreciate the door-to-door trick or treating of Halloween or you're looking for ways to make the holiday even more festive, hosting a Halloween party is sure to be a hit at your house!

Activities

Here are a few great activities to try during your Halloween party.

• Best Costume. Judge costumes and award prizes.
• Pumpkin Painting. Purchase small pumpkins so that each guest can decorate his or her own pumpkin. Use paints, markers, pipe cleaners, pom-poms, etc. to decorate.
• Gore ‘n Guts. Blindfold guests and have them stick their hands inside bowls filled with everyday things. For example, peeled grapes in cold water with ice. Tell guests they are touching eyeballs. Or overcook some spaghetti noodles and add them to Jell-O to make guts. A bowl of gore is easily made with a mixture of fresh chopped tomatoes and tomato paste.
• Apple Bob and Dangle. Place apples in a container of water and have guests try to fish them out without using their hands. Add plastic and rubber insects, spiders and snakes to make things a little creepier. You can also hang apples from a string and have guests try to take a bite without using their hands.
• Trick or Treat. Make twelve small cardboard ghosts labeling 10 of them "trick" and 2 of them "treat". For each "trick" ghost, also write a silly trick (such as howl like a werewolf, cackle like a witch, etc). Place ghosts in a large plastic pumpkin. Guests take turns pulling them from the pumpkin. If they get "trick" then they must perform the trick to earn a prize. If they get "treat", they get a prize.

Goodies

No party is complete without snacks, so here are a couple of goodies to serve at your party.

• Toasted pumpkin seeds. Let seeds from your pumpkin dry overnight. Next, spread seeds in a single layer onto a greased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with salt (or other seasoning) and roast at 250 degrees for about an hour, mixing occasionally. Let cool and serve.
• Caramel apples. Insert Popsicle sticks into the stem end of the apples. Melt caramels on a medium-low heat or in a microwave (as per directions on the package). Dip apples into caramel. Drain off excess caramel and place apples on wax paper. Place in the fridge to set. You can also try rolling the apples in nuts while the caramel is still warm.

By Rochelle Strauss