Halloween is just around the corner, so it’s the perfect time to plan a spooktacular celebration that your guests won’t forget.
Whether you’re planning a family-friendly gathering for children of all ages or an adults-only soirée, here are our pro tips that will show you how to host a Halloween party that’s fun for all involved.
5 Family-Friendly Halloween Party Ideas and Tips
Hosting a Halloween party that both kids and adults will love requires you to strike the right balance of fun and excitement for everyone while ensuring everything is safe for little ones.
Here are five ideas that guarantee a ghoulishly good time.
1. A Child-Friendly Halloween Party Theme
Is Halloween not a theme?
It is, but it’s also very general – so it pays to be more specific.
Fun Halloween party themes that can cater to all ages include:
- Superheroes – get youngsters to dress as heroes and the adults as villains. Bonus points for parents who come as their child’s nemesis!
- Pumpkin Patch – Set up a pumpkin patch either indoors or outdoors for pumpkin carving and decorating and pumpkin-based games. Check out our Home Hobbies range for paints and other craft inspirations.
- Monster Mash Bash – Decorate your home with friendly-looking monsters and decorations.
2. Getting Decorative
Making your space spooky yet suitable for all ages is straightforward.
You can create your own décoror get the kids at the party to create their own bats and ghoulish-looking cutouts. Our Printer Paper range has loads of colorful options if you want to keep things really child-friendly.
Black balloons are an excellent buy for keeping things simple – why not provide silver markers, too, so little ones can draw their own spooky designs onto the balloons?
3. Interactive Activities
A good measure of success for any children’s or family party is how few youngsters ask, “is it time to go home now?”
In addition to considering games and a pumpkin decoration station like suggested above, try a treasure hunt with clues and chocolate and candy rewards – a worthy substitute for trick or treating!
But the biggest thing you need is to have a costume competition! Whether you do it via an actual vote or just have a prize for all the children who come in costume – in keeping with your theme – this is a great way to bring energy to your party and always creates plenty of talking points.
4. Get Creative with Your Snacks and Treats
Preparing festive food is a must for any themed party, and there is lots you can do that will be easy for the kids to get involved with making, too.
- Monster Mouths can be great fun. These work best with apple slices paired with peanut butter and marshmallows to look like a scary set of teeth. As an alternative to making them yourself, just cut out two or three sections of apple and provide a range of teeth choices for kids to make their own.
- Use fruit juice to create a scary-looking Witch’s Brew Punch – or a range of colorful potion-like options. Add fruit or gummy worms, depending on how healthy you want your punch to be!
- Provide healthy snacks like ghost-shaped sandwiches or veggies chopped up like pumpkins. Why not cook up a tray of different varieties of pumpkin for others to try, too?
5. Don’t Forget the (Other) Entertainment
On top of everything else you’ve done so far, put the cherry on top of your Halloween cake by finding a Halloween playlist on your favorite music streaming service – or inviting your guests to collaborate and curate your own – and ensure you choose some age-appropriate Halloween movies, too. These can be great to have on a TV in a separate room for kids who don’t like the busy party vibe.
5 Adult Halloween Party Ideas and Tips
Are you hosting a Halloween party just for adults?
Then you can ramp things up on the spooky scale and create a more edgy event.
Here are five ideas to help you do just that.
1. Getting Scary with Your Theme
If you don’t need to be family-friendly with your theme or worry about little ones bumping into things, you have a lot of creative license!
Why not try:
- A haunted mansion using gothic elements, eerie lighting, and potentially even some “jump scares”?
- Hosting a Masquerade Ball if you want to do something more elegant and not entirely focused on Halloween.
- A Zombie Apocalypse theme if you’d rather embrace the festivities in full. Assign everyone as a zombie or survivor and use this as a starting point for fun and games throughout the night.
2. Grown-up Décor
Candles are a must for an all-adult party, whether you choose seasonal scents or buy just enough to create an eerie glow throughout your home.
Other than that, just go as “all in” with your theme as you possibly can, be that with decorations like spider webs and spooky netting or even hiring a low-lying fog machine to make the floor disappear
3. Costume Contest (and Roast!)
When it's just grown-ups at your party, you don't need to worry too much about "prizes for everyone."
By all means, still have a costume contest if your theme allows it.
And after you’ve had a few drinks and everyone is in the party mood, why not judge it by making the winner the person who best stands up to their appearance being roasted?
4. Spiked Drinks
Ensure you provide a selection of mocktails, juices, and water for those who prefer not to consume alcohol.
“Blood Sangria” is a must, or you can make a spiked Witch’s Brew that can be your own cocktail or a classic with a Halloween twist. Buy black wine glasses or goblets for people to drink from, or use black or dark brown sugar around the rims of traditional glasses.
And to take things into the realm of truly scary, buy eyeball molds to create your ice cubes, too!
5. Spooky Finger Foods
Adults-only means a lower chance of needing to cater to fussy eaters. Still, you should, of course, keep dietary preferences and needs in mind.
As always, you should try to keep your theme in mind, but you can offer sophisticated snacks whatever type of party you're planning to throw this Halloween.
Consider:
- Charcuterie boards with dark fruits, cheeses, and meats for a gothic feel – bonus points if you can serve them on silver platters!
- Themed finger foods with a spooky twist - we're thinking deviled eggs with a gooey filling and stuffed mushrooms with ground beef made to look like guts.
- A chocolate fountain or something similar if there's less risk of a mess. You can keep this traditional or opt for dark or red chocolate, depending on your preferred approach!
Final Halloween Party Hosting Tips
Whether you are hosting a Halloween party for adults or kids – or something family-friendly, follow these final tips to help guarantee success:
- Plan ahead, send your invitations out early with all the details included, and ask people to RSVP by a specific date.
- Buy any decorations or crafts early so you're not rushing to find Halloween essentials at the last minute.
- Check that your smart speaker, docking station, or whatever you use to play music works.
- Create a clean-up plan for after the party, or even consider making “keeping things tidy” a way to win prizes for youngsters.
- Enjoy yourself! That’s what parties are for, so make sure you throw yourself into the festivities and make the most of what you created for everyone else!
And there you have it – everything you need for a successful Halloween party, whoever you’re entertaining.
Happy Halloween!
