Easy planning A family Halloween party

**Collaborative post**

I was never really a fan of Halloween, mainly because it wasn’t something we did growing up. We weren’t into the whole trick or treating, and I even remember my parents blacking out the door window when I was in my teens, pretending not to be home when they came knocking at the door.

I’m sure they opened it when I was younger, but to be honest, I really don’t remember.

Now I have my children, my mind has certainly been changed a little; I’m still not keen on trick or treating; however, they have been out with their Dad and Uncle to do it, and they love dressing up and opening the door to all the kids who come here.

For me, I think Halloween parties are the way forward. No knocking at random houses and worrying whether they are happy to have children turning up, no wandering around in the dark, and it’s far warmer indoors!

I love nothing better than planning a party, from choosing the theme, making the food and making up party bags for all. With Halloween just around the corner, the Personalised Gifts Shop has taken the hassle out of it all by creating an easy-to-pull-off party planning list.

Starting with a checklist of things to make for a happy family Halloween.

My kids love decorating Pumpkins for Halloween, but I hate preparing the Pumpkins ready for the kids. Every year I vow to leave this job to Paul, but I always do it anyway.

This year, I plan to take the kids to Willows Farm, where they can pick their own. It’s something I have wanted to do every year, but time escapes us, and by the time I remember, there are none left.

Of course, the kids are too young to carve their own designs; instead, I let them draw their own designs with a pen, and I carve it for them. We also use metal cookie cutters to make shapes with ease. This year I may let the kids paint them instead of going to all that hassle – and I can even get away with not having to scoop out the insides too!

To get into the ‘spirit’ (sorry it had to be done), you can plan a week’s worth of family Halloween-type movies:

• Hocus Pocus
• The Witches
• Labyrinth
• The Addams Family
• Nightmare Before Christmas
• Corpse Bride
• Casper
• Beetlejuice
• Hotel Transylvania
• Harry PotterYou can find another list of Halloween movies in this post.

Party games for Halloween:

• Pin the spider on the web
• Apple bobbin
• Halloween style Bingo
• Ghost Skittles – we made toilet roll snowman skittles, which could easily be adapted to become ghosts
• Treasure hunt
• Mummies – use toilet rolls and team up to wrap one team member up as a mummy.
• For other ideas, head over to My Life and Kids, which lists 30 awesome Halloween games for kids.

Halloween music playlist:

• Thriller
• Monster Mash
• Dem Bones
• Ghostbusters
• I put a spell on you
• Addams Family
• Time Warp
• I want candy

Decorating the house

You could either go with not dusting for a few months at a time or there are loads of shops which sell webs, skeletons, ghosts and Halloween decorations. Poundland or similar stores often have very cheap ideas and you could easily decorate the house for a tenner!

You could also make your own if you felt inclined. We love to make PomPom spiders and hang around the house – see how to make your own here.