My girlfriend's son Matthew is turning six in late October and she asked me if I had any birthday party ideas that were suitable for children between the ages of 5 to 8. She wanted something outside so there wouldn't be a lot of clean-up, and wanted to use her backyard before the weather started changing. I thought of ways to tie in a holiday theme to throw an unforgettable Halloween Carnival Party!
Decorations:
1. Balloons in orange and purple (about a dozen or more depending on the size of the yard). Take 2 orange ballons and 2 purple balloons and tie them together, anchoring them with a balloon weight. Place them around the backyard.
2. Purchase several pumpkins and carve them (up to 3 days ahead of time) in spooky character faces. Pumpkin Carving 101 is a terrific site for carving the perfect pumpkin.
3. Hang colorful Mardi Gras-style paper lanterns from the trees. They add drama and much needed light as the days get shorter and things start to dim by 3 or 4 o'clock.
4. Party Supplies USA is a great site to purchase your paper goods (plates, napkins, cup, etc.). They have a huge selection at reasonable prices.
5. Go to the local grocery store and ask for large boxes that they would ordinarily discard. Decorate them to look like carnival booths for games and food setup. Use orange, black and purple paint, to make vertical stripes down the box. You can also add crepe paper and tissue in your color scheme. Let your children help and have fun with it!!
Food:
A carvnival is not complete without the following:
1. Hotdogs/Corndogs
2. Soft Pretzels
3. A Variety Of Chips
4. Cotton Candy
5. Popcorn
6. Candy Apples (prepare the candy apples ahead of time if you decide to go homemade)
Activities:
1. Carnival games. The Oriental Trading Company is a wonderful site to purchase your games (inflatable spider ring toss, pumpkin ring toss, balloon dart game, etc). Guests who play the games get small prizes (pencils, erasers, stickers, candy, etc). Larger prizes can be given for winning the games (slinky's, sidewalk chalk, coloring books, crayons, etc). Oriental Trading also offers a variety of great prizes and party favor ideas.
2. Tattoos and Face Decals.
3. Halloween themed Pinatas. Make this the last activity of the day. Give each guest a party loot to fill with the candy from the pinata. This makes a perfect take home goodie bag.
4. No Halloween Party is complete without costumes! Don't forget to tell your guests to come dressed in their most creative costumes!!
Important Notes:
Start planning at least a month in advance. Reserve your rentals, and order all specialty items early in case anything is on backorder. Send out invitations 2 to 3 weeks in advance.
Take lots of pictures to capture the memorable moments. Take a group picture and use that for a keepsake Thank You note!
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
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