Q: My son Reid will turn 5 in early January. Of course, we're already discussing this birthday party. He loves Halloween and so has asked for a Halloween-themed birthday party. I plan to buy up supplies and decorations at post-Halloween clearance sales. But do you have any other suggestions? Especially, how to combine his birthday with the Halloween theme--decorations, invitations, etc.?
Sent by Beth
Editor: We've all got Halloween on the brain now so it's a perfect time to pose this question - readers, what do you think?
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Well, it goes without saying that it should be a costume party! What fun!
We recently did a fall theme for our little pumpkin's 1st birthday. It fit well.
Maybe gather some costumes on sale after Halloween and do a dress-up photo booth?
What exactly is it that he loves about Halloween? The scary part? Because then you could do a sort of "monster" themed party, or ghosts, or vampires (surely there's LOTS of vampire stuff out there right now). It wouldn't have to specifically be Halloween. Or is it the costumes? Because, depending on your religious viewpoint, January is the beginning of the Carnival season, where in many other countries people go to costume balls or parties all the way up until Mardi Gras (Jan. 6 to March 8 in 2011). (Obviously you don't have to be religious to celebrate Carnival, but it's technically kind of a Catholic thing.)
Any chance you could get the parents to dress up, too? Kids LOVE it when their parents get dressed up in costumes.
oh photo booth idea is cute!
since we grew up in a "not quite safe" neighborhood, my parents always threw a party and all us kids went trick or treating from bedroom door to bedroom door. we loved it! given january temperatures, this would be a fun "game."
You could focus on one specific aspect of Halloween, such as monsters, spiders, etc. I always like to give CDs out as favors, with kid songs relating to the theme. My friend did this recently with a monster party she threw and there were some great songs on there-- Purple People Eater; Monster Mash, etc.
Spooky stories pajama party? With shadow theatre.
All of these are fantastic ideas! Kids love anytime they can get a giant bag of candy! lol.
Tip - Be sure to check with parents for allergies their kids may have before buying candy. IE: Peanuts, etc.
We just threw a "spook costume party" for my six year old! He's always loved spooky and scary stuff. We made one room a "haunted house" and then had another room for some simple games (and for those not brave enough for the haunted house). Everyone came in costume and the kids and adults loved it.
For invitations, I always recommend punchbowl.com, they have a ton of designs and its really customizable. I love that they look like "real" invites. I find with evites I get more rsvp's and its much easier than trying to track down everyones address and mail them!
I agree that you should find out what it is about Halloween that he loves. If it's the scary stuff, then a "scary" movie, "gross" snacks, and spider webs would be fun.
I recently witnessed a fun birthday party in the park where the attendants decorated capes and then wore them for the rest of the party. All appeared to have a blast. You could do the same with masks, etc.
Ditto pp about checking allergies before buying candy. Of course, that goes for non-Halloween themed parties as well, but my daughter has a peanut allergy and Halloween gives me nervous breakdowns so the two go hand in hand in my mind.