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Halloween is one of my favorite holidays! I will preface this post with the fact that I am not a parent. I’m an aunt, but that’s neither here nor there. Whether you’re getting littles ready for a night of trick or treating or hosting a party.
Parties of Halloweens Passed
I get my Halloween love honestly. The dad-man and pure nostalgia to blame for that. He started decorating the front yard of his house when he bought it in the early 90s.
As me and the twin human were growing up he and my mom (and the rest of our chosen family some years) would throw Halloween parties every year we were in school. This started when we were the ripe of age of five and our entire class was invited. It became our thing, everyone seemed to know that it was coming, but the theme changed yearly. We did a mad science lab, black light glowing maze, murder mystery, full haunted manor style sit down dinner; you name it!
What didn’t change… much, was the food. The original menu was mummy dogs, tater tots, veggie tray, vampire punch, worms in dirt cups and spider web dip.
Halloween Party Menu
This menu isn’t exactly that. It is a more rounded version of the original menu that fits the taste of my house more than a house filled with kids.
Stuffed Pepper Jack O’Lanterns
The Jack O’ Lantern peppers are just my classic stuffed peppers, using orange peppers instead of green. You carve a little face into the side of the pepper if you so wish.
They’re really more like potato skins with the toppings, but they are easy to make and easier to save and reheat if you don’t eat them all in one sitting.
This dip is wildly simple to whip up if you want a 7-layer dip, but not really haha. It’s guacamole, cream cheese, salsa and sour cream layered on top of each other. So, arguably, easier to get all the layers in one bite than a 7-layer dip.
Spooky tortilla chips
These are totally optional, they do take a while so usually I’ll just get bagged tortilla chips, different colors if I’m feeling zesty.
This is a nostalgic one for me. I’m always surprised that a lot of people have never heard of it. I grew up with this dessert. But, say la vie, I might as well talk about it now. They’re about as easy of a dessert as they come. You get a couple different boxes of instant chocolate pudding mix (or a chocolate and another flavor you like) and make it up. It has to be instant pudding mix and the finished cups have to be well chilled so the chocolate cream cookies soften between the layers.
Sherbet Punch
My family calls it vampire punch because it used fruit punch and we only made it at Halloween. It has gotten very sweet for me over the years, but I still like to indulge in it once a year.
Games & Goodies
Bopping for Apples
Granted, I grew up doing bobbing for apples in water because Arizona can be toasty even in the fall. But this simple apples on a string game is sure to delight.
Boo Bags
I always use paper lunch sacks, Halloween stamps and good old crayons to decorate the bags. To turn it into an activity, have your baby bats decorate their bag and have a table with a variety prepackaged treat, and gift bag fillers.
Monster Hand Popcorn bags
This is more of a little monsters type of activity, but they’re so cute. Take large food service gloves, candy corn and large(ish) vats of your favorite flavor popcorn (I like using cheesy caramel corn). Have the little ghost put a candy in the tip of each finger, then scoop popcorn into the fingers and hand. Tie it off at the top and it’s ready to take home.
This Halloween Party plan is by no means exhaustive, nor complicated. You can mix, match and change things to your whim to create the best party experience for your guests.
