Some parents are overly protective and they don't want to let their kids go trick or treating. If you are one of those parents, you have to find some other ways to make them have fun and here are a few options.
The first is get in touch with your local community or recreation center to find out if they have any planned activities for Halloween. They may have a costume party or a night filled with games for everyone to enjoy.
For those who don't want their kids to go trick or treating in the streets, their kids can still do this by going to the mall. This is because some shopping malls encourage their tenants to provide candies and other goodies for shoppers. There are also costume parades and contests which the kids will love to watch and maybe win a few prizes.
If you live in a small town, chances are there is an activity for the evening like perhaps a dance or a concert.
You can also go with your kids and visit a haunted house. This event is usually sponsored by the local community to raise funds and what they do is rent a house for the evening, decorate the place and scare people all in the spirit of fun.
For people who don't want to go out and just stay at home, let the people come instead by hosting a Halloween party. You can plan it weeks in advance so you have time to buy the decorations, stock up on food and send out the invitations.
You and yours kids can then spend quality time together by putting the decor up like hang fake spider webs through the entry way after cutting them out using black construction paper, put out tombstones made from Styrofoam that can be made or purchased from craft stores and of course pumpkins which you can carve out yourself.
As for sounds, you can download a few songs as we all sound effects into you MP3 player then just put speakers around the house. To create a foggy atmosphere when people approach your home, buy some dry ice.
The only way your guests will have a good time is to make sure there is a lot of food and drinks to go around. So they don't bored, plan a few games and activities that everyone can participate in. One game you would love is apple bobbing where you put a bunch of apples in the bathtub or basin and then let the participants pick it up using their teeth.
As for dinner, serve spaghetti that look like eyeballs, tomato soup and a few other dishes that are ideal for the occasion.
Since there will be kids attending the party, make sure there are games for them as well. One game could be pin the skeleton which is very similar to pin the donkey. You can also bake caramel apples so the kids can just grab them when they want another one.
Because kids love candy, be sure that there are plenty of them around. Don't forget to thank everyone for coming by preparing loot bags that they can bring home.
Planning and hosting a Halloween party takes a lot of work but its all worth it if everyone was able to have a good time. The only thing to do now when the party is over is clean up and return things to the way they were.