Not-So-Spooky Halloween Party

Confession: I don't like Halloween.  I hate all things creepy/spooky/gory.  But, it's so fun for kids to dress up and eat treats, so I don't want to be a total downer about it.  So, my husband and I thought a great solution would be to throw our own party to do Halloween our way.  Our daughter adores her cousins, so we invited family over for a good old fashioned party, complete with games for the big kids.  We all had a blast, and can't wait to do it again next year!

 Kids' party favors

 A little "trick or treating" for the adults.

 This picture turned out bad.  The sign was cuter, I swear :)

My oldest nephews during our bobbing for apples competition.  They rocked it!

In case you haven't noticed yet from the pictures, this party was in our GARAGE!  My side of the family has 22 people in it, so we need all the space we can get.  Our two car garage converts perfectly into a party room with an L shaped table (three folding tables) and a couple of tables for a buffet.  We kept things super easy with pizza, salad, fruit and dessert.  

A few tips and tricks:

1)  Plan your party with guests in mind.  We had kids ranging from 10 years to 10 months, so I planned four activities -- and prizes -- for the older kids and gathered some toys and fun snacks for the younger kids.  My family is also a big gift-giving family, so all the kids walked away with quite a haul.

2) Avoid candy.  I know this sounds crazy, but kids will be getting TONS of candy on actual Halloween, so we went with Target 1 Spot toys and party favors instead.  

3)  Keep it simple.  When you're doing a kids' party, they don't care about fancy serving dishes or recipes from the foodie blog you follow.  They care about fun!  We kept things fun with lots of activities, as well easy clean up foods and tables.

A few suggestions for party activities:

- Best costume competition

- Halloween Mad Libs

- Pumpkin painting (WAY cleaner than pumpkin carving, and no knives!)

- Bobbing for apples

- Make your own caramel apples

Happy Not-So-Spooky Halloween!!