7 yr olds bday/halloween party

[L]

My daughters birthday is halloween!!!
This year i want to throw her a halloween inspired party now thats shes at a good age for it, shes turning 8.
I know i want the kids in costume and i dont know how scary/creepy i can get without pissing fellow parents out.

So i need ideas for
-invitations (wording, ideas, anything!!)
-food(not snacks i have that handled, like real food)
-games(new, exciting, time consuming games)
-anything really for 7-8yr olds

should the parents stay? or should i shoo them out? I could make spooky cocktails for them but thats just like an extra party and extra money i dont want to spend. haha.

[kissthegirl]

I'd say unless some of those parents are your close friends as well, shoo them out!! a handful of 8 yr olds is just that, a handful. you dont need to feed/entertain adults too.

the latest issue of Martha Stewart living has some amazing ideas about halloween food and decor.  there's a yummy looking chocolate cake that looks like a haunted house.

as for activities, maybe pumpkin carving or painting? a pinata? having the kids roll each other up with toilet paper to make mummies?

[L]

Im often at marthas website. she has fantastic ideas i have used for the past couple years...

ill have to specify on the invitation NO PARENTS ALOUD!! haha

[MollyMillions]

Unless you need another parent with you to wrangle children, it might come in handy to have a few adults allowed.

[nikimac]

My son's second birthday is the day before Halloween so we're throwing a combo party too.  I'm not sure how much will apply for you, but we'd differ in the focus on kids (for mine parents would equally want to come).  You should definitely have the parents come trick-or-treating with you if you choose to do it on actual Halloween, but for games and costume contests and cake and presents, you shouldn't need more than 2 adults (depending on how many kids you have of course).  If you have a costume contest you should also have a prize for each kid (funniest, scariest, most realistic, most original, wildest, craziest, silliest, etc.).  Bobbing for apples is always fun, but kids tend to spit...a lot.  You can do a version called Dangling for Donuts where you tie donuts up on a string, and that's almost as fun.  You probably don't have a cider press, but if you do, it's super fun.  You should definitely do a Frankenstein's Lab (the grossout game).  I'm using the following for that:
•   Dried apricots – pieces of a tongue
•   Peeled grapes – eyeballs  (with cooked spaghetti noodles – worms)
•   Pumpkin guts - guts (with twisted pipe cleaners – spiders)
•   Peeled tomato – heart 
•   Oily cabbage leaves – skin (with overcooked rice in olive oil – maggots) 
•   Fresh green beans – knobby monster fingers
•   Candy corn – teeth 
And as I discovered just this past year, everybody loves a 3-legged race and pinata.  You can definitely do that, although again for fairness I would recommend putting all the pinata toys/candy into individual baggies for each kid.

Here's all my info about my party:

Timeline:
•   5:30 pm – trick or treating, start carving/decorating pumpkins, set out pizza
•   6:30 pm – bobbing for apples, continue decorating pumpkins, play games, answer door for trick-or-treaters, vote for costume contest
•   7:15 pm – cider pressing, cake and presents
•   7:45 pm – costume contest results
•   8:00 pm – everyone watches movies

Activities:
•   trick-or-treating
•   carving/decorating pumpkins (back porch)
•   bobbing for apples (carport)
•   cider pressing (carport)
•   hay rides (backyard)
•   Frankenstein’s lab game (garage)
•   cake and presents (living room/dining room)
•   costume & pumpkin contest (Best Kid’s – cat animal, Best Pumpkin – cat animal, Funniest – Groucho nose, Scariest – fake scars, Most Creative – magic wand)
•   watching movies (Great Pumpkin for babies in our bed, Hocus Pocus for kids on main level, Shaun of the Dead for adults on screen downstairs)

Food:
•   pizza
•   deviled eggs (deviled eggs with ketchup bloodshot)
•   mummy dogs (hot dog in crescent rolls)
•   bug juice (red punch with raisin ice cubes)
•   pumpkin patch cake (Oreo crust with gummi worms and marshmallow pumpkins with green icing for pumpkin vine words)
•   bake pumpkin seeds

Decorations:
•   apothecary jars in living room & dining room
•   creepy mice at baseboards (I got this from Martha Stewart)
•   spider webs
•   black lights
•   black & orange string lights in windows
•   window marker eyes
•   eyeball spiderweb “wreath”
•   spooky cat candelabra
•   face painting area

[L]

nikimac....holy crap thats all fantastic ideas!!!

thankyou so very much. i like the frankenstiens lab...its funny cuz im dressing up as frank this year

[smudgycat]

For the lab, the canned mini corn is great for witch fingers.  If you look in the asian food section, you can find cans of all sorts of interesting fruits that could double as creepy things.  Loquats, lychee, etc.  Oh, and if you have the large tapioca pearls (like for the bubble tea drinks), cook them up and call them newt eyes.  You could also make a pudding or tapioca with them and tint it green and serve it as a swamp dessert.

[L]

ohhh good ideas!!!! these kids are in for a great/gross party!!