Halloween can, for many children, be one of the most exciting times of the year. But if you’re an adult looking to prepare for the big occasion, it can be difficult to know how to make things slightly spooky without veering into outright scariness. After all, we want things to be fun for kids – and sometimes, kids can scare a bit more easily than grown-ups.
Choose a Light-Hearted Halloween Theme
A truly memorable Halloween party tends to have a specific theme. This is what will help set it apart from all of the other Halloween events. Here is your chance to be explicit about the tone you’re trying to set. If you base your party around ‘friendly ghosts’, then you’ll explicitly rule out the more terrifying sorts of ghosts. The theme should inform every element of your party, from the music to the food. Also, it will help your guests to decide what costumes to wear.
Speaking of food, this is a great chance to get small children to be a little bit more adventurous with what they eat. If you can persuade children to take the step and eat explicitly sinister or ghoulish cuisine during Halloween, then you might have an easier time persuading them to be adventurous during dinnertime at other times of the year.
Use Soft Lighting and Gentle Sound Effects
The use of special effects can be a powerful way to set the Halloween mood. Here, you can steer clear of loud noises and strobe lights in favour of more subtle, slightly sinister, or even hokey music and colours.
Make use of purpose-made Halloween lights that can help add an eery glow whilst fitting in seamlessly with the rest of your décor.
Kid-Friendly Halloween Decorations
The Halloween decorations you choose should be comprehensible to children, and not too scary. If you reference horror films that they won’t have seen, then you might end up alienating and confusing them. A better approach might be to go for traditional, familiar decorations like carved pumpkins.
Of course, decorating is something that children can get involved in. When kids have an idea of how a given decoration was created, they might be able to appreciate it that little bit more – and you’ll be able to avoid major scares.
Create Engaging, Non-Scary Activities
There are certain Halloween games and activities that kids will naturally enjoy. You might cordon off a particular area of the party for the aforementioned crafts and decorations. Pumpkin carving is a classic – as is apple-bobbing. You might also arrange activities based on your chosen Halloween theme – like a scavenger hunt. One great way to help children overcome any uneasiness is to provide them with a way to solve a spooky mystery. As an added bonus, you get the fun of coming up with games and activities, yourself.
