Halloween sets a tone of mystery, excitement, exhilaration, fun, silliness and the ever popular..... candy eating. Halloween is a time when you can become something that is a far cry from who you really are. Maybe you want to be a queen, a rock star, a model, football player, a Ninja warrior, ghoul, or how about Austin Powers...";Yeah Baby";. The sky is the limit and it is up to you how far you want to soar.

Halloween has become exceedingly popular in the past several years. There seems to be almost as many houses decorated with grave yards, orange lights, skeletons and blow up figures as there are decorations at Christmastime. It is really beautiful as well as creative. We should all enjoy this time!

Each year Halloween brings different ideas as what to do for the kiddies. Due to my love of the season I have (by accident) set up a situation as to where my children now expect "big doings" at our house. Ooooops try to avoid that if possible. There are many things you can do that are fun, unusual and on any budget you want. Remember these are kids they can have fun running in a circle. The mere fact that you are doing any Halloween thing can put you ahead of the eight ball. Below are a few ideas for Halloween fun. I will highlight two of them.

1. Kids costume party.** see below.

2. After school Halloween arts and crafts playdate.

3. Halloween cupcake, cookie or theme food playdate.

4. Haunted walk or hunt around the yard.

5. Halloween song caroling.

6. Pumpkin decorating.

7. Halloween story writing and sharing.

8. Halloween trivia playdate with prizes. Have kids make trivia to quiz along with the parents.

9. Dance party/playdate with Halloween Songs.

10. Halloween movie night playdate in PJs. see below

This can be tricky parents because this can become out of control very easily. Before you know it.. an extra siblings, the boy that might feel left out, the neighbor you invite on a moments notice, or the mom that heard about it and wants her child invited and then BAM...... you have an out of control situation with kids and parents everywhere and you have lost control of the helm and mutiny is about to begin. Before you begin you must decide how many kids you want, what your budget is and frankly how much work you want to put into it. It is very easy to get in over your head with all the cute decorations, food ideas and the whole feel of the season. Start out slow. Less kids, less food and less everything. Kids with costumes, hyped on sugar and fueled with Halloween excitement will pretty much run the party by themselves. May not be what you want.

Guests will take this more seriously if you send invites rather than a phone call. Start with your invitations you can make them by hand with cute stamps and card stock, you can buy them or order detailed invites online. Make sure all the details are correct time, date, food, costumes **pick up time -may go on for ever without that.. Make food simple order pizza to be delivered have a stock of juice boxes and small waters. Food should be first. Have a table of arts and crafts for party goers to stop at when they feel like resting from other activities. Some choices are a CD player with Halloween tunes for Freeze Dancing, a poll for the Limbo, beanbag toss into a fake coffin, the old favorite cold spaghetti, olives for eye balls, jello for guts, rolls of cheap toilet paper for kids to wrap other kids into mummies, tiny pumpkins for decorating, and Halloween charades. Have a bag of cheap Halloween favors to give as prizes (Oriental Trading great for that). A small bowl of candy that each child can take a handful of to take home at the end of the party. This will avoid the sugar high. You can have cupcakes or cookies after the pizza. One treat is best. It is not about the food it is the fun at a party like this. ***Great Halloween food fun is out there if that is what you are making that the focal point.

Note: Order extra pizza for parent who stay.

This is for when you are not up to a "real" party but feel the need to do something to satisfy that Halloween itch. Kids will get that Halloween feeling and you will have less stress than full party. This is best for a Friday or Saturday night. Invite 2-4 kids over for a "Halloween PJ Movie Night". Send invites with all details: wear PJS, bring pillow and blanket, eat Halloween snacks, watch movie and go home!

Make tasty Halloween finger food (eyeball mini pizza, mini hot-dogs wrapped like mummies, guts mac n cheese-ketchup for blood, grave yard flat bread and veggies, finger cookies, spider cupcakes, there are tons of ideas.

Choose an age appropriate Halloween movie (don't want nightmares). After a few snacks lay blankets and pillows on floor. Have kids lay around getting cozy and relaxed. Begin the movie. Tell them this is a cozy movie theatre and all movie rules apply; quiet, no fooling around, etc.

Make some popcorn and serve it to the kids. Don't let them start walking around you may lose them.

When the movie ends moms and dads should be there for pick-up. Send the children on there way with a treat like eyeball gum or a small favor. This is a win win for the invited and their parents. Kids have fun and parents get a couple of hours free for grown up time.

All and all there are unlimited options for Halloween fun. You don't have to be a kid to love Halloween. Dress up, have party, decorate inside and out, cook up a storm, dance to the Monster Mash. It doesn't matter how old you are, where you live or what your cultural background is. This is a Holiday for everyone. Enjoy October!!