If you've ever considered throwing a Halloween party for your kids, why not let this be the year? If you do a bit of planning and some of the work in advance, your bash will be a big success!

If you have an outdoor area like a deck or a carport, have the party outside. You can decorate with pumpkins, shocks of Indian corn, scarecrows, and cutouts of witches, ghosts, and goblins, along with any other Halloween decorations you might have on hand.

For Halloween games, how about some old-fashioned favorites? Fill a big tub with water and float some apples for an apple-bobbing contest. Tweak another old favorite, pin the tail on the donkey, to make it pin the nose on the witch. Just draw a witch on a poster board, along with a cut-out nose. Be sure to include an ugly wart!

More Halloween games you might want to include are the basket toss, the ring toss, go fish, and a duck pond. Halloween game supplies and prizes are available at Oriental Trading, and the prices are inexpensive.

Another idea for a Halloween game is to have a pumpkin decorating contest. Buy some small pie pumpkins and some glue, googly eyes, permanent markers, and some acrylic jewels. Announce a winner the scariest, the funniest, the most unique, etc. Give the winners small prizes like candy, cookies, toys, books, or party favors.

Kids love fortune telling. Drape some black material over a wood or rope frame to make a tent. Use an upside-down round fish bowl with a glo-stick in it for a crystal ball, and have an adult dress up as a gypsy or as a wizard. The fortunes should be fun in nature and not include anything scary.

If you know someone with a cattle trailer or a big truck, purchase a few bales of hay and scatter them in the back for a hay ride. Kids love this! Just be sure to have an adult or two in back for safety reasons. You'll also need to find a field or pasture, or an empty parking lot for the hay ride because of state laws.

Before the party, get some volunteers to assist. Ask parents of the kids who will be attending the party, and have each game manned by one or two adults. All the activities should be going on at the same time. This keeps the kids moving from one activity to another, so no one will get bored or have to wait in line very long.

Once the kids tire of the games, gather round the open fire or the chimenia for a good old-fashioned ghost story. Just make it age appropriate. For young children, make sure the story has a happy ending - nothing too gruesome.

Serve soft drinks and Halloween treats to party guests, and encourage the kids to come in their Halloween costumes. Make the treats beforehand, so the day of the party, you'll be free to use your time to set everything up.

Click on the links to my articles below about Halloween treats, complete with photos!