Haunted with the thought of a ho-hum Halloween? Never fear — trick-or-treaters will want more than just candy once they see your party table. Throw a fabulous Halloween party fit for little goblins or grown-up monsters with some devilishly good sweets.

Try these easy party ideas from Wilton to make your Halloween spook-tacular:

• Add some “pop” to popcorn: Trick out ordinary popcorn into a sweet-and-salty party pleaser. Drizzle on Candy Melts® candy for festive flavors, and then capture the Halloween spirit by adding fun sprinkle mixes.
• Masquerade cookies: Who says you can’t play with your food? Create edible masks with decorated shaped cookies and attach them to cookie sticks with melted Candy Melts candy. Set up a photo station at your party, so guests can take pictures with their cookie mask creations before eating them.
• Jack-o’-lantern cakes: It wouldn’t be Halloween without carved pumpkins. Make yours edible by baking a delicious pumpkin spice pound cake shaped like a pumpkin. Increase the fun by adding silly icing facial features.
• Midnight potions: Spice up the night with candy corn drinks served in containers guests can devour, making cleanup easy and delicious. Or, toast the night with the Witch’s Brew Mocktail.

For more Halloween ideas and inspiration, visit wilton.com.

Masquerade Cookies

Servings: 2 dozen cookies

• 2 -3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
• 1 -1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 -1/2 teaspoons Imitation Clear Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 teaspoon Imitation Almond Extract
• Royal icing
• Orange, Black, Green, Lemon Yellow, Brown and Violet Icing Colors, as desired
• Orange, Yellow, Orange, Lavender and Black Colored Sugars, as desired
• Halloween Jimmies, Nonpareils and Icing Decorations, as desired
• Candy Melts candy
• Cookie sticks

Preheat oven to 350°F.

In large bowl, mix flour, baking powder and salt. In second large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Beat in egg and extracts. Add flour mixture to butter mixture 1 cup at a time, mixing after each addition. Do not chill dough. Divide dough into 2 balls.

On floured surface, roll each ball into a circle approximately 12 inches in diameter by 1/8 inch thick. Dip eye and glasses cookie cutters in flour before each use. Arrange cookies on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake 8–11 minutes or until cookies are lightly browned. Cool completely on cooling grid. Decorate as desired using tinted royal icing, colored sugars and Halloween icing decorations. Use melted candy to attach sticks to backs of cookies; chill until set.

Pumpkin Spice Popcorn

Servings: 6 cups

• 6 cups popped kettle corn
• 2 cups mini pretzel twists
• 1 package (10 ounces) Pumpkin Spice Candy Melts candy
• 1 bottle (2.5 ounces) Pumpkin Mix Sprinkles

Spread popcorn and pretzels on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.

In disposable decorating bag, melt candy in microwave at 50 percent power for 1 minute; remove bag and knead. Continue melting candy for 30-second intervals at 50 percent power until completely melted. Snip off end of bag and drizzle melted candy over popcorn mixture; immediately add sprinkles. Let stand until candy has hardened, about 20 minutes. Break into pieces to serve.

Caramel Apple Popcorn

Servings: 6 cups

• 6 cups popped popcorn, buttered and salted
• 3/4 cup roasted salted peanuts
• 1 package (10 ounces) Caramel Apple Candy Melts candy
• 1 bottle (2.5 ounces) Spider Mix Sprinkles

Spread popcorn and peanuts on parchment paper-lined cookie sheet.

In disposable decorating bag, melt candy in microwave at 50 percent power for 1 minute; remove bag and knead. Continue melting candy for 30-second intervals at 50 percent power until completely melted. Snip off end of bag and drizzle melted candy over popcorn. Immediately top with sprinkles. Let stand until candy has hardened, about 20 minutes. Break into pieces to serve.

Pumpkin Pound Cake

Servings: 16

• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 -1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
• 2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 -1/4 cups canned 100 percent pumpkin (not pie filling)

Preheat oven to 325°F. Prepare Dimensions Large Pumpkin Pan lightly with vegetable pan spray with flour. Place on baking sheet.

In medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and nutmeg. In large bowl, beat butter and sugar with electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition; beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture alternately with pumpkin; mix well. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake 70–80 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 15 minutes in pan. Turn onto cooling rack. Cool completely before serving.

Witch’s Brew Mocktail

Servings: 6

• 3 cups ginger ale, chilled
• 1 -1/2 cups pineapple juice, chilled
• 1/3 cup sweetened lime juice, chilled
• Green gel food color or green icing color (optional)
• Black Colored Sugar
• Gummy Eyeball Skewers

In large pitcher, combine ginger ale, pineapple juice, sweetened lime juice and, if using, gel food color.

To prepare glasses, dip rims of martini glasses in water, then in black sugar. Fill with drink mixture; add eyeball skewers.

Candy Corn Drinks

Servings: 8

• 1 cup (half of 12-ounce package) Bright White Candy Melts Candy, melted according to package directions
• 1 cup (half of 12-ounce package) Orange Candy Melts Candy, melted according to package directions
• 1 package (12 ounces) Yellow Candy Melts Candy, melted according to package directions
• Orange flavored fruit drink, orange, peach or mango juice or other favorite drink

Fill disposable decorating bag with melted bright white candy. Divide evenly among cavities of 8-cavity silicone shot glass mold, taking care to not get any candy on sides of mold. Repeat process with orange and yellow candy. Refrigerate until candy is set, about 30 minutes. Carefully remove candy glasses from mold and set aside. Fill with orange drink.

Family Features; Source: Wilton

The post Brew Up a Frightfully Fun Halloween Party appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.

Corey Whelan, Contributor for Care.com 

Planning a Halloween party for kids but don’t know where to start? Don’t despair. Here are interesting and unique party games that will please trick-or-treaters of all ages. Pamela Layton McMurtry, the author of “A Harvest and Halloween Handbook,” and Jessica Fauster, a party-throwing mom whose annual Halloween fetes are the toast of Springfield, Ill., share their best bets for creative Halloween fun.

Need an extra set of hands to help out during the party and run games? Hire a babysitter for a few hours.

1.  The Fishing Game 

Any good party begins with a theme. “It’s easier to coordinate games when there is a theme in place, such as ‘Halloween in the Enchanted Forest,'” McMurtry says. A game she recommends, which can be tied to any theme, is the Fishing Game. Set up an area with a short curtain or barrier to hide a helper sitting behind it, and have assorted small toys and cute objects that match your theme on hand as prizes. Give each child a fishing rod made of a bamboo pole with a string and a clothespin. Have the children cast their lines and the hidden helper attach a prize for each child to reel in. 

2.  Halloween Treasure Hunt 

One of McMurtry’s go-to activities for children’s Halloween parties is a treasure hunt. Buy a thrift store dollhouse, decorate it in Halloween colors and call it a “Fairy House.”  Then hide it in the yard or other party location and fill it with bags of treats. Decorate the area with Halloween items like jack-o’-lanterns, fake spiders, owls, fairies, elves and wreaths hanging on trees, and make up clues to direct the children from place to place as they solve riddles. Gather the kids and explain that the fairies have hidden a treasure in the house — and hidden the house, too! Have them find the first clue and start the hunt; the final destination is the dollhouse and the treats. 

3.  Eyeball Hunt 

Instead of an Easter egg hunt, throw an eyeball hunt! Purchase bags of plastic eyeballs from a party store and hide them in a room or your backyard. The child who finds the most wins a prize.  

4.  Beanbag Toss 

Set up a target area, decorated like a haunted forest, magical ocean or spooky graveyard. Place targets that match the scene in place, and use bean bags to knock off the targets. 

5.  Pin the Tail on the Goblin 

“Some of the most old-fashioned games are still very popular, especially with kids who are unfamiliar with them,” says Fauster. One of her favorites is this take on the retro Pin the Tail on the Donkey game. “Have small children draw a life-sized Goblin creature, like the ones featured in the Maurice Sendak classic, ‘Where the Wild Things Are,’ which an adult can attach to the wall. Blind-fold and spin each child in turn, who will attempt to pin the Goblin’s tail to its gruesomely goofy body.” 

6.  Hat’s Off 

Ask each party goer to bring a hat as part of their costume (tell them the hat will temporarily be shared with other kids at the party). Set up an indoor or outdoor area for musical chairs and have the children place a hat on each chair. As the music stops and children find their seats, they continually change hats, winding up with silly variations of their costumes. 

7.  Who’s Who? 

Supply each arriving parent or nanny with a ghost-like sheet that will cover their entire body and the back of their heads, with a hole cut out for their faces. Have children make ornate, adult-sized masks at the beginning of the party. They can be in the likeness of the animal or creature that most reminds them of the adult they’re with (monsters, zoo animals, etc.) Set out a wide variety of supplies, like feathers, felt, glitter, child-safe scissors and at least one hole punch with string, to fasten the masks on with. Let the adults put on a mask they pull out of a grab bag in another room. Then children have to identify their grown-up. 

8.  Halloween Charades 

Choose spooky books or Halloween-themed movies and sayings for a scary round of charades. Give the winner of each round a small treat bag. 

9.  Slimy Monster Snack Attack 

Make homemade slime by combining green mint or apple jelly with water. Watered-down lime Jell-O also makes a great, slimy substitute. Once the consistency of your slime is sufficiently gross, throw in orange slices, gummy worms, raisins, candy corn or other unwrapped yummies. (You can also include plastic bugs like spiders and other crawly, icky things.) Have the children close their eyes and reach in to grab what the slime monster left behind and guess what it is. Chowing down on the found goodies is optional, but make sure there are no chokable pieces floating in the slime if small children are playing. 

10.  Magic Number Guessing Game 

Decorate and fill a jar with plastic eyeballs, candy corn or other fun objects. Have the children guess how many objects are in the jar. The child who comes closest to guessing the magic number wins the jar and its contents. 

11.  Look Ma, No Hands! 

Everyone has had their share of soaking-wet hair from bobbing for apples. A number of other, hands-free games can be just as much fun, but less soggy. Try a round of Pass the Apple, having the children run a relay race with an apple tucked under their chins. Hang apples or doughnuts from strings and see which child can finish first. Enjoy the slightly messier (and sweeter) no-hands, apple pie eating contest — Dads love competing in this one, too! 

12.  Telephone Tag, Halloween Style 

Have the children sit in a circle and start this improv game by whispering a nonsensically-spooky saying into the first child’s ear, such as, “Frankenstein eats bugs for breakfast, but I prefer brains.” Have each child whisper the saying into the next child’s ear until the circle is complete, with the last child in the circle sharing the saying aloud. Typically, the end result is scarily different! Start again with a different phrase, going around the circle in the opposite direction.

13.  Treat or Dare 

Have the children write down a treat (get a candy) or a dare (howl like a werewolf) on a piece of paper shaped like a witch’s hat, pumpkin or other Halloween symbol. Place all of the papers into a caldron or large witch’s hat. Have each child pick a paper and either get a treat or act out a dare. Halloween is a joyful time for kids and for the people who love them. Cavities aside, a little imagination, planning and unique games like the lucky (or unlucky) 13 activities listed here, can turn the average, ghostly get-together into the most fun fright fest of the year.

The post 13 Halloween Party Games for Kids appeared first on AKAMom Magazine.