A Halloween Party Idea that is "Frightfully Fun"!
For 12 years we used this Halloween Party idea to put on one of the scariest, messiest and most fun celebrations ever! Ask any of our four, their friends or even our own friends about this "Cabbage Night" party and they will all vote that it may be one of the best annual parties we ever had! In our area of the country, the Northeast, the night before Halloween is called "Mischief Night" or "Cabbage Night". The kids roam the streets with toilet paper, flour bags, shaving creams and sometimes eggs. You have got to wonder how such a tradition started?! Our home is on a corner lot and the first year we were there, we were "Hit". We woke up to a yard that had been tp'd and creamed. We all worked to together to clean it up and I decided right then and there, that next year, our own kids could at least have fun making the mess if we were going to have to clean it up. Thus was born this Halloween Party Idea! Read on and you can use some or all of these ideas for your own Halloween celebration!
Step 1 
Step 2 Food & Decorations There were always so many offers of help. Everyone brought something. There were "spider" chocolate cupcakes, Pumpkin-shaped mini pizzas, Ghoulish Salad which was a huge raw veggie platter decorated with gummy worms, platters of chicken fingers and all kinds of Halloween cookies. All of it finger foods.. easy to serve and easy to eat! Planning the food for this Halloween party idea was a snap with all the moms working together!Our house was already decorated for Halloween with pumpkins, scarecrows etc.. so nothing to add. I bought black and orange plates and napkins and tablecloths.. we were good to go. 
Step 3 Scavenger Hunt This was no ordinary hunt looking for pennies or paper clips! Now here's where we put our focus on for this Halloween Party idea! The moms followed the kids along on a spooky, scary scavenger hunt. The hunt changed every year, but it was always scary! In the sample below, we "decapitated" our scarecrow and sent the kids off to find his head! Everyone got a "glow necklace". The moms had flashlights and the kids were told if they ran ahead, in the street or did not listen.. it was back to the house. It was amazing, we did this party for 12 years and no one ever got sent back to the house!!! Where might the Dads be during this event.. some were laying in wait at the end of the scavenger hunt.. Others.. busy "dressing" for the show that was coming next!Click here for scavenger Hunt Clues. Our theme that year "Where Oh Where Could My Head Be?" Click here for scavenger Hunt Clues. Our theme that year was "Where Oh Where Could My Head Be?"
Here's Mom reading the first clue.. they're off!
Step 4 The Halloween Extravaganza This Halloween party idea continued as group of about 8 Dads met in the week before the party each year to plan the "show". The kids would arrive back to our house for dessert at the end of the scavenger hunt always waiting on edge for what was to come. This one particular year, the guys outdid themselves. Dressed as Ghouls, they paraded down the street in front of our house, carrying torches, beating bongo drums and chanting. One was driving a beat up old station wagon (to this day I am not sure who they borrowed it from!) that they had decorated to look like a hearse. The kids could see and hear them well in advance of their arrival and began screaming ! Out to the lawn they all ran to await their arrival. By the time they got down the street, we noticed a police car following them. Someone had called them in! They arrived to great fanfare and began the story of the death of the person in the casket (which they had made) in the station wagon. One of the Dad's should have been an actor as he told the story of poor old Al and his untimely death.. in the end some of the "ghouls" opened the casket and with one quick motion pushed it toward the crowd showering them slimy creepy crawlers! It was great.. even the older ones were screaming. No sooner had everyone caught their breath when "Old Al" came around from the back of the house with a chains saw (blade removed, of course) screeching.. That did in the smaller ones.. but it was an awesome finale! We used to say that they spent days at party city and costume stores orchestrating this show.
Step 5 The Cabbage Night Festivities" In most homes the party would have ended with the show..but that was just the warm up.. After the show, everyone gathered the shaving cream, silly string and toilet paper they had brought. That began a mad dash of decorating our yard, themselves and each other!! It was such fun.. the dads of course were the first targets.. but even the moms were not immune. Yes, it was a mess. Yes, it left a big clean up job for the next day but most of all, YES.. it created the most lasting Halloween memories ever. This Halloween Party idea is a "historical" memory with all the kids to this day! Look at these kids.. could it be more fun! Even our little nieces got in on the shaving cream action! This Halloween Party idea is a hit with all ages. 
So, feel free to borrow what you are comfortable with.. no need to run the marathon we did..but the point is to CELEBRATE the season and do it all together! I get almost melancholy come Halloween as the house is so quiet now!
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