Thread: 13th birthday party/ halloween party

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my daughters bday falls the week before halloween, and we've done halloween parties before, but this year with her and her friends all being a little older I think maybe i can have some more fun with it

now, i do have a 5 year old too, and his best friends will be here since they are the little bro's of my daughters best friend, so we cant have TOO much fun

our house is tiny (though we are *hoping* to move before then).

Any good ideas on how to phrase the invitations so its clear its a birthday AND a halloween party...any tips from others who have done a party for around the same age group (preteen/ young teen with a few little ones around - LOL)

My sons birthday is the week before Halloween too (24th). He will be turning 9 this yr and this will be his 2nd Halloween themed birthday party . The guests are all kinds of ages because we invite his friends and their siblings and parents. For the invite I always mention it's a Birthday Halloween party. We encourage everyone to dress up and I will give out prizes for best costumes. I usually hire a DJ - that seems to work for all ages since they all love to dance. You could have some craft or game stations set up for the young ones?? Maybe a halloween movie??

youre nicer than me... i put on my itunes halloween playlist and thats their DJ LMAO

the last halloween party we had for her was a few years ago and was more of a cutesy (blech, lol) theme and i had gotten some crafts from oriental trading for them to do and such. i think theyve grown out of that stage, but i might get some for my 5 year old and his buddies or something.

i think i am going to set up some games for them like mummy races- where they use TP to wrap each other up like mummies than have a relay race type thing and a truth or dare with preselected questions (LOL). my daughter was very receptive to both of those.

I'm also going to set up a buffet of spooky snacks and pizza and do cupcakes instead of a cake, and she liked that idea too. not sure when the time change is, but if its dark (party is from 4-7) they can play spooky tag outside with glow sticks shell probably have a couple of the girls spend the night so thats something they can do, regardless of time LOL

and ummm... if there happens to be a spooky monster out there with them, hunting them... well.... i dunno what they'll do LOL

What part of NC are you in? I am in the Charlotte area. : )

Your party sounds a lot like mine! This will be the first yr I am not getting an actual birthday cake. I am making several kinds of cupcakes instead and he is fine with that. I've also got a couple of teenage kids lined up to dress creepy and show up periodically through out the party.

Our party is from 6-9. The time change is actually after but it still gets dark pretty early. Our last halloween party was from 6-9 and it was dark by 7-7:30.

At my Halloween parties I've always had a few younger kids, usually siblings of my friends or my neighbors' kids (my neighbors' kids always help me decorate, so I invite them!) So I make my party with typical Halloween decor, just nothing too bloody. The younger kids love it too. My parties usually involve us all watching a horror movie together in the living room. Since the younger kids can't watch it, I always rent a second movie too that is 'horror' related but not really scary and I play that in another room. I also have a few friends who don't like scary stuff so they can also watch the other movie. For example in previous years for the not-so-scary movie I've shown Tower of Terror, Return to Oz, The Nightmare Room: Camp Nowhere (similar to Goosebumps), Nightmare Before Christmas, Hocus Pocus... I also sometimes had the younger kids come and leave early.
I always have cupcakes and cookies and stuff like that. I make these eyeball cookies where you take balls of sugar cookie dough and press a miniature Reeses peanut butter cup into the center. I usually also put a small ball of dough in the center for the pupil, and red lines around the edges... Those are always a big hit!

Originally Posted by dippedstix

What part of NC are you in? I am in the Charlotte area. : )

just north of raleigh hoping to be Wilmington soon LOL

Originally Posted by HauntedHorror

I make my party with typical Halloween decor, just nothing too bloody. The younger kids love it too. My parties usually involve us all watching a horror movie together in the living room.
I always have cupcakes and cookies and stuff like that. I make these eyeball cookies where you take balls of sugar cookie dough and press a miniature Reeses peanut butter cup into the center. I usually also put a small ball of dough in the center for the pupil, and red lines around the edges... Those are always a big hit!

yeah, thats what i do too, but im ok with that, as im not into the gore scene.

b day parties really arent that big here, even for the younger kids, and my daughters friends are still talking about the last party we did- maybe because it was good, maybe because its one of the few that happen, i dunno LOL

last time i made a bloody eyeball pinata from paper mache, which was cool but time consuming, and then hard to break because i think i made it too thick (in my effort to ensure it didnt break from the weight of the candy LOL) dont know if ill do that this year - maybe, maybe not

Ohhh, been there, done that......

My daughter also wanted a Halloween party for her 13th birthday. At this age they don't want the cutesy and they do not want the "kiddie" games (but they do). She wanted things more creepy and scarey. She decided on a gothic manor theme. She wanted to be involved every step of the way. Make no decisions without consulting her first, from menu, to decorations, to games. It was a lot of fun shopping with her at thrift shops looking for tarnished silver, old lace, red velvet, lots of skulls, skeletons, etc.....

Games:
Some of the games we played (which would also be good for the younger kids) were -
Mummy Wrap - I divided them into teams of 2 and used rolls of white crepe paper; the toilet paper tends to tear, which is part of the fun, but it tends to frustrate the little ones.

Ghost Busters - I put a glow stick (bracelet) in white balloons and they had to sit and bounce on them till they busted to get the bracelet. I played the Ghost Buster song during this game. Have your camera ready cause the look of anticipation on their faces is hysterical.

Witch Broom Limbo - kids of all ages love this, and those little ones can get down!

Pin the Tail on the Cat - this is more for the younger ones. I hung up a black cat cutout without the tail and gave them black streamers with tape. I painted numbers on the strips with florescent paint.

Creepy Boxes - they put their hand in boxes covering bowls of body parts - peeled grapes for eyeballs, spaghetti for intestines, etc. I spray painted shoe boxes black, labeled them, turned them upside down and cut the hole in the front. You don't want them to see what's in the box.

Bloody Mary - this may not be appropriate with the little ones around and our party was at night which adds to the atmosphere, but it was the one thing they all talked about the next day. First, I told some ghost stories and urban legends around a campfire, which didn't go over well. They were all laughing and giggling but then I ended with the tale of "Bloody Mary" and told them she would appear in a mirror if you repeat her name 10 times while holding a candle in the dark. Well, not one of these big, brave 13 year olds would go in the bathroom by herself so they had to go in pairs. And they wouldn't use the creeped out bathroom with black light, bugs, spiders, rats, moss, and creepy music and sounds; nooooo, they had to use the cutesy bathroom with pumpkins and scarecrows. lol You should of heard them screaming and insisting they saw something in the mirror.

Food:
Here's where you can use all the fun Halloween recipes on the net. Label all the food items with fun, gross, and scary names.
Mummy and her Babies - I had a platter of regular size hot dogs wrapped in crescent dough along with mini ones; these went over real well.
Boogers on a Stick - pretzel rods dipped in green tinted cheese whiz.
Ear Wax - mini marshmallows on each end of a lollipop stick then dipped in caramel; these are cute served in a Q-tip box.
Pudding Cups - I forget what I called these, maybe "Graveyard Dirt", choclate pudding in clear plastic cups with crushed chocolate cookies on top and gummy worms.
Kitty Litter Cake - when it was time to sing Happy Birthday I stuck 13 black candles in the cake.

Invitations:
She wanted coffin boxes with moss and a skeleton. I suggested she add a black rose in each box also. We wrote the party info out on scrolls to include with the box. We had "Halloween Party" at the top then for, time, where, etc.., under "for" I put Tia's Birthday. This way they knew it was also a birthday party.

Originally Posted by Tannasgach

Ohhh, been there, done that......

My daughter also wanted a Halloween party for her 13th birthday. At this age they don't want the cutesy and they do not want the "kiddie" games (but they do). She wanted things more creepy and scarey. She decided on a gothic manor theme. She wanted to be involved every step of the way. Make no decisions without consulting her first, from menu, to decorations, to games. It was a lot of fun shopping with her at thrift shops looking for tarnished silver, old lace, red velvet, lots of skulls, skeletons, etc.....

Games:
Some of the games we played (which would also be good for the younger kids) were -
Mummy Wrap - I divided them into teams of 2 and used rolls of white crepe paper; the toilet paper tends to tear, which is part of the fun, but it tends to frustrate the little ones.

Ghost Busters - I put a glow stick (bracelet) in white balloons and they had to sit and bounce on them till they busted to get the bracelet. I played the Ghost Buster song during this game. Have your camera ready cause the look of anticipation on their faces is hysterical.

Witch Broom Limbo - kids of all ages love this, and those little ones can get down!

Pin the Tail on the Cat - this is more for the younger ones. I hung up a black cat cutout without the tail and gave them black streamers with tape. I painted numbers on the strips with florescent paint.

Creepy Boxes - they put their hand in boxes covering bowls of body parts - peeled grapes for eyeballs, spaghetti for intestines, etc. I spray painted shoe boxes black, labeled them, turned them upside down and cut the hole in the front. You don't want them to see what's in the box.

Bloody Mary - this may not be appropriate with the little ones around and our party was at night which adds to the atmosphere, but it was the one thing they all talked about the next day. First, I told some ghost stories and urban legends around a campfire, which didn't go over well. They were all laughing and giggling but then I ended with the tale of "Bloody Mary" and told them she would appear in a mirror if you repeat her name 10 times while holding a candle in the dark. Well, not one of these big, brave 13 year olds would go in the bathroom by herself so they had to go in pairs. And they wouldn't use the creeped out bathroom with black light, bugs, spiders, rats, moss, and creepy music and sounds; nooooo, they had to use the cutesy bathroom with pumpkins and scarecrows. lol You should of heard them screaming and insisting they saw something in the mirror.

Food:
Here's where you can use all the fun Halloween recipes on the net. Label all the food items with fun, gross, and scary names.
Mummy and her Babies - I had a platter of regular size hot dogs wrapped in crescent dough along with mini ones; these went over real well.
Boogers on a Stick - pretzel rods dipped in green tinted cheese whiz.
Ear Wax - mini marshmallows on each end of a lollipop stick then dipped in caramel; these are cute served in a Q-tip box.
Pudding Cups - I forget what I called these, maybe "Graveyard Dirt", choclate pudding in clear plastic cups with crushed chocolate cookies on top and gummy worms.
Kitty Litter Cake - when it was time to sing Happy Birthday I stuck 13 black candles in the cake.

Invitations:
She wanted coffin boxes with moss and a skeleton. I suggested she add a black rose in each box also. We wrote the party info out on scrolls to include with the box. We had "Halloween Party" at the top then for, time, where, etc.., under "for" I put Tia's Birthday. This way they knew it was also a birthday party.

those are some cute ideas and simple enough snacks! i like the booger sticks LOL

Originally Posted by Tannasgach

Ohhh, been there, done that......

My daughter also wanted a Halloween party for her 13th birthday. At this age they don't want the cutesy and they do not want the "kiddie" games (but they do). She wanted things more creepy and scarey. She decided on a gothic manor theme. She wanted to be involved every step of the way. Make no decisions without consulting her first, from menu, to decorations, to games. It was a lot of fun shopping with her at thrift shops looking for tarnished silver, old lace, red velvet, lots of skulls, skeletons, etc.....

Games:
Some of the games we played (which would also be good for the younger kids) were -
Mummy Wrap - I divided them into teams of 2 and used rolls of white crepe paper; the toilet paper tends to tear, which is part of the fun, but it tends to frustrate the little ones.

Ghost Busters - I put a glow stick (bracelet) in white balloons and they had to sit and bounce on them till they busted to get the bracelet. I played the Ghost Buster song during this game. Have your camera ready cause the look of anticipation on their faces is hysterical.

Witch Broom Limbo - kids of all ages love this, and those little ones can get down!

Pin the Tail on the Cat - this is more for the younger ones. I hung up a black cat cutout without the tail and gave them black streamers with tape. I painted numbers on the strips with florescent paint.

Creepy Boxes - they put their hand in boxes covering bowls of body parts - peeled grapes for eyeballs, spaghetti for intestines, etc. I spray painted shoe boxes black, labeled them, turned them upside down and cut the hole in the front. You don't want them to see what's in the box.

Bloody Mary - this may not be appropriate with the little ones around and our party was at night which adds to the atmosphere, but it was the one thing they all talked about the next day. First, I told some ghost stories and urban legends around a campfire, which didn't go over well. They were all laughing and giggling but then I ended with the tale of "Bloody Mary" and told them she would appear in a mirror if you repeat her name 10 times while holding a candle in the dark. Well, not one of these big, brave 13 year olds would go in the bathroom by herself so they had to go in pairs. And they wouldn't use the creeped out bathroom with black light, bugs, spiders, rats, moss, and creepy music and sounds; nooooo, they had to use the cutesy bathroom with pumpkins and scarecrows. lol You should of heard them screaming and insisting they saw something in the mirror.

Food:
Here's where you can use all the fun Halloween recipes on the net. Label all the food items with fun, gross, and scary names.
Mummy and her Babies - I had a platter of regular size hot dogs wrapped in crescent dough along with mini ones; these went over real well.
Boogers on a Stick - pretzel rods dipped in green tinted cheese whiz.
Ear Wax - mini marshmallows on each end of a lollipop stick then dipped in caramel; these are cute served in a Q-tip box.
Pudding Cups - I forget what I called these, maybe "Graveyard Dirt", choclate pudding in clear plastic cups with crushed chocolate cookies on top and gummy worms.
Kitty Litter Cake - when it was time to sing Happy Birthday I stuck 13 black candles in the cake.

Invitations:
She wanted coffin boxes with moss and a skeleton. I suggested she add a black rose in each box also. We wrote the party info out on scrolls to include with the box. We had "Halloween Party" at the top then for, time, where, etc.., under "for" I put Tia's Birthday. This way they knew it was also a birthday party.

I loved reading your post..made me want to party! I really like that ghostbuster game- I might have to try that one! I have been struggling with game ideas. We will have about 25 kids and not a ton of space. We have to play some sort of freeze dance or some type of dance game/contest since we'll have a DJ. I have Limbo on my list of game ideas. Didn't think to call it witch broom limbo. Love it!

Since you're having a DJ it might be fun to play "Pass the Pumpkin". Played like hot potato, where you stop the music, only using a mini pumpkin. With 25 kids I would divide them into 2 groups. Freeze dance is always good, especially played to something like "Wipe Out". For Ghost Busters, you can also put a little paper scroll inside of the balloons instead of the glow sticks. Write a prize on each paper. Something small like a spider ring or pumpkin whistle. Kids don't care, they just love to win a prize. Sometimes they need an incentive to bounce on those balloons lol.