Decorations

• Spooky jack o'lanterns: not too scary for little kids, but still eerie enough for big kids.
  
  For little kids, a successful Halloween party is one that's fun instead of frightening. Drape tables, chairs and walls with black and orange crepe paper, hang black and orange balloons and scatter the room with smiling jack-o-lanterns (lit with child-safe battery-operated candles). You can find pumpkin-carving templates with kid-friendly themes like cats and crows. Drug stores and craft stores usually have an ample supply of posters and banners with happy ghosts, dancing skeletons and friendly witches. Black and orange bead curtains or streamers hanging over a doorway are a good way to add a bit of non-threatening atmosphere.
  
  Older kids will want a scarier theme, so set your imagination free. Create a haunted house in your party room with faux spider webs, battery-operated candles and Styrofoam gravestones. "Real Simple" magazine suggests using a hollowed-out pumpkin as a vase for a Halloween centerpiece, but instead of pretty live flowers, you can load it up with dead blooms or black silk flowers. For a scarily realistic "corpse" in the party room, get a pair of jeans and a pair of boots. Place the jeans under a chair or sofa, with the legs extending into the room. Stuff the legs of the jeans with newspaper and tuck the ankles into the boots. Even adults will hesitate before sitting next to this party guest.
  
  Create a sense of movement in your party room with an easy craft project that makes it look like there's a horde of bats flying through the room. Draw a bat shape on a piece of black construction paper, cut it out, attach it to 2 to 3 feet of clear fishing line with tape or a staple and hang the fishing line from the ceiling with a thumbtack. You can make as many bats as you have room for, and they'll sway eerily in the breeze over your party guests' heads.
  
  

Activities

• Kids love easy, adorable costumes!
  
  Now that the scene is set, the kids need to have something to do. Before the party, collect as many clothing items that could be used to create a costume as you can: hats, jackets, shirts, shoes, handbags, jewelry and props. Search thrift stores and neighborhood garage sales for fun pieces that the kids can dress up in, or pick up a few inexpensive props at your local drugstore. Have the kids use your findings to create their own impromptu costumes at the party. (This evens the playing field for kids whose parents don't have enough money to buy them costumes.) If you have other parents willing to help, you could also set up makeup and mask stations where adults paint the kids' faces or help them make quick masks out of construction paper.
  
  Kids aged eight and up can handle a scary story time. If possible, find an adult who can come to the party in costume and regale the kids with scary stories. Your local public library is a great resource for folk tales, urban legends and scary stories---brush up on these ahead of time, and have your storyteller commit a few to memory. You can also have the kids tell scary stories, either individually or as a group.
  
  To get everyone involved in a fun and not-too-scary way, gather all of your party attendees into a circle. Have a flashlight ready and turn out the lights. Pass the flashlight from person to person, with each one adding a line or two to the story. Make sure each child has a chance to contribute, and then have an adult finish the story with a dramatic scare (a loud "Boo!" and a quick jump toward one of the older kids will work).
  
  

Food

• A delicious "dirt" cupcake, complete with gummy worm.
  
  Cupcakes are a party favorite, especially when topped with orange or black frosting, sprinkles or candy corn. "Dirt" cakes are a fun variation---bake chocolate cupcakes, and reserve one or two to crumble up into small pieces. Frost the remaining cupcakes with green frosting, sprinkle the frosting with the cake crumbs and place a gummy worm on top of the "dirt." Another spooky favorite is a finger cookie---you can make these with pre-packaged sugar-cookie dough. Shape the dough into a long, thin, finger-like shape and make "knuckle" indentations with a toothpick pressed across the cookie. Press a slivered almond onto the end of the "finger" and bake. After the cookies have cooled, top the almond "fingernails" with red frosting.