Suggestion for a Christian Halloween Party

When you think of Halloween you may think of ghosts, ghouls, spiders, witches and demons. Many Christians try to avoid the scary messages and images of Halloween. Just because you do not want to celebrate Halloween does not mean you can't celebrate the season. Christians can have an alternative party such as a fall festival or harvest party to celebrate the season.

Deciding on the Party

Harvest parties or fall festivals are mostly for children so they do not feel left out of any Halloween celebrations or candy collecting that their schoolmates may get to do. Adults can have a lot of fun planning the party and hosting games for the children. When planning the party, you will want to decide on a theme. A harvest party will celebrate the fall season. Plan a Noah's Ark party and have kids dress up in animal costumes. Some churches even hold events called trunk or treat in which church members fill the trunks of their cars with candy. The children from the church and community go from car to car collecting it.

A Place to Party

Church is the most obvious choice for having a harvest party or a trunk or treat party. Churches will often open their fellowship halls or church gyms for members to set up the party because there is enough space to set up game booths. A trunk or treat party can be held in the church parking lot. If you are not a member of a church, you can have a harvest party in your own home.

Decorations and Food

Keep the decorations for a harvest party festive and simple. Use faux fall leaves, twigs and berry branches for arrangements. Hay bales and pumpkins make great harvest decorations. Any fall decoration will work, as long as there are no scary decorations. Choose fall carnival food for the party. Candied apples and popcorn balls are good choices. If you want to serve guests dinner, hot dogs and potato chips are relatively inexpensive and easy to prepare.

Games

Have carnival games at your harvest party. Bobbing for apples is a classic fall game. Have children play a ring toss game. You can even design a bingo game using words that somehow relate to fall. If you have the room, set up a harvest obstacle course. Use hay bales and pumpkins to line the obstacle course. Make tunnels out of cardboard boxes and hang large sheets of fabric for kids to run through. Use your imagination. Use candy for the prize for each game.