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Avoiding chaos when planning a kids’ Halloween party

By on September 28, 2012
Organizing kids parties is somewhat like organizing a military maneuver! The better prepared you are ahead of time, the better the changes are that it will all run smoothly.

Use the following tips to help you through the minefield to a successful day.

1. Decide the time and place – time is an important issue for kids, generally kids are happy unless they are tired or hungry or both! So, when you decide on your time, consider the ages of the children you are inviting and plan the time to eat to coincide with their usual lunch or dinner time.

2. Plan Ahead of Time – make sure you know exactly what you are going to be doing, estimate how long each game or activity will take. Write it all down as a schedule and make sure that all the adults attending know what is happening and when.

3. Alternate activities – have some BIG, loud, lots of movement type activities and some quieter ones so that the kids can get their wiggles out but at the same time don’t make themselves sick!
 
4. Don’t Go It Alone – Get some adults or older children to help, assign them jobs, let them know before the day what they need to do and when. You can assign an ‘official’ photographer, put someone in charge of food etc.

5. Have A Back Up Plan – Inevitably something will go wrong, think of the possibilities and have a back up plan in place to cover it. It is also a good idea to have an extra game or activities planned – just in case…

6. Lay Down The Rule – once everyone has arrived, make your welcome speech, set out the rules and make all your introductions. 

7. Halloween wouldn’t be Halloween without ‘Trick or Treat’ it is a good idea to ask your guests if they have any allergies, if the allergy is something you are unfamiliar with then ask the parents of the child to provide some suitable treats for their child – it is better to be safe than sorry.

8. Remember to have fun – it is a party after all! Obviously these tips work for any party, with a Halloween party in Japan, not all your guests might be familiar with Halloween so why not send out a fun Halloween fact sheet introducing them to the tradition? When you are in the planning stage decide how scary you want to make it, a party with very small kids should be more cute than scary, older kids and teenagers tend to revel in the revolting so decide what you are aiming for and of course let your guests know too.

Jo Ebisujima is a Brit living in Japan. She loves creating for children and helping parents to organize themselves and their children so that they can spend more quality time together. She writes about her work at My Organized Chaos. (www.my-organized-chaos.com)

About Jo Ebisujima