by Eileen Goldenberg

Created on: August 18, 2009   Last Updated: August 26, 2009

Halloween in April

If you and your children love Halloween, why not throw a Halloween birthday party? This is a great idea that works for either a boy or a girl, or even a joint birthday party. If your child's birthday is in any month other than October, this is a great idea for an original party that your young one and his or her friends will be talking about for weeks after. The further away the date is from October 31st, the better.

I am a big fan of Halloween! I used to love making elaborate costumes for my daughter and son ( no store bought outfits would do) I always involved them with ideas for their costumes, decorating the yard and the house, and helping to plan parties at school. My friends nicknamed me the Queen of Halloween. I loved everything about the holiday, but mostly the opportunity for creativity; especially when it came to the costumes.

After Halloween, the costume would be relegated to the dress-up-box, still an important part of my children's make-believe worlds. Of course, donning the outfit for imaginary play would never have the same excitement of putting it on for the ritual of marching from house to house with hundreds of other little ghouls and goblins...and Power Rangers and Batmans, and Snow Whites and Little Mermaids.

One year, when Beanie Babies were at the height of their popularity, I made my first grade son an exact replica of the one piece, tied-dyed outfit that "Peace Bear" wore. I scanned in the authentic tag on the computer, and printed it out, attaching it to his cute little headpiece. The headpiece with its little bear ears was made from Paper Mache. He loved the outfit so much that he wore it for weeks after. (He is now 17, a senior in high school , and I do hope he never reads this article)

Months later, he was still putting on his Peace Bear outfit and I had an idea: why not a "Halloween in April" birthday party? This idea turned out to be inexpensive, and such a hit with my son and his friends. We both still remember it as one of our favorite parties.

I created a "Halloween in April" invitation, with a ghost-cut out that stood out from the paper. The children were instructed to pull out their old costumes and arrive in full Halloween dress.

I made each child a personalized trick-or treat-bag. I bought inexpensive canvas bags at the dollar store, and used a marker to write their names. For one activity, I had some simple supplies with which they could further decorate their treat bags. Your local craft

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