Tips to Celebrate a Virtual Halloween Party
This year holding an event has become a nearly impossible task. Parties, weddings, celebrations, even family reunions are complicated. But that doesn’t mean they are impossible! In any case, right now it’s time to be responsible and try to stay home. But that doesn’t need to be something boring! We can continue creating memories and sharing with our loved ones, we just have to get creative.
Last week I gave you some ideas for safe Halloween activities to do this year. Today I want to go into detail in one of those activities: holding a virtual Halloween party. It can be a good option to have fun and share with our friends and family, maintaining social distancing and avoiding the risk of contagion from Covid-19.
It can be a great plan if you organize it well, that’s why I thought I would give you a series of ideas that you can (or not) implement in your virtual Halloween party.
1. Decide Where You Will Have It
Normally you would have to see where you are going to hold your event. In this case, you will have to decide on which platform you want to do it. There are many options: Zoom, Google Meet or Hangouts, Skype, Facebook also has the option to do a live event… Research what each platform offers and make a decision based on which is the best for your event.
2. Send the Invitations
Since the event is virtual, the logical thing would be to also send virtual invitations. You can also send them by mail, but be sure to send them with plenty of time so that they arrive several days before the party. This way your guests will have enough time to prepare. If you send them by post mail, you can use the opportunity to send a gift, a jar with sweets, an activity to do during the event or even a costume accessory.
Make sure to give all the necessary information in the invitations: if they need dress up, if there will be a costume contest, the schedule, the platform, or any other information your guests might need in advance.
3. Decoration
Just because it’s a virtual event does not mean that it’s not a good idea to decorate. Quite the contrary! If you decorate the background, you and your guests will get into the Halloween spirit. Decorations make the space visually more appealing and make the event more festive. The difference is that you don’t have to decorate the whole house, you just need to decorate the little corner that will be seen.
Choose the perfect place (if you can move the device you are going to connect from) and make sure there is good light so that your guests can see you clearly. It should be a place where you can hang things or place decorations, and that is comfortable for everyone in your home who will attend. You can place several chairs and a table to place the food on, or cushions on the floor on a carpet, for example.
Depending on the place where you are going to celebrate it, choose what type of decorations fit your space: a banner, balloons, skeleton figures, decorative pumpkins, cobwebs, bats, hanging ghosts …
There are thousands of decorations for Halloween that you can use. However, depending on the age of the attendees, I recommend that you adapt it. If the party is for adults, you can use scary decorations, masks, skeletons, bloody knives, etc. However, if the children are young, it’s better to keep the decorations cheerful and colorful.
If you want low-cost and homemade ideas to decorate your virtual party, here is another post of 6 DIY Ideas to decorate your Halloween party. And here are some ideas for decorations that you can find on Amazon that will be perfect for any type of Halloween celebration:
4. Food
It is clear that this year you cannot have a crowded event, however you can plan a “scary” menu that encourages fun and complements the festive atmosphere of your celebration. And you will only have to prepare a small number of each thing!
The truth is that Halloween allows you to make very fun things with food that cannot be done at any other party. In addition, usually both children and adults love these recipes. I must admit, I do!
It may be a good idea to plan a menu and send it to your guests with the invitations as an example of dishes that they can prepare at home if they wish to. If it’s a children’s party, it will be a lot of fun for the children to have the same appetizers, it’s a way to bring them together and make them feel that they are at the same party. Make sure to send the recipes to your guests as well, so they can easily prepare them.
5. Activities
Every event needs something to do. Of course it’s a good time to catch up with our friends and chat, but having activities planned for the event will help to make it more fluid, and we won’t risk our guests getting bored.
One of the things we must take into account as hosts is to make sure that regardless of the activity, all participants feel included. During the event make sure that all participants each have their turn to speak, and actively participate in whatever activity you will be doing. Especially if they are children, some can be shy and you have to make sure that no one feels left out.
Here are some fun ideas that can be done at any halloween online virtual party:
COSTUME CONTEST
For me the best option for a Halloween party is a costume contest. You can ask your guests to attend dressed up and vote at the end of the party. It is a good idea to have a prize prepared for the winner, this way the participants will be much more involved. The prize can be virtual, like a gift card to a store, or it can be a physical gift that is given to the winner in person after the party. It can also be mailed, there are many options!
COSTUME PARADE
Another option is to have a parade in which everyone shows their costume to the rest of the attendees, but without having a winner. You can put on some Halloween music in the background and have each participant do a dance or parade showing the details of their costume and makeup.
MAKE A CRAFT TOGETHER
You can send a kit in advance with everything your guests will need to do the activity or send them a list of things for them to prepare themselves.
Here you have a post with DIY decoration ideas for Halloween that can serve as inspiration. You can also make decorative paper maché pumpkins, although they take longer you can start them during the party or have them ready to paint.
HALLOWEEN BINGO
On the internet you can find printable Bingos with a Halloween theme that you can each download at home and then play together online. Here you have a link with some options: Halloween Bingo.
HALLOWEEN COOTIE CATCHER
The little ones will love this activity. You just have to print, cut and assemble it. And then everyone will have their own to play with!
CARVE A JACK O’ LANTERN
Another idea might be for each participant to carve their own Halloween pumpkin or Jack o’ Lantern. Afterwards just put a candle in it and it can be part of the decoration!
TELL SCARY STORIES
It’s an activity that cannot be missing on Halloween. You can do a round of scary stories and have each person tell their own. For an adult party you can tell horror stories, and for a children’s party they can each make up their own using their imagination.
HALLOWEEN SCAVENGER HUNT
This activity is very fun for the little ones. You can hide clues around the house and children can find them. You can hide sweets and candies, or small fun Halloween toys. They will be entertained for a while! You can send the clues to the other guests in advance so that they can also prepare it and they can all search at the same time.
HALLOWEEN PICTIONARY
The famous board game can provide us with a very fun activity. Send several Halloween-related words to each guest ahead of time, divide them into two teams, and ask them to have a pencil and paper handy. When the time comes, each participant during their turn will have to draw their word and the other people on their team have to guess it. The winning team can win a prize to motivate participation.
MONSTER DANCE
This is a version of the musical chairs, but in the form of a dance. When the music plays, all the guests begin to dance, and when the music stops they must remain completely frozen and without moving. Whoever moves is disqualified. And the last one will be the winner.
DECORATING HALLOWEEN COOKIES
This activity will take some preparation in advance since several materials are needed. The first thing you’ll need are Halloween-themed cookies. You can either make them yourself with Halloween cookie cutters and then give each participant a kit before the party so they can make it at home, or ask them to make it themselves. There are many recipes that you can find, but here you have a recipe for cookies to decorate that are delicious.
Another option if you want to simplify is to use round cookies and use the the cookie cutters to make fondant shapes and use those shapes and sugar sprinkles to decorate. Here are some fun Halloween molds you can use:
In addition to the cookies you will need sugar icing or fondant for the decoration. You can make the icing to decorate at home, or use melted chocolate and then decorate the cookies using a pastry piping bag. If you don’t have a piping bag or to make the task easier for your guests, you can use a ziploc bag and cut out a corner. However, it is possible that for a group activity, it might be easier to do it with fondant and the same cookie cutters.
Tip: if you use fondant, then you will need something to stick the sugar ornaments since the fondant is dry. You can use a drop of water, which acts as glue on the fondant or a little white chocolate melted with coloring of the color you choose.
Then you can use decorative colored sprinkles, or sugar ornaments so that each one can decorate their own cookies. Here are several options:
Well, I think that with all this information you can have a fantastic virtual Halloween party. The fact of being at home does not have to prevent us from having a fun celebration with our loved ones, especially for the little ones in the house. Happy Halloween!
