I know this blog is not typically a gathering place for tips and party ideas, but occasionally I have a stroke of genius, so I thought I’d share. I’ve had this idea for years, and I’m finally trying it out this Halloween. I think it’s a great way to gather friends together, whether your own or your kids’, and just have a little fun.

And of course you could just do these activities with your own family.  That counts as a party too, right?

Here’s the invitation template and if you’d like, you can download it as a .pdf file by clicking here:

The party concept is really simple. Every guest brings a small baggie full of leftover Halloween candy. Stock up on some big buckets of vanilla ice cream, set up a blender bar, and let everyone make Blizzard-style milkshakes out of the leftover candy of their choice. Then play a few candy-bar games together (There’s a list of links explaining them below.), and just laugh and enjoy the company.

The Candy Bar Game with Gloves, Utensils, and Dice: This blogger plays by rolling for doubles. In my family, we always played with one die and switched turns whenever anyone rolled a six, always announced by everyone yelling “SIX!!!”

The Brown Bag Candy Bar Game: In my family, we played it this way, except that you could steal candy bars in any round, not just the last three rounds.  That way, we all tried to be so discreet when we chose a candy bar so that no one would see what we picked and then steal it.

Candy Bar Pass and Swap Game: In this game, each roll of the dice requires a different kind of candy swap or transfer. It would be fun to put a few duds in the mix (like black licorice or raisins that would be like the “Old Maid” everyone wants to get rid of).

Candy Bar Memory Game: Make up code names for the candy on cards and whoever makes the match, wins the candy.

Wrapped Candy Bar Challenge:  This is similar to the gloves, utensils and dice game above, but with some interesting variations to make it tricky to get to the candy.

So there you have it.  Pinterest, eat your heart out. 🙂