Fun Halloween Activities for Kids 11 & Up

• Have a Halloween party for kids 11 and up.halloween image by Freddy Smeets from Fotolia.com
  
  It can be difficult to know what to do with children when they're too old for trick-or-treating but still want to have fun on Halloween night. Some of us never outgrow the desire to wear a costume and run a little wild on this occasion, so Halloween is a great excuse for the older kids to have a party. Fortunately, tweens and teens are pretty good at keeping themselves entertained, so just add a few treats and some fun activities for a memorable Halloween night.
  
  

Disgusting Food

• Making, serving and eating food that looks truly disgusting is a source of endless fascination to the teen and pre-teen mind. This age group can make blood dip, litter box cake, rotting-corpse punch and custard brains---to name a few of the tamer recipes---and the worse it looks, the more they'll enjoy it. Be sure to have a camera at the ready for the "tasting" part of the evening.
  
  

Blood-Suckers Ball

• With the current popularity of vampire lore among this age group, there's never been a better time to throw a goth-themed party. Use black and red decorations, have everyone dress in capes and fangs and serve blood-red punch in sparkling goblets. Set up the DVD player and let everyone watch black-and-white classic Dracula flicks or the "Twilight" saga; for teens, have a full-on audience participation showing of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show." If you want to splurge a little, rent a fog machine for an eerie, slightly romantic effect.
  
  

Jack-O-Lantern Contest

• Many kids this age love to design, create and decorate, so have a pumpkin-carving party. You supply the scoops and pumpkin-carving tools (and the supervision), and they'll provide the imagination. You could have a stack of patterns nearby---they're easy to find on the Internet or in Halloween supply stores in October. Serve a snack of pumpkin cookies and hot apple cider, and award prizes for Biggest Pumpkin, Smallest Pumpkin, Most Original, Cutest, Most Disgusting, Scariest and Goofiest Jack-o-lanterns.
  
  

Haunted House

• Kids 11 and up will love creating a haunted house for their parents, siblings and trick-or-treaters on Halloween night. Let them spend a couple of weekends in early October setting up a maze in the garage or the yard and give them a few suggestions for costumes (like a hockey mask and a chainless chainsaw) or special effects such as gelatin brains, peeled-grape eyeballs and cold-spaghetti guts. This is classic Halloween fun that will keep them so entertained they won't miss being trick-or-treaters themselves.