Talk about a grand month for parties! No month of the year offers better opportunities for thrilling and original parties than the month of October with its wealth of color and beauty and its Halloween festival. Invite your friends, and their parents and your relatives to have a big and thrilling Halloween family party. A Halloween party, which includes the whole family, offers one of the very nicest ways to celebrate this traditional day of merrymaking. Plentiful opportunities for legitimate fun for the young people in the home obviates any desire on their part to participate in activities outside which might easily, in exuberance of spirits, result in depredations and disorders. At the same time civic habits for your sons and daughters are being made. In our home such a Halloween party for the whole family is an annual event.

It has proved so popular with our family and family friends, that each year there is a general request for another. In fact, our sons greatly prefer these family parties at Halloween time to any other kind. Decorating the house for the Halloween party is one type of interior decoration that boys and girls thoroughly enjoy. All that is needed is plenty of orange and black crepe paper and some black silhouette figures obtainable at the dime store.

At our house "Mike" hangs in the room where the men and boys leave their coats and hats. "Mike" is a life-size cardboard skeleton purchased at the dime store. We painted him over with phosphorous paint (also from the dime store). From the darkest corner of the room "Mike" shines forth in all his ghostly glory, thereby adding to the spooky atmosphere of the home.

Guests quickly imbibe the Halloween spirit and are ready for any fun. Games must be planned beforehand and must be for young and old. This is not as hard as it sounds. A good way to start off the evening is to tell the guests that you have just heard that two witches have come to town and that you suspect they are among the guests; that they must be caught immediately before they can do horrible damage. (Two of the guests have agreed beforehand to be the witches.) The hostess describes the two witches as to height, weight, color of hair and eyes, habits, etc.

, and adds, if she sees fit, humorous comments. The guests immediately hunt for the two witches that have just been described. As soon as someone believes he has spotted one of the witches he extends his hand and reads in a loud voice from a card (which has previously been given each guest by the hostess) the following: When shall we meet again? Thunder, lightning or in rain? Better take it on the lam, Old black witch, beat it, scram! If he has pointed out the real witch, he or she disappears rapidly through the nearest door. If the discoverer is wrong he gets a Bronx cheer for his efforts. The game ends when both witches have been discovered and sent out.

Another Halloween game which proves a riot, especially for the heavier mamas, is the well-known "Broomstick Game," in which even the men bump their noses and the youngsters rock with laughter watching the grown-ups try this trick of picking up the apple with their teeth. Before your guest arrived, get ready with all the games so that you can also actively participate in it. It should be keep in mind that only those games must be selected which can be play by both young and old.

Mitch Johnson is a regular writer for http://www.kids-games-n-crafts.com/ , http://www.urcostumesguide.info/ , http://www.goodbudgetholiday.info/