Paranormal Prom Halloween Party Ideas

Last Updated on November 8, 2013 by

This Halloween part ideas post has been inspired by a product I received to review at no charge but all opinions expressed here are my own.

This weekend, my daughter's Girl Scout Troop was in charge of organizing their Service Unit Halloween Party.  They have been planning this activity for months and came up with some great Halloween party ideas that made this event a big success.  One thing I love about the Girl Scouts is that it teaches the girls to be self sufficient.  They came up with the theme, put together party games, made signs and flyers and were heavily involved in setting up, running and cleaning up after the event.  There were about 50 to 60 girls there and I think everyone really had a great time.  The theme that the girls came up with was Paranormal Prom.  I think this idea particularly appealed to them because at the age of 11 they seriously LOVE fashion and getting dressed up in old prom dresses was a huge thrill!  If you are looking for Halloween party ideas and decide this sounds like a great theme, here are a few other games and activities to make your party a huge success:

Paranormal Prom Halloween Party Ideas

Costumes:

Prom dresses can be found at Good Will, thrift stores, or the closets of friends and neighbors.  We actually found an old wedding dress at Good Will and had a few alterations done.  Throw in a few scary accessories and our Paranormal Prom costume was complete!  Some of the girls came in long, flowing vampire dresses, the smaller girls had dresses on that looked like they had been worn as flower girl dresses in a wedding.  Basically, anything formal will do and you don't have to spend a lot of money on it.  If you want to use the gown again, hotglue pins to plastic bugs and attach them to the dress.  If you never want to use the dress again you can get creative with fake blood.

Games and Activities:

The girls chose games and activities that went with the whole fashion and fun theme.  These were games that had to appeal to a wide range of ages (from 6 to 12) and were inexpensive and easy to prepare.  I think the Halloween party ideas that they chose were pretty brilliant!  Here are just of my favorite activities from this weekend's Paranormal Prom:

Jewelery making:  Dollar store beads (plus a few donations) and thin string were all that was needed.  Tape down one of the ends of string to the table to ensure that not too many beads end up on the floor!  The girls made bracelets but you could do necklaces too, depending on how many girls you have and how many beads.

Make a corsage:  This was truly a brilliant idea!  Supplies included a few packages of black hair bands (easily found at most chain drug stores), small fake flowers from the craft store and floral tape (also found at the craft store).  Using a pair of scissors, cut off a stem or two of the flowers and tape them onto the hair band.  The band goes around your wrist like a wrist corsage.  Inexpensive and easy enough for even the younger girls to do without much help!

Pin the Tie on the Date: This is one of the Halloween party ideas that my daughter was in charge of putting together.  Basically, all you need are a few pieces of poster board, markers or paints, scissors, double sided sticky tape and a bandana.  Draw a 'date' on a piece of poster board and color him in...give him a nice formal look with a top hat and button down shirt.  Next, make him a tie on a piece of poster board using a tie template.  Give it a bit of color.  To play the game, just tape your 'date' to a wall, blindfold your prom queen and hand her  a tie with some double sided sticky tape on it.  Just like pin the tail on the donkey with a bit of a twist!

Fashion Doll Ring Toss:  Most girls probably have a few Barbies tucked away in a bucket still at this age so just get one or two out and dress them up in something pretty.  Doesn't Barbie always have a pretty gown in her closet?  Next, tape her feet to the bucket so she is standing upright like in the picture above.  Weight down the bucket with a few cans.  Grab a few rings from the pool toy bin and you are all set to play Fashion Doll Ring Toss!  Prizes can be small plastic rings, pieces of candy, etc.

There were  dozens of games, activities, and assorted centers for the girls to stop by and participate in.  We did a colored hair spray station, a ghoulish makeup table, musical chairs with Halloween music, and even a photo booth that was a big hit with the girls.  Gather a few props like sparkly feather boas, crowns, hats, jewelry, gloves and whatever other accessories you can find in the dress up bin.  You can paint a pretty backdrop on butcher paper or just hang a pretty blanket from the wall.  Our troop leader's high school son dressed up with a scary mask and fancy suit to act as the 'prom date' and we took photos of the girls  as mementos.

We took photos with a digital camera so that the girls could access them online but if you want to actually hand the girls a photo before they leave you may want to consider the Fuji instax mini 8 camera.  Remember when we were young and you could snap a picture and have it print right from the camera?  That technology is still around, even though most people now use digital.  This camera has a cute and compact body design and comes  in five different colors.

The camera is incredibly easy to use and set up.  It takes 2 double A batteries and uses a special film cartridge pack that you can buy online.  Just put the cartridge in the camera and you are ready to start taking pictures.  What I loved about the Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 is that it automatically determines the best brightness for taking a picture. There is no guesswork involved.  It will  tell you the right setting by lighting the corresponding lamp on the front of the camera. The picture that prints out is 62 x 46mm...or, about the size of a business card.  Once the photo emerges from the camera it only takes a minute or two to finish developing.

The instax mini was easy to set up, light weight, and choosing the right setting was very simple.  We found that the pictures came out a little dark under the horrid fluorescent lights of the large room we were in, but then again I never have great luck with pictures under fluorescent lights! The photos came out much brighter when we went outside and I was impressed with how quickly they developed as well.  This camera would make a great addition to your photo booth at your next party and that way the kids leave with a photo in hand to remind them of the fun they had.

Have any other great Halloween party ideas that would fit for a Paranormal Prom?

Disclaimer:  In accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials.”: I received product samples  in exchange for my honest review. I received no monetary compensation. All opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone. Some of the links in this post may be “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers.

Diane Hoffmaster

Diane is a professional blogger and nationally certified pharmacy technician at Good Pill Pharmacy.  She has two college aged kids, one husband and more pets than she will admit to. She earned her BS in Microbiology at the University of New Hampshire  but left her career in science to become a stay at home mom. Years of playing with LEGO and coloring with crayons had her craving a more grown up purpose to her life and she began blogging and freelance writing full time.  You can learn more about her HERE.