You may already have your own “spooky” and “scary” Halloween party traditions but how about adopting a few new traditions that will make your guests- SQUIRM! Keep in mind, these are “family friendly” “squirms” and hopefully nothing will be too scary for the little ones in your family.
When I think of things that make me squirm I think of bats, worms, snakes and spiders- all typical Halloween creatures. Oh, and what about eyeballs- sure to bring on a squirm!
Decorations-
A few old brooms decorated with bows and lights makes for a fun entrance to your party. Wrap plastic snakes around the broom handle and spiders in the bristles.
Silhouettes make decorating easy. You can purchase spooky silhouettes or easily make your own using black paper such as teachers use for bulletin boards. Put silhouettes in windows for a fun Halloween decoration- you want your guests to start 
“squirming” with fright before they even get to the door.
Don’t want to make your own silhouette- the cat pictured is actually a Martha Stewart Halloween Witch Silhouette Window Cling. This image clings to glass or mirrors and can be reused year after year.
SQUIRMY TRICK-
Squirmy Vampire Soap
You will need a small jar, laxative tablets (over the counter product at pharmacy), rubbing alcohol, soap and water.
In the jar, crush one or two laxative tablets and add a tablespoon of rubbing alcohol. Rub some of the mixture on your hand and allow to dry. Then wash it off with soap. The soapy water will turn bright red!
NOTE: Do not eat or drink this solution.
What happened? The laxative contains a substance called phenolphthalein, which turns bright red when mixed with an alkali base like soup.
HALLOWEEN TREAT-
Squirmy Peanut Butter Eyeballs
Ingredients:
2 cups powdered sugar
½ cup creamy peanut butter
3 Tablespoons butter, softened
½ – 1 pound white chocolate candy coating
Small bag of M & M’s or Skittles
Tube of red decorator frosting
1. Blend peanut butter and butter until creamy. Add sugar. Continue beating until it comes together and is about as thick as thick cookie dough. When well blended shape into 1 inch balls and put in the fridge on waxed paper to chill until firm. (30 minutes)
2. Melt the white candy coating in the microwave. Microwave in 60 second intervals stirring at the end of every minute until candy is smooth and creamy. Dip peanut butter balls in the candy coating and place back on your waxed paper. Immediately press a candy on top to make an iris. Place back into the fridge until set.
3. Using the tube of red decorator frosting make red squiggly blood vessels.
HINT: Since taking these photos we have found that to clean your eyes up a bit, use a paring knife to cut the excess candy coating from the eyeball- it will give your eyeball a cleaner look.
HALLOWEEN GAMES to make you Squirm
Worms in a Pie
You will need gummy worms, whipped cream and aluminum pie plates. Place gummy worms in the bottom of the pie plate and then cover with whipped cream. On the word “go” players try and eat as many gummy worms as they can find in the cream. You can award prizes for the most worms found or most worms found in a time limit. For extra fun, blindfold the contestants.
Bouncing Eyeballs
Take a ping pong ball and decorate with markers to look like blood shot eyes. Then get plastic pumpkin or party cups. Now give each child an eyeball and place the plastic pumpkin or cup at the bottom of stairs or across the floor. Have each player toss or bounce the eyeball down the stairs or across the room. The goal is to see if their eyeball bounces into the pumpkin. You can give a prize to those that get it in the pumpkin. Also for young kids, you may want to place paper cups together and have each cup worth a prize.
Speaking of “eyeballs”…
SCARY STORY to make you SQUIRM-
The Legend of White Eyes
I didn’t write it nor do I know where it came from- maybe it really is a true story and came from the pages of my history book. I’ve heard a lot of scary stories when I’ve been camping but this is the only story that made me scream- I hope you scream too.
Advance preparation- besides practicing the telling of this tale you will need to take a ping-pong ball and cut it in half. Color a small dark dot on each half with a permanent marker. These will be your “white eyes”. Keep them concealed in a closed hand. When the time is right, pop them on over each eye. (You may customize place names in your story to suit the occasion) NOTE: I would wait to tell this story until the little ones in your family had been tucked into bed.
There on that side of the lake (point) is where this story took place. As you all may know, the area around here was a busy place 100 years ago due to the Gold rush. Miners turned this whole region upside down in a quest for GOLD!
Greed can be a dangerous thing, especially where Gold is involved. To find more gold meant faster production, and digging deeper underground. It also meant sacrificing safety, but they didn’t care because there were a lot of foolish men around looking to make their fortune.
One day an underground mine collapsed with 16 men still waiting to come up from a full day’s work. Hour after hour went by as they awaited their rescue. The conditions were terrible. It was pitch-black dark, and very hot, dry and dusty down deep in that shaft. The men collected droplets of water that seeped down the tunnel walls in an attempt to satisfy their dying thirst. Days went by and still no rescue. To stave off hunger, they ate rats, mushrooms, and eventually… their dead co-workers.
(Throw a log on the fire for dramatic effect! Poke away at the embers.)
Despite their hopelessness, they scraped away at the rock and debris to try and dig their way out, confident that others would be digging from the surface as part of the rescue attempt. They dug and they dug, day after day, frantically hoping to see daylight from the surface. The days stretched into weeks, and then from there, the few men left alive lost track of time, and started losing their minds.
An eternity later, the survivors finally broke through, and made two very surprising discoveries. One: there was no search party. The mining company had abandoned the mine, and simply walked away. And two… all that time underground had affected their eyes… Their eyeballs were all white, except for an itty bitty black pupil. And they could no longer tolerate sunlight.
Being left for dead was bad enough. Turning into some sort of White-eyed freak was too much. They snapped. In their rage they made a pact to hunt down every man who abandoned them in that old mine. And soon after, mysterious instances of men being killed in the mountains around here started.
The locals at first thought it was a bear or a cougar doing all the killing. The victims were usually found mauled, bloody and torn. But; closer examination showed the teeth marks on the bodies… were from human teeth!!
(Throw log on the fire!)
One by one, those white-eyed freaks killed off every miner, and any other man they could find in this area. And to this day, you won’t find any mining around these parts. Keep in mind this all happened 100 years ago. You’re probably wondering what happened to those white-eyes?? They should all be gone now due to old age, or at least that’s what they thought… until a few weeks ago. I heard on the radio, they found a hiker mauled on that trail on the backside of the lake. And on that dead man’s neck… human teeth marks!!!
Heed my words, kids: As long as you’re close to the fire, the light will scare ‘em away, but if you need to go into the dark… (pop in the ping-pong ball props)
BEWARE of the WHITE-EYES!!!!
Aaagghhh!!!!
SQUIRMY SONGS-
Road Kill Stew
(Tune: “Three Blind Mice”)
Road kill stew, road kill stew.
Tastes so good, just like it should.
First you go down to the interstate.
You wait for the critter to meet it’s fate.
You take it home and you make it great.
Road kill stew, road kill stew.
Squirmiest Song Ever
Nobody likes me; everybody hates me;
Guess I’ll go eat worms.
Chorus: Long, thin, slimy ones; short fat juicy ones;itsy, bitsy, fuzzy, wuzzy worms.
First you get a bucket; then you get a shovel;
Oh, how they wiggle and squirm.
Chorus
Next, you pull their heads off, then you suck their guts out;
Oh, how they wiggle and squirm.
Chorus
Down goes the first one, down goes the second one;
Oh, how they wiggle and squirm.
Chorus
Up comes the first one; up comes the second one;
Oh, how they wiggle and squirm.
Chorus
Everybody likes me; nobody hates me!
Why did I eat all those worms?
Chorus
Chop up their heads, and squeeze out their juice,
And throw their tails away.
Nobody know how I can survive
On worms three times a day!
Sneakers
(Tune: “Auld Lang Syne”)
Should old worn sneakers be thrown out;
Or stink upon a shelf?
Should holey, moldy, gym socks walk
To the washer by themselves?
My smelly shoes, so torn and rank;
How comfortable to me!
My gym socks match them perfectly;
Let’s my piggies wiggle free!
Halloween Party Jokes
Q: What do you call a ghost in a torn sheet?
A: A holy terror
Q. What do you call a witch who lives at the beach?
A. A sand-witch.
Q. What do you call a witch’s garage?
A. A broom closet.
Q. What is a Skeleton’s favorite song.
A. Bad to the Bone.
Q. Why can’t a Skeleton Lift Weights?
A. He’s all bone and no muscle.
Q. What is a Mummie’s favorite type of music?
A. Wrap music!
Q. Why don’t mummies take vacations?
A. They’re afraid they’ll relax and unwind.
Slime Recipe
I was going through some old family reunion papers and found this fun recipe for Ooey Gooey Gax- some people call it “slime”. Kids love Gax/slime and it’s a perfect party craft especially if you’re outside.
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons white glue
2 Tablespoons water
3-4 drops food coloring
1 Tablespoons Borax – usually found in the laundry detergent section of your grocery store
Plastic bag for storing Gax
Directions:
- Mix 1 Tablespoon of Borax powder to 1 cup warm water. Stir until all the powder has dissolved. This makes sodium borate.
- In a smaller separate bowl, mix 2 Tablespoons glue and 2 Tablespoons water and stir well.
- Add 3 drops of food coloring to the glue/water mix and stir.
- Add 1 Tablespoon of the sodium borate to the glue/water mixture.
- Stir and let sit for a few minutes and then it will be ready to play with.
- Place in an airtight container (Bag).
Hints: Don’t leave Gak on fabric, vinyl or wood. Do not eat Gak. Make a batch of Gak before getting to your reunion so you know how it works.
This recipe only makes a small batch.
To make Glow in the Dark Slime: Add several drops of glow-in-the-dark paint during the mixing in stage 1.
The cute graphics you see on this page may be purchased from-
http://delightful-doodles.com
