Creative and plastic free Halloween party ideas for kids

If you’ve just arrived here out of nowhere, first of all – WELCOME! and second of all, I should mention that this post actually follows on from a previous one on ‘grown up’ Halloween party inspiration, and you can read that here.

If you’re a little disenchanted with all the mass-produced, badly designed plastic tat ending up on the trash heap after one use, you’ll agree that the most frightening thing about Halloween it the excessive amount of waste. As more of us gravitate towards a Marie Kondo inspired lifestyle, cutting down on the things we just don’t need, how do you implement this without having to compromise on fun and novelty? A bit of creativity and reusability are the answer!

With a combination of buying less, buying better and a little imagination, there are some very cool ideas out there for Halloween, that also happen to tick the reusability box. As you’ll see below, one of the best plastic-free alternatives to decor, is to create your Halloween theme with things you can eat. It means all those garish green and orange Halloween props get consumed. Read on for our top 10 plastic free Halloween party ideas.

1. HAIRY GREEN WITCH CAT CAKE

Is that a carpet? Actually no. It’s a delicious chocolate cake, aptly named the Hairy Green Witch Cat Cake and that glorious furry coat is achieved with vanilla buttercream, tinted green. Lyndsay from the beautiful blog Coco Cake Land is an inspiring self-taught baker from Vancouver and you can find her step-by-step tutorial for this recipe here.

2. GHOST STAMP

Japanese are experts at creating cute illustrated characters and don’t shy away from incorporating them on anything from children’s clothes to aeroplanes (this Boeing 777 illustrated with Hello Kitty and friends actually exists). The whole phenomenon is called ‘kawaii’ in Japanese which translates as ‘lovable’, ‘cute’, or ‘adorable’. This kawaii ghost character stamp will allow you to ‘Halloween-ify’ almost anything – invitations, labels, party bags, decorations. Inspired by her visits to Japan, it’s designed by illustrator Marceline Smith of Asking For Trouble and made in collaboration with UK-based The Serious Stamp Company. So dinky. So reusable. £6 from Notonthehighstreet.

3. CAT DRESS

The great thing about a cat dress, or any animal themed costume for that matter, is that you can get away with wearing it every day of the year (if you’re a kid, that is…). Wild Things are made in Lancashire, UK, from 100% organic cotton. Check out the whole selection on Notonthehighstreet and for face paints try Snazaroo which are water-based, free from parabens, free from fragrance and suitable for sensitive skin.

4. PINEAPPLE FACE

Move over pumpkins; it’s the pineapple’s turn for the limelight. In collaboration with the creative studio and blog Poppytalk, Australian blogger Hipstermum put together this very stylish shoot on how to do Halloween in warmer climes. The pineapple jack-o’-lantern is a refreshing alternative to the pumpkin – and why not use the leftover fruit to make something delicious. Find pineapple dish inspiration here.

5. DRIP PAINT PUMPKINS

An alternative to pumpkin (or pineapple) carving is painting them. This paint dripping technique will give a contemporary abstract twist to your Halloween decor and you can even get the kids to do it themselves. Here is a great tutorial on different paint techniques from Mom Dot. Image via Plaidonline.

6. CHOCOLATE PUMPKIN CAKE

One thing you have to give Halloween credit for are the mad things you can get away with making and baking. This spooktacular chocolate pumpkin cake, topped with an adorable choir of meringue ghosts, is by La Pêche Fraîche. But if you’re short of time, you could always fast forward to the decoration part by simply adding the drizzled ganache and cute little ghosts to a shop bought cake.

7. WOODLAND MASKS

These stunning masks designed by Ninn Apouladaki are made in France from thick quality recycled paper and organic cotton. It immediately reminded me of that scene in Moonrise Kingdom. The owl is part of the woodland creatures set. Ninn also makes designs you can colour in yourself – très belles.

8. TINY WITCH HATS

Because toys need Halloween outfits too. If you don’t know the amazing website Oh Happy Day, they are brilliant at all things party related and offer tons of creative inspiration on costumes and decor. These little witches hats are made from black cupcake liners and they’ll even teach you how to make a Mondrian costume from a paper grocery bag. Very artsy.

9. GINGERBREAD SKELETONS

I love the simplicity of being able to use your regular gingerbread cookie cutter, but mixing it up for Halloween, with a genius skeletal icing technique. You’ll find the recipe over on Donna Hay.

10. MILK JUG SKELETON

In the UK, it’s pretty standard for our milk to come in plastic jugs that look like this. Before you put them out in the recycling, you could turn them into this very cute (and rather dapper) skeleton wearing a bow tie. You’ll find the tutorial on The Party Animal Blog – a great project to do with kids. Image via Makezine.

This post contains affiliate links