There are any number of great activities you and your street can do in addition to the traditional costume contest. Here is a short list of suggestions to get you started thinking:
Kid Talent Contest: Put this in your invitation and fliers that there’ll be a Kids’ Talent Contest. Set an age limit or be surprised by the older kids who will enjoy competing, too. Have goofy prizes for any category you have.
Stand-Up Comic Contest: Let it be known before the block party that there is going to be a family-friendly Stand-up Comic Contest so they can prepare their routines. Stress what you believe as clean is and yank anyone off that goes blue during his or her time on stage. Give out three kinds of canned corn for prizes and decorate the can to look like certain comedians like Whoopie Goldburg, Carrot, Top or Carlos Mencia!
Pet Show or Pet Talent Show: Dress the pets up and decide who’s the cutest, the most evil, and the most original. You can judge the pets on their talents, too, from licking their person’s face to walking on their hind legs. Just keep the categories loose and fun! But remember- never allow anything that harms or makes the animal uncomfortable!
Street Bowling: Get an old bowling ball and set up half-filled two-liter bottles like bowling pins and try to knock the pins down. This is a great game to play and to watch as each person takes his turn, especially if you make up some crazy rules to use. Just use anything to make it more interesting and to keep the real bowlers from killing the rest of us. You may have to make up a drawing system for teams or set up more than one lane but please realize that the ball is going to get chipped and dinged so don’t use a good one!
Halloween-Themed Relay Races: You can put ping-pong eyeballs on spoons, fill the skull (with spoons of candy bones), and many other relay races. Kids and adults love to do relay races, and this would be a great family event much like the old potato sack races are.
Scavenger Hunt: This will be a lot of fun, but it does take a lot of planning to pull off. Some will want to do the running around to solve the clues while others will love to be in possession of the much desired items or give clues for the next area to search. Get a good group of creative people together and you’ll be amazed at all the unusual and funny clues you can come up with that will be special to your street or town.
I could go on, but you get the idea – there are so many fun and inexpensive activities out there waiting for you to think them up. If you have a larger budget to work with, you could go to a rental company and rent a bounce house or other games to go along with the activities I mentioned previously.
Well, there you have it! I hope this article will get you motivated to hold the first of many block parties, and I hope your event is a thrilling success. Life is too short to not have fun, make memories, and have a good support system around you and your family every day of the year!
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