Love Halloween but having trouble thinking of a uniquely original way to celebrate with your kiddos? Well, look no further. I too have come up hard against the wall of tween-age children who no longer want to invite friends over to decorate pumpkins or cookies and cupcakes. Don’t get me wrong, they still love the carving — and the eating–they just don’t want a bunch of friends playing along. Or, to be more honest with myself, they don’t really want me quite as involved in their Halloween fun.
But, being me, I couldn’t let this month pass without a little something party-like for my kids. And given my 13-year-old daughter’s love of the sleepover, I had a brainstorm… and thus, the body bag sleepover was born!
NOTE: there is no need to have the kids actually sleep in the bags — we played tag and did “sack” race games in ours. The kids wanted to lie in them to watch the movie, but then opted for blankets, pillows and bean bags for actual sleeping. The idea was the novelty of body bags — not as much the sleeping.
What you will need:
- Body bags (I found some gag bags on Amazon, but there is also the option of the bodybagstore.com — yeah, it’s a thing) Make sure all bags used have been made kid-safe!
- Kids (you’ll probably need to find these yourself, although Amazon is getting pretty full-service these days) — I’m thinking this is a party for kids at least 10 years old. Too young and the thrill is lost. Too old and they will just roll their eyes.
- Food (check out my past Halloween treat article for some fun ideas)
- Scary Movie (optional, but if interested — here’s a link to some good kid-friendly choices)
- Decor (optional, but I’m always in support of a haunted house, monster plants or bone gardens!)
Note: I told all the parents involved that I would be having body bags. That seemed like something they should hear from me. You might want to follow suit.
Step 1: Prep the body bags–Make them SAFE!
Honestly, this is really the only step — but I want to put this in as not all body bags are breathable. Remember, these things weren’t meant for living, breathing humans. One of the types I found online was air-permeable, but the other one wasn’t. The body bags on bodybagstore.com are NOT breathable.
To make sure we had no suffocation risks, I cut the zipper in the body bag up near the face area.
Next, I used black tape to seal off the ends.
The tape keeps the zipper from falling apart and the body bag is now safe and impossible to zip all the way up.
NOTE: PLEASE MAKE SURE ALL BAGS USED ARE CUT TO MAKE THEM KID SAFE! DO NOT LET LEAVE UNCUT BAGS WITH KIDS.
Dobre izglejda no na kakva tsena varvyt te – samo bg levove