Photo by: YAXZONE
Halloween is arguably one of the best holidays we have. We get to dress up as pretty much anything, spend a night with our friends, and get free candy just for ringing a doorbell. While this may prompt a childhood flashback, don’t think that college students can’t also enjoy themselves on Halloween. If you don’t have plans or need some new ideas, here are some suggestions to help you celebrate Halloween and have a frightfully good time doing it.
Trick or Treating, Just Like When You Were Five!
Yes, trick or treating is for little kids and maybe even high school teenagers. But who said that trick or treating is off limits to college students? We at ChapterTalk encourage you to embrace the child within, and spend Halloween night knocking on doors and filling up your bags with treats. Whether you decide to make your trick or treating a chapter event, or simply a night out with your best Greek buddies, you’re sure to have fun and even make a few new friends. We recommend trick or treating in the family-heavy communities, as the houses will be expecting visitors, and you’ll also get to see all the kids in their costumes (maybe you’ll even find some costume inspiration for next year).
Create a Haunted “Greek” House for The Local Community
If your chapter is looking to involve the outside community for Halloween, consider transforming your chapter house into a haunted one. Invite the local community to meet your chapter and enjoy a few hours at the house. Of course, the haunted house doesn’t need to be scary. You can set up different activities for the kids to do, such as face painting, bobbing for apples, and a bean-bag toss, as well as provide snacks and refreshments for the parents (apple cider, ghost-shaped cookies, etc.). Not only is a haunted house a great way to interact with the community and make a positive impression, it’s also very easy to organize and execute. Simply put, utilize your chapter’s members in every way possible. From setting up the house, baking cookies, and hanging ghosts from the ceiling, to manning each activity booth (yes, they will be the face painters), greeting families, and cleaning up after, your members will have plenty to keep them occupied.
Be Philanthropic: Trick or Treating for Cans
If you like the idea of trick or treating, but aren’t too keen on the candy part, consider a more philanthropic approach. As more of an impromptu philanthropy, get your Greek community to participate in a trick or treating canned food drive. Greek members divide up into groups of five or six, and then go around the local community “trick or treating” for canned food. Cans are then returned to campus and donated to a local food bank or shelter (your choice). To get your Greek members in the Halloween mood, encourage them to think of the philanthropy as actual trick or treating, that means costumes and all. Additionally, if you have a good number of people, assign different local communities to each trick or treating group. Finally, some Greeks find the trick or treating more motivating if it’s competitive. Thus, if you want, make the philanthropy into a competition with the trick or treating groups competing for the most cans (winners will get… free Halloween candy?!).
Host a Halloween Party
If Halloween makes you want to party, then do exactly that. Throw an informal Halloween party at your chapter house or go all out and rent an outside venue for the event. Encourage people to come in costume (“no costume, no entrance”), and decorate, decorate, decorate! Additionally, if you’re feeling like a more traditional Halloween party, include some Halloween activities such as bobbing for apples, a costume contest, and room-to-room trick or treating.
Halloween Exchange or Mixer
Some sororities and fraternities choose to celebrate Halloween with an exchange or mixer, Halloween-themed of course. Just like a Halloween party, make sure your members come in costume and with the Halloween spirit. Additionally, as some of your members may have other plans for Halloween, consider having your exchange or mixer a few days before the actual hallowed day. This way, your members can enjoy the event with each other, meet other Greeks, and still make their other Halloween commitments.
Costumes Collaborations: Help Your Members Dress for Halloween
Finally, in preparation for Halloween, help out your members by hosting a costume night. As pre-made costumes are pretty expensive now, save your members some money and collaborate on each others’ costumes. One way to do this is to have your members bring old clothes, accessories, and old costumes to the house and donate them to the “Halloween pile”. Then, your members can redistribute, create new costumes, or use someone’s old one. A costume night is a great opportunity for members to help other members, spend quality time together, and have fun. Additionally, its a great way to ensure your members have costumes for your Halloween party and enjoy the scariest night of the year.