Considerations

• Review the parade rules and restrictions. It is important to know the requirements, regulations and limitations before you plan the design of your float. Design the float based on the structure's size and supportive elements. Think about the scale of the decorations you want to use and how to implement them safely.
  
  

Themes

• Choose a theme for your float. Themes for a Halloween parade can be limitless. Some traditional Halloween float themes include a jack-o-lantern, haunted house, pirate ship, graveyard or simple orange and black décor. Pumpkins and autumn leaves also work well for a seasonal theme.
  
  Don't be afraid to venture out of the season because Halloween is a time for masquerading as something else. Consider other holidays, scenes from movies or fairy tale settings. Take a trip to a party goods store and browse the seasonal aisles for inspiration.
  
  Take a traditional theme and give it a spooky twist. Use black roses to decorate and place a zombie queen at the helm of your "dead rose" parade float. Create a haunted gingerbread house with cobweb-covered candy pieces and gingerbread people dressed as vampires and witches.
  
  

Supplies

• Cover large surfaces with items such as festooning, sheeting, fringe, banners and paint. Arches covered in Halloween garlands are large-scale pieces that can serve as a main focal point. If you plan to build your own large props, such as a jack-o-lantern, add wood pieces and chicken wire to your shopping list, along with something such as tissue paper sheets for covering the structure.
  
  Accessorize with Halloween decorations found in party supply stores. Purchase items such as plastic pumpkins, skeletons, hanging ghosts, witches, bats and other creepy critters to adorn your Halloween parade float. Balloons and crepe paper in coordinating colors are simple, inexpensive decorations.
  
  Use decorations that can be secured to your float. Large props must be able to withstand movement and gusts of wind. Hanging spiders are useless if you have no place on your structure from which to hang them.
  
  

Special Effects

• Add lighting, spooky music or sound effects, moving creatures and smoke or fog if your float is equipped to safely support their operation.