Halloween Games for Kids

Throw a Party with Halloween Games

Throw a party! It can be simple. Prior to the party, decide with your own child or children which games you would like to play. Gather the needed items for each game. Most of the preparation for the games listed below can be done prior to the party.

Get your children to help with the refreshments. There are some easy recipes you and your children can create together before the party starts. Caramel apples are popular during the fall and making a batch can be satisfying. If you don't have time to cook, dishes of candy corn and popcorn, along with cider, will suffice. Place the snacks on the kitchen or dining room table. In another room, organize the games to play.

Scarecrow Stuffing Game

Six Halloween Games for Kids to Play

Preschool and grade school kids can often play the same game together, the older children will just be a little better at it. If you do happen to have two vastly different age groups, consider two sets of games.

Having prizes for the winners of the games does make it more challenging. Your prizes can be small items that have to do with Halloween--a pencil with a Halloween design, fake plastic teeth, or some candy will be appreciated.

Choose the games that will best entertain your group on Halloween.

• Pin the Mouth on the Jack-o'-Lantern

What you need: A large picture of a pumpkin with eyes, nose and mouth, to tape on the wall or door, several large pumpkin mouths made of sturdy cardboard, pieces of tape, and a blindfold.

How to play: Have the children stand in line and take turns. One child is blindfolded and holds a cardboard mouth with a piece of tape attached to the back of it. He places the mouth on the pumpkin's face. The others follow, each one blindfolded as he tries to place the mouth where the pumpkin's mouth is. The child who puts the mouth closest to the real mouth, gets a prize.

• Wrap the Mummy

What you need: Cheap toilet paper or strips of sheets.

How to play: Form two teams with one person as the designated mummy. Quickly, the teammates wrap him or her up in the toilet paper or strips of old sheets. The game is fun without competition; however, you can play that whichever team succeeds in wrapping up their mummy first, wins.

• Spooky Scavenger Hunt

What you need: Items to hide around the house or outside, such as a plastic toy black cat, witch's hat, scarecrow, bat, spider, or silly eyeball. Make it easy for the preschoolers to find by hiding the items in obvious places; hide the items more for the older kids. Have pieces of orange paper with the items to be found listed on them. Use pictures and words so everyone can know what to look for.

How to play: Kids search for the items and check them off their lists as each one is found. The winner is the first to find all the hidden things.

• Scarecrow Stuffing Game

What you need: Four long poles or sturdy sticks. Unless you have a good way to keep these standing up, it might be best to play this game outside. Also, since hay or old newspapers are involved, this game can get a little messy. Place the longest stick or pole (at least four feet tall) into the ground. Place the shorter stick or pole across the one in the ground and secure it to the long pole with rope or string to form a t-shape. The taller stick is the body of the scarecrow and the pole across are the arms. You will need two of these constructions, one for each team. Have two boxes, each with a pair of pants and belt or a pair of overalls, a shirt, and a hat. Each team can have a bale of hay, pine needles or a stack of old newspapers to use to stuff the clothes. Use blown-up balloons for the scarecrow faces. The balloons can be placed on the neck of the stuffed shirts and covered with the hats as the team progresses in the building of the scarecrow.

How to play: Each team stuffs their scarecrow as fast as they can. First the clothes are fastened to the poles. To make the clothes stay on the poles, hay or newspapers are placed inside the clothes. The belt is used to hold up the pair of pants. If overalls are used, there is no need for a belt. The team who completes his scarecrow creation first is the winning group.

• Drop the Spider

What you need: One toy spider and a CD player with scary music.

How to play: One kid is IT. He has the toy spider. The other kids sit in a circle facing each other. IT walks around the outside of the circle and quietly behind one of the seated children, drops the spider. Once the child notices the spider behind him, she jumps up and runs to try to catch IT. If she catches IT, she is safe. If IT gets to her place on the floor first, the child is the new IT.

• Unwrap the Mummy

What you need: A shoe box (the mummy's tomb) with something spooky like plastic spiders or bats inside. Tape the box and cover it with about a dozen layers of bright orange wrapping paper. Also, a CD player with some lively music is needed.

How to play: Children sit in a circle on the floor. Pass the wrapped present around as music plays. Let the children unwrap the present only when it is passed to them and the music stops. Once the music starts up again, they must pass the present around in the circle. The child who completes the unwrapping of the present and opens the box during his turn, is the winner.

If you want to learn more, check out some other games for children to play at Halloween.

Let Everyone Have Fun

Some things to keep in mind when you are planning to play games with kids is to have fun. The kids will enjoy the evening more if you are enjoying yourself, too. If possible, try not to plan a party where you will be the only adult supervisor. Get a spouse, another mom or dad or friend to help out with the games. Engage the quiet child to participate. Always have phone or cell numbers of where parents can be reached if parents decide to leave your home. Make sure they know when to return to pick up their child. Serve refreshments in between playing the games. Hopefully, each child will have had a great time playing these Halloween games for kids.