A Frightfully Fun Party
Set a Halloween mood with games and activities that will have kids howling for more.
Set a Halloween mood with games and activities that will have kids howling for more.
What you need:
• Various — depending on activity
• Small prizes for winners if you choose to award them (make sure you have plenty on hand!)
What to do:
1. Dangling Doughnuts
Suspend one doughnut per guest from the ceiling or a tree branch, adjusted for each child's height. The winner is the first one to finish eating her doughnut without using her hands.
2. Design a Scarecrow
Split kids into groups of three to six and give each team a bag of at least a dozen objects and pieces of clothing (old shirts, hats, wigs, apples, foil, leaves, etc.). One person on each team is the "Scarecrow" whom his teammates dress up using all the objects in the bag. Award a variety of prizes (funniest, scariest, silliest, etc.) so that everyone wins.
3. Monster Murals
Before your guests arrive, cover a wall with craft paper and trace your child's outline on it three or four times. Divide kids into teams of two or four, and ask them to draw a monster, using the outline, within a certain period of time (preschoolers will lose interest after 10 minutes, while older grade schoolers will keep going for 20 or more). If your space or tolerance for mess is in short supply, stick to washable markers and stickers, but if you can work in the garage or outside, expand the selection to paint or even glitter and glue.
4. Mummy Wrap
Divide party guests into teams of three to six, and give each team two minutes to wrap someone up from head to toe in toilet paper, without covering eyes or mouths. Award a prize to the best mummy. For a more eco-friendly option, try using pieces of fabric.
5. Ping-Pong or Penny Pumpkin Toss
Form teams of two. One child will hold a plastic pumpkin and the other will be the ball-tosser. Depending on their age, move the kids a few paces away from each other and have them toss the balls into the pumpkin. The first team to get a dozen balls into their pumpkin wins. You can use pennies instead, but for safety reasons, place the pumpkins on the ground and have kids work individually.
6. Pumpkin Bowling
This is a great outdoor game. Fill six two-liter bottles with about three inches of water and arrange in a pyramid. Using a miniature pumpkin or gourd, have kids take turns rolling the pumpkin at the "pins." Give each child three tries, and award a prize to the player who knocks down the most.
7. Scary Story Circle
Fill a pumpkin with several slips of paper that contain a single Halloween-related word. Gather kids in a circle on the floor, and ask each child to pull a word out of the pumpkin. After they know their words, dim the lights and start the story with "It was a dark and stormy night . . ." Take turns around the circle, asking each child to add a few sentences using her word at least once.
8. Spider Web
Perfect for a group of four to eight kids. Arrange kids in a circle and give each one a golf ball-sized ball of yarn. Help each child tie an end of the yarn around his waist. Taking turns, each player tosses his yarn to someone else in the circle. When they reach the end of the yarn, they've created a web! Now the only challenge is to untangle themselves.
9. Traditional Games - Halloween Style
Classic games such as Hot Potato (Pass the Pumpkin), Pin the Tail on the Donkey (Stem on the Pumpkin), and Musical Chairs (to the "Monster Mash") are always a great choice. Not only are they entertaining, they don't require much skill and the rules are simple. Just add a ghoulish imagination to a scavenger hunt, game of charades, or favorite pastime to conjure up a devilishly entertaining activity.
