A list of 56 Halloween party games, compiled and edited by Kim Horne from an online source.
1. Four Corners Halloween Style
Put four Halloween vocabulary cards (ie. Witch, Mummy, Vampire, Skeleton, Black Cat, Broom, Spider, Pumpkin) in each corner of the room. Play some spooky/funny Halloween music (Monster Mash, Purple People Eater, etc) and have the students run around the room from corner to corner. When the music stops, everyone picks a corner to stand in. If the caller shouts out their corner (I want my Mummy!), then all those in the Mummy corner sit out for a turn. Have one of the kids from the Mummy group do the music and call out the next location. For older kids you could play this game to the last student. 2. Cluck/Boo Hunt
Fun for the kids and hilarious for everyone watching. All you need is some candy corn and paper cups. Before the party, hide the candy corn throughout the house or backyard. When it comes time to play, divide the group into teams. Each team chooses one person to be the Rooster. The rest of the team are Hens. The Hens go hunting for the candy corn. The fun part is when they find it. They have to keep their hands behind their backs and
cannot touch the candy corn when they find it. They have to cluck loudly, like a hen, to get their rooster’s attention. The roosters may pick up the candy corn and place it in their cups. You can either put a time limit on it or let them go until all the candy corn has been found. The one who has the most candy corn in their cup is deemed the winner. Variation: have the Students be ghosts say “Boo, Booooo, Boooooooooo” instead.
3. The Spooky Walk
Cut out pumpkins, witches, ghosts, brooms, scarecrows, and other Halloween symbols. You'll need 1 item per child attending. If you run out of ideas put 2 pumpkins together, 2 witches etc... You can place the cut outs in a circle on the floor or around/on a table. You'll need some haunting music to play, you'll need to be able to turn the music on or off. Have your guests walk around in a circle stepping/standing beside or on the things you cut out. At random intervals, stop the music and everyone freezes by the item next to them. Then from a hat or jar draw out the name of one of the cut outs, like 2 pumpkins, then the person standing next to the 2 pumpkins would be out of the game (or sits out a turn). Continue playing the music until there is a winner.
4. Rolling Pumpkins Relay
Line up 2 teams. The first person passes the pumpkin over his/her head to the next person in line. The next person passes the pumpkin under his/her legs to the next person, and so on. When you get to the end of the line the last person runs up to the front and starts it all over again. Whoever has the first person that was in line at the beginning of the game in the back of the line WINS.
5. Candy Corn Catch (for kids and adults)
Divide guests into groups of 3 teams, 4-5 per team. Tie a plastic pumpkin around one team member's waist. Give the remaining team members a basket of candy corns. Play music. When the music begins, Yell, G0! Each team tries to toss the most candy corns into their pumpkin from a certain distance. Stop and start the music to give team members a chance to change turns. When the song is over, count the candy corns and the team with the most wins! Watching the students try to get the candy corns to go in their pumpkins is hilarious! Have fun!
6. Trick or Treat Activity Game
Use a cookie cutter shaped like a pumpkin and trace 12 pumpkins on orange construction paper, cut them out. Note it is important to try and make these the same size. Then take 11 of the pumpkins and write Trick and on 1 write Treat. On the Trick pumpkins write a silly thing to do like walk like a spider, or cackle like a witch, or flap your wings like a bat, dance like a fairy, walk like frankenstein and more. Put everything in a plastic witches kettle and have each child draw one out. If they get the treat one then let them choose a treat out of another bucket. If they get the trick they have to do what it says to earn the treat.
7. Pass The Pumpkins
Have kids sit in a circle and pass small pumpkins or gourds when the music is playing. When the music stops the child without a pumpkin is out continue until there's a winner.
8. Build A Scarecrow
Form groups and have a variety of old clothes, pillowcases for heads, markers and newspaper. Groups have 20 minutes to create. Give prizes to the scariest or funniest, then place outside.
9. Build A Scarecrow Game - #2
Divide your back yard into two sections by yellow tape (maybe 2 rooms or a basement if inside). Before your party, get together 2 sets of 6-10 items that can be used to build a scarecrow. Sample items: Hat, corn stalks, jeans, string... Now hide these items in order to make a scarecrow around each half (one side for each team). For small children you may want to play this game during the day and to make the game harder play it at night. When playing at night send out team member with a pumpkin with a pumpkin light or a candle inside), have one person from each team (starting at same time) go on a hunt to find one item. After all items are found, the team has to be creative and construct a scarecrow, using all items. The team that finishes their scarecrow first, wins.
10. Guess The Ghost - Great for Young Children
Have one child leave the room. Then take a large sheet and have a different (child) stand and hide under the sheet. Mix up the remaining children in the room and then allow the child who left the room to come back inside. That child has to guess who's the ghost, by process of elimination they need to figure out which child is hiding under the sheet. Then that "Ghost" goes out of the room and a different child becomes the new ghost, mix up the remaining children and repeat until all of the children have had a turn being the ghost.
11. Mummy Wrap
Divide guests into pairs Give each pair a roll of toilet paper. One person wraps the other with the paper, first one to empty their roll wins. Older kids and adults get two rolls, once the first person is wrapped they wrap their partner. Prizes to the first team who empty both rolls. To save paper, use strips of cloth.
12. Witch Hunt Game
Cut out paper witch hats. Whatever number you think would suit the number of people at the party. Color two hats a different color from the rest. Hide all the witch hats throughout the house (area where you would be doing this game). Send the kids to find all the hats. The kids who find the different colored hats get the biggest prize and the two who got the most hats collected get the next biggest prize. Have extra prizes in case of ties. Also, you might want some small prizes for the people who didn't get a prize.
13. Halloween Candy Hunt
Like an Easter egg hunt: Buy plastic eggs and paint them in halloween colors. put candy in them. then hide them. The prize can be the candy inside or some of the eggs can contain notification of winning a small prize or party favor.
14. Adult Games
Adults and teens may need something a little less animated. Consider playing a Halloween trivia game, for singles maybe a haunted dating game, for couples how about a Halloween newlywed game. Research and create questions about Halloween, scary movies, or questions about what frightens your guests.
15. Halloween Scavenger Hunt
Each year we have a big Halloween Party, everyone is teamed up, 10 to 15 people in each group, fully costumed, and armed with instant cameras. All the teams are given the same list of items to collect, but the items are in different sequence. Each team dressed in Halloween costumes races around town for things like old cassettes, road kill, a picture of the group with a police officer, information from a sign. The team that gets all the items and does it in the least amount of time - wins.
16. Pumpkin Bowling
Supplies: 3 small pumpkins, 30 empty 2 liter clear soda bottles, 1 can white spray paint, 1 permanent black marker, a bag of gravel or pebbles {placed in bottom of bottles}. Ask friends and parents of the guests to save empty, clean 2 liter soda bottles for your party. Give them a date of at least 1 week to have bottles turned in by. Spray paint the soda bottles white and draw eyes and mouths on the bottles once dried. Add about a cup of sand or pebbles in each bottle so they will stand without falling over. Divide students and guests into several teams of 3-8 kids each... line up and take turn at bowling over the Ghosts! The small pumpkins are the bowling balls.
17. Witches Brew
Fill a big pot with prizes wrapped in black and green paper, and throw a bunch of other gross stuff in like spiders, cobwebs, that popcorn Styrofoam, etc. to make it look like a big stew. Then have them reach hand in for prize (if they dare!) If it wasn't so messy, I'd even suggest slime or jello as the soup base.
18. Spider Hunt
Buy a few packages of the plastic spiders. Hide them in the bathrooms, the living room, and kitchen. Have the kids look for them during your party. The child who collects the most spiders by the end of the party wins a special prize.
19. Squealy Feeley Meeley / Gross Food Game Guess
You will need 5 or more bags that are made so that you can't see through them. You will want to line the bags with plastic. First cut up bananas and mash them up. Then put them in bag #1. Then take grapes and peel the skin off of them and place them in bag #2. Take stick pretzels and let them soak in water until they are still hard but a little bit soggy. Place them in bag #3. Take spaghetti sticks and cook them so that they are soft and bendy. Place them (along with a little bit of water to keep them moist) in bag #4. Now for bag #5 save orange peels to put in the bag. You will have the kids line up so each to take a turn. Before they put their hand in bag one tell them that they will need to remember which bag had what in it. After the first person is done give him or her a pencil and paper to write down what he or she thought was in bag 1,2,3,4, and 5.The person who gets the most right or the closest to the right answer can receive a prize. You can come up with more ideas and add more bags. Other food/body parts ideas:
Eyeballs - peeled grapes or green olives
Ears - dried apricots
Teeth - dried pumpkin seeds, dried beans or unpopped popcorn kernels
Guts - cooked gelatin or insides of a carved pumpkin
Hair - fake wig or corn silk
Skin - a soft flour tortilla with a little vegetable oil brushed over it
Bones - chicken bones
Toes - small dried up carrots
Brains - cold cooked spaghetti
Fingers- Vienna sausages
20. The Sweet Ring Toss Game
Spread candy and toys on a tablecloth on the floor. Have children take turns tossing rings (each may have three tries) on the cloth. They "win" anything that is within the ring.
21. The Giant Spider Web
Drape a really long piece of yarn across a room (wrapped gently around couches, chairs, etc.) to form the "base" of the spider web. Then, cut the remaining yarn into extremely long lengths (one piece of yarn for each guest invited - make sure the yarn length is very long, probably several yards), tie a "prize" on one end and a plastic spider on the other. Hide the "prize" end somewhere in the room and start wrapping the yarn around the existing web base. Repeat with all the lengths so that when you are done, you should have all the spider ends at one end of the room, all the yarn in a tangled web in the middle of the room and the "prize" end of each piece hidden in the room. All the guests have to do is start with the spider and somehow untangle their piece of yarn from the rest of the web to get to the other end (stepping over, under, and basically getting tangled in the spider web)....and ultimately, the PRIZE! (This is definitely a tangled web when done, so feel free to go crazy with the yarn!)
22. Halloween Decorations - Iced Hands.
Fill some gloves up with water and put them in the freezer. As soon as the gloves are frozen, cut the rubber off. Then you put the iced hands in your bowls of punch , the effect is absolutely great and spooky.
23. Halloween - What am I?
For children, pin or tape Halloween-themed pictures on each guest's back without the guest seeing what is on his or her own back. Everyone gives subtle hints to each other and all have to guess who they are (the picture on their back) from the hints
24. Blind Man’s Ghost
In some random and fair manner, choose a “ghost”. Everyone else forms a large circle and turns facing outward with eyes closed. The ghost picks a person, sneaks up behind them and silently counts to five with their hands outstretched. If the ghost reaches five, he grabs the person. Once the person is grabbed they become a ghost too. Anyone can call out GHOST, if they think someone is behind them... but if they're wrong they become a ghost too. Continue until everyone is out or all ghosts are gone!
25. Murder in the Dark/ Killer
Get a deck of cards and pull out a number of cards equal to your guests, but make sure one of them is the Ace of Spades (or other pre chosen card). Everyone pulls a card, the Ace of Spades is the killer. Everyone sits down holding hands and closes their eyes. The murderer starts by squeezing one person’s hands any number of times he wishes. That person in turn squeezes the next persons hand one less. And so on. Until a person gets his hand squeezed just once. Then that person dies--loudly and dramatically and freaks everyone out. And then everyone holds hands again and closes their eyes. It starts again with the murderer squeezing hands. People can guess who the murderer is at anytime, but if they guess wrong they’re out! Variation: The killer kills by winking. You can accuse someone as a killer, but you need someone else to “back you up”. When someone does, the accused and the backup person overturn their cards. That way the killer can ACCUSE someone to deflect suspicion. The killer can’t back up anyone. Killer tries to kill everyone before being discovered. When winked at, turn your card over & say “I’m dead”.
26. Wrapped Candies (this could get messy, so have wet cloths/towels handy)
Using a deep pan or tub (the longer the better) place various wrapped candies all over bottom. Cover with cooked spaghetti noodles (color if you like). Each child gets one grab in the slimy stuff!
27. 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.
28. 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" who her teammates dress up using all the objects in the bag. Award a variety of prizes (funniest, scariest, silliest, etc.) so that everyone wins.
29. 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 students 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.
30. Ping-Pong or Penny Pumpkin Toss (Candy Corn 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.
31. 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.
32. 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.
33. Do you have ESP?
You'll need some plastic or rubber bats, there should be one less bat than the number of players you have. If you have 6 players, use 5 bats. Before the game, take the plastic bats and color or paint a spot on the bottom of each so that the spot is not visible from the top. Use two different colors so some are one color and some are another, like blue and white. Put the bats, marks face down, into the cauldron. Pass the cauldron around and everyone chooses a bat without letting the "witch" see the color on the bottom. The "witch" sits in the middle and tries to guess the color of each player's bat's spot. As the "witch" goes from player to player, they get help from the bat holders, who try to get them to psychically "see" their color. Have each player, when it is his or her turn, think hard about the color (like "blue, blue, blue"). After the "witch" guesses, right or wrong, the bat holder reveals their color to the "witch". Someone will be sitting nearby to add up the number of rights. When each "witch" gets to the end, the next person gets a turn as "witch". When each player has had their turn at being the "witch", the player who has the most powerful ESP and got the most right is the winner.
34. Halloween Pictionary
Make slips of paper with Halloween words such as Mummy, Tombstone, Bats, Vampires, Jack-O-Lantern, Spider, Witch, Black Cat, Candy Corn, etc. Place them in a bowl of some kind, (a plastic child's pumpkin for trick or treating works great). Divide the partygoers into two teams. One player from the first team starts by picking a slip of paper from the bowl. Use a chalkboard, erasable marker board, or large pad of drawing paper and pen to draw items related to the word, players cannot write the word. Their team tries to guess the word. Set a 2-minute time limit. The other team goes next. Keep rotating until everyone has a chance to draw. You can keep score and have one team win, or just play for the fun of it.
35. Build a Monster
Find or draw a picture of a Frankenstein type monster's body or head. Cut the body into pieces and lay out. Blindfold each player, spin him or her around three times, and have them pin a body part to your monster. They will build a very funny looking monster. Make enough body parts so each child has one to put up. When they are all done, take a look at your creation! It will probably look very funny and everyone will have a good laugh!
36. Scary Objects Memory game
Using about 20 to 25 different Halloween related items, such as rubber bats, spiders, skulls, ghosts, etc. and place a few of them on a tray. Cover it with a cloth. Give each player a paper and pencil. Players sit in a circle around the tray and the cloth is removed for 60 seconds. When the time is up, replace the cloth. The players write down everything they can remember seeing on the tray. The person that gets the most items is the winner. You can keep the game going by having more items to add to the tray. Remove a few of the beginning items and add some new ones.
37. Peanut/shipping peanuts Sipper
Give each player a drinking straw and a paper cup. Everyone gathers around a pile of peanuts. Each then sucks through her straw to move peanuts from the pile into her cup. Set a timer for one minute -- the winner is the one with the most peanuts in her cup when the timer rings. Be careful of allergies. Variation: use ping pong balls
38. Bobbity Balloon Relay
Divide up into teams with one balloon for each team. Half of each team is at opposite ends of the room. The first player of each team must keep the balloon in the air while racing down to the other end. She passes the balloon off to the first player of her team at that end who races back, and passes it off to the next, etc. To be declared the winning team, all members of the team must have successfully raced with the balloon in the air.
39. Halloween Word Scramble
This simple game can be played individually or in pairs/teams. Give everyone paper and pencil. How many words can be made using only the letters in "Halloween" or "Trick or Treat"?
40. Balloon Stomp
Orange and black balloons and string - enough for all players. Divide the group into two teams (black & orange). Tie the balloons to everyone's ankles. Say "go" and watch the teams trying to burst the other team's balloons first. The team with the last balloon wins. As your balloon is burst you withdraw from the game.
41. Spider Web toss
Buy a decoration spider web and hang it on the wall. Have players make pipe cleaner spiders (see below). Players can stand back from spider web about 3-4 feet and toss their spider toward the web. The one who comes closest to the middle of the web wins. How to make spiders for tossing: Hold 4 pipe cleaners together in a bunch. Tightly twist 1/2 of one pipe cleaner around the middle of the 4 pipe cleaners to join them together. Spread pipe cleaners apart slightly and bend ends down to create "legs". Glue pom pom to center of pipe cleaners for body. If desired, use a paper punch to punch out 2 eyes from red paper and glue to body.
42. Bone Chillin' Relay - Divide the children into two teams. Give each team a ball of yarn with a clean chicken bone tied to the end. Have the first player on each team put the bone up or down their shirt and pull the string through. The first player than hands the bone to the second player in line and he does the same thing. They keep passing until they get to the end of the line. This Halloween party game idea can end here or have players reverse the process and take the bone back out of their shirts. The first team to get the bone all the way back to the first player wins. Here's the secret to making this game really COOL - refrigerate the bones before using!
43. Flying Ghost Gobble - Secure a string across the room, a foot or so above children's heads. Tie a long piece of thread to several marshmallows, add two dots of black frosting for eyes, and attach to the string. Guests must try to capture the flying ghosts with their mouths. Variation: To make it a little more challenging, attach the "ghosts" to a witch's broom and have two adult helpers wave the broom a little.
44. Bat Bite - This Halloween party game idea is the same as Flying Ghost Gobble, but using chocolate donuts (black bats) instead of marshmallows.
45. Witch Clean-up Relay - Divide guests into 2 teams. Set a row of 3 good-sized pumpkins on the floor about 5 ft. apart in front of each team. (If using plastic pumpkins, weight them so they don't get moved around in the excitement.) The first player on each team is given a play witch's hat and broom and a ball of aluminum foil. At the starting signal, they must put on the witch's hat and sweep the foil ball in and out around the pumpkins and back, then hand the hat and broom to the next player, who repeats the process. The first team to complete the relay is the winner.
46. Frankenstein's Teeth Relay - Form guests into two lines and give the first child in each line a large wooden spoon. Place a bowl of unshelled peanuts (Frankie's teeth) beside each team and two empty bowls across the room. The first child in each line scoops up as many peanuts as he can hold in the spoon, runs across the room, and deposits the peanuts in the team bowl. He then passes the spoon to the next child and the process is repeated until all the peanuts have been transferred to the other bowl. When a team has successfully moved all their peanuts, they are the winners.
47. Ghost Busters - Partially inflate small white balloons and with black indelible marker add googly eyes and mouth with little red tongue sticking out. Attach with thumbtack to heavy cardboard or plywood board and give party guests 3 tries to "bust" the ghosts by throwing darts at them. Play the theme from “Ghost Busters”. Prepare 6 balloons per guest so they can take a couple of turns and store them in a large trash bag until party time.
48. Frozen Zombies (Freeze Tag) – Good outside game. Designate one child as the Zombie. The Zombie tries to tag and make frozen zombie popsicles of all the other guests. Players who are not frozen can "melt" frozen zombies by touching them. Switch out zombies quickly.
49. Witch/Ghost Bingo - Make bingo cards in the shape of a witch's head with a pointed hat and put a row of 5 random numbers on it under each letter as shown.
W - Numbers 1-15
I - Numbers 16-30
T - Number 31-45
C - Numbers 46-60
H - Number 61- 75
Witch bingo is played using candy corn for markers. (Instruct guests NOT to eat the candy until after the game!) The caller draws a number and children mark it with a candy corn if it is on their card. The first guest who has all the numbers in one consecutive row is the winner. He then calls out "Witch" or “Boo!” for Ghost bingo.
50. Skeleton Search - Fill a child's wading pool with packing peanuts or use your sandbox. Bury a variety of bones (sterilized chicken bones, dog bones, or bone-shaped cardboard). Divide guests into groups and let them search for Mr. Skeleton's lost bones. Guest who retrieves the most bones is the winner. Variation: Number the bones and guests retrieve one bone each. The numbers on the bones correspond to a prize.
51. Witch Broom Limbo - Use a pretend witch's broom and have two helpers hold it while guests take turns shimmying under it. This Halloween party game idea works best while playing spooky music!
52. Guess How Many - Fill a clear glass pumpkin jar with Halloween candy such as candy corn or small candy pumpkins. Have guests guess how many candies are in the jar. The one who comes closest gets to take home the jar of candy.
53. Pin the Nose on the Pumpkin - Make a picture of a large orange pumpkin on poster board with black triangle eyes and nose and Jack-O-Lantern mouth. Make several black triangle "noses" for each guest and write their name on the back. Each blindfolded guest gets spun 3 times, then attempts to pin the nose on the pumpkin. The one who comes closest is the winner. Variation: Pin the Wart on the Witch. Pin the Tail on the Cat, etc.
54. Pumpkin Toss - Line up 6 carved or plastic pumpkins, each with a point value attached. Give each guest 3 ping pong balls or beanbags to toss into the pumpkins. Player with the highest point value wins.
55. Bobbing for Corks - Another classic Halloween party game idea - this one is easier than bobbing for apples and kids won't get as wet. Fill a large container with water and place several numbered corks in it. If inside, make sure you have a dropcloth and some towels handy. Guests are invited to bob for corks using only their mouths. When a cork is retrieved, the guest receives the pre-numbered prize that corresponds with the number on the cork.
56. Tombstone Musical Chairs - Position tombstone shaped cardboard on the backs of chairs upon which you have written silly epitaphs. Play like regular musical chairs, eliminating one chair per round until the last child with a chair is the winner.
Examples of epitaphs:
B.A. Ghoul
I was Fred, now I'm dead
Here lies Henry Blake, he stepped on the gas, instead of the brake
Here lies Lester Moore, No Les, No More
R.I.P. YOU!