Halloween is a wonderfully fun time for kids. Between trick or treating and attending various Halloween parties, this holiday is something a lot of children look forward to. This year, if your child is planning to hold his or her own party, keep the kids occupied with some simple, but entertaining games.



All of the games mentioned below are easy and simple to put together and children usually have a lot of fun playing them. However, as with any game where there is often only one winner, many children can quickly become unhappy and refuse to play. To avoid tears and hurt feelings, I would suggest that you provide one larger prize for the winner, and give out cheap "runner-up" prizes to all the other children. Some small prize ideas would be: a Halloween themed balloon, a lollipop, bubble gum, plastic spider ring, etc. You can usually pick up packages of really cheap toys at most department stores... and then all the children at the party will feel as if they've "won."

Moaning Musical Ghost Chairs

A twist on a classic children's game, start off by cover the backs of several chairs with white sheets. Pin some black cardboard eyes and a ghostly mouth to the backs of the sheets and line the chairs up (back-to-back) with one less chair as there are children. Play spooky Halloween music as the children walk around the chairs. When the music stops, each child tries to sit down on a chair. The one who doesn't get a chair is out of the game. Remove a chair and repeat until there is one winner left. Give a larger prize to the winner and small runner-up prizes to the rest of the kids.

Scarecrow Dress-up Game

Divide the children into teams of 3 or 4 players per team. Provide each team with "scarecrow clothes" in a box (jeans or overalls, plaid shirt, boots, straw hat, gloves). Each team should pick one child from their group to be the "scarecrow." At the word GO the teams hurry to dress the scarecrow (who has to stand still and not help). The first team who gets their scarecrow dressed, wins.

Mummy Wrap

This one is always a favorite and brings out many giggles. Divide the children into teams of two. One is the "mummy" and the other child needs to wrap up the first child with toilet paper. The first team done wins.

Pumpkin Ghost Bowling

Spray paint 15 large empty plastic pop bottles with white paint. Using a black marker, create ghost faces near the top of each bottle. Add about 1 cup of sand or gravel to each bottle to give them stability. Using small miniature pumpkins, kids take turns bowling over the ghosts. Each child has 3 tries per turn. Don't forget to keep score!

Pin The Nose On The Pumpkin

Draw and paint a large pumpkin on cardboard. Paint in the eyes and mouth. Cut out the pumpkin and tape to a wall. Cut out a triangular nose and paint yellow. Add some double-sided tape to the back. While blindfolded, each child tries to pin the nose on the pumpkin.

Candy Corn Toss

Carve out a couple of pumpkins or use small tin buckets. Place the containers several feet across the room. Kids line up behind a line (use masking tape on the floor) and are given 5 candy corns. Each tries to toss their candy corns into the container. The one who gets most of their candy corns into the container wins.