13 Halloween Party Games

The best Halloween party is one in which everyone gets to show off their costumes and play new and fun games with Haloween themes. Here are some unique ideas for a wickedly fun time!

From Reader's Digest

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7 Games for Young Children

1. The hanging tree. In the original game, there were 12 red apples and 1 green apple to match a poem said while spinning the children around. For a small group of children, you don’t need so many. Hang the apples by long strings from a tree branch (by twisting the strings you disguise where the green apple is). For each child’s turn, blindfold him or her, untwist the apples, and set the youngster toward the branch. If he or she picks the green apple, he or she wins a prize (and the apple). Put up a new green apple and give another child a turn.

2. Pass the pumpkin. Have one fewer small pumpkins than players. Sit youngsters in a circle. Play Halloween music while they pass the pumpkins around the circle. When the music stops, the player without a pumpkin is out, but he gets to take a pumpkin with him. The rest of the players continue to play until there is a winner, who will get a prize.

3. Balloon sweep relay race. Set up a course that zigzags across the yard (or playroom). Use colored rope tied to stakes (or chairs) to mark it. Divide the guests into two teams. Give each team a small broom and a blown-up balloon. Each member of a team must sweep the balloon around the course and back before the next member goes. The team to have every member finish the course first wins.

4. Pin the tail on the black cat. Hang up a large picture of a black Halloween cat without its tail. Give each guest a tail with a piece of sticky tape on its base. One by one, blindfold the guests, turn them around, and then set them off toward the cat picture and see where they put the tail. The guest who gets the tail closest to its rightful place wins.

5. Halloween story game. Include the beginning of a ghost story in your party invitations and ask each child to come to the party with an ending to tell. Hear all the endings and let the guests vote for the funniest, the weirdest, and the spookiest.

7. Guess the ghost. Have one child leave the room to be “it.” Then let another child hide under a white sheet. The remaining children will change places with each other. Call in the missing child and see if he or she can name the ghost by figuring out who in the group is missing. The child who played the ghost then becomes “it” and leaves the room.

6. Build a scarecrow. Divide the guests into teams. Give each team a pile of old clothes (including hats), pillowcases for heads, newspapers for stuffing, ropes for tying, and markers for making faces. Give each team 15 minutes or 20 minutes to make a scarecrow. Give prizes for the silliest and the scariest and hang them outside.

See 6 Games for Big Kids

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