25 Halloween Party Games to Get You in the Spooky Spirit
At your next Halloween party, play these new and fun games that are great for kids and adults alike.
Every product is independently selected by our editors. If you buy something through our links, we may earn an affiliate commission.
Halloween Game: The Hanging Tree
In the original version of this Halloween 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. Give these DIY Halloween decorations a try to make your home look super festive for all the Halloween games you'll play.
Halloween Game: 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. Once you're done playing any of these Halloween games, it's time to carve the pumpkins! Try these pumpkin carving patterns to take your jack-o'-lantern to the next level.
Halloween Game: 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. Having trouble coming up with a costume idea for your kid? Try these cheap DIY kids' costumes that basically anyone can make.
Halloween Game: 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.
Halloween Game: Halloween Story Game
Halloween games are almost as fun as Halloween stories—and there's a way to combine the two. 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. Need some ideas? Pick from these ghost stories from the most haunted places in the world.
Halloween Game: 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.
Halloween Game: Build a Scarecrow
Divide the guests into teams. Give each team a pile of old clothes (including hats), pillowcases for heads, newspapers or hay for stuffing, ropes for tying, and markers for making faces. Give each team 15 or 20 minutes to make a scarecrow. Give prizes for the silliest and the scariest and hang them outside. Thinking of traveling to Disney for Halloween? This is what Halloween looks like at the Happiest Place on Earth.
Halloween Game: Mummy Wrap
Divide guests up in pairs; give each pair a roll of toilet paper. One team member will be the wrapper and the other will be the wrapped mummy. The first team to use up its roll wins. Or you can give each team two rolls of toilet paper and after the mummy is wrapped, he or she must wrap his partner. The first team to empty both rolls of toilet paper wins.
Halloween Game: Identify What You Feel
This is one of those Halloween games many people remember from childhood. Line up five opaque plastic dishes and cover them all with a black cloth. Let each guest stick a hand in each dish, under the cloth so that the contents can’t be seen, and try to guess what it really is. You can tell the guest that the first dish holds guts (the insides of a pumpkin) and see what he or she guesses. The second dish is said to hold brains (damp coarse sponge). The third is said to hold veins (cold, cooked spaghetti). The fourth is said to hold cut-off fingers (cocktail sausages) and the fifth to hold skin (pieces of a soft flour tortilla). The person who guesses the most actual contents wins.
Halloween Game: Apple Pass
Divide guests into teams and line each team up. The first in line for each team is given an apple under his or her chin. Without using any hands, the apple must be passed to under the second team member’s chin and from that chin to the next until all the members of the team have held the apple. If the apple drops, it must start at the beginning again. The first team to successfully pass the apple down its row of members wins. Curious as to why we celebrate Halloween in the first place? Find out!
Halloween Game: Doughnut Race
Divide guests into teams. Hang as many doughnuts as guests from a tree limb or a clothesline by a string. Without using hands, each guest must catch and eat a doughnut. The first team to finish its doughnuts win.
Halloween Game: Bobbing for Apples
This is probably one of the oldest Halloween games on record. Fill a large tub with cold water and set it on the ground or the floor of a porch. Float some clean, stemmed apples in the tub and invite guests to try to catch an apple with their teeth—no hands allowed. Anyone who gets an apple deserves a prize.
Halloween Game: What Am I?
Have the kids draw Halloween-themed pictures on a piece of paper and tape them each to a different guest’s back (without the guest seeing what it is). While others can only give yes or no answers, each guest must guess what he or she thinks is drawn on the paper on their back. Find out the history behind 14 spooky Halloween superstitions.
Halloween Game: Spooky Bowling
Skip competing over the best Halloween costume and play a few founds of spooky bowling instead. Decorate a few toilet paper rolls with circular black cutouts to mimic the face of a ghost. Use a small pumpkin to knock over the pins.
Halloween Game: Walk the Spiderweb
Put your balancing skills to the test with a walk on the spiderweb. Use bright green painter's tape to make a spiderweb on your floor. Place some plastic spiders in the white spaces of the web. Let the kids collect the spiders. The catch is that they must stay on the web and pick up all the spiders without falling over or touching the floor or carpet.
Halloween Game: Pumpkin Tic Tac Toe
Some of the best Halloween games are the ones that draw inspiration from classics. Buy a few mini pumpkins in two different colors to use as X and O game pieces. Tie string around a side table to make the grid. It's quick and easy to set up this game. You'll want to save this idea in case changing the date of Halloween goes through.
Halloween Game: Scarecrow Scavenger Hunt
Fun Halloween games don't have to be extremely complicated! Make a list of 12 different Halloween-inspired items. You can buy small, hideable toys like mini witches or black cats. Hide these in your house and ask the kids to find them throughout the party or for a set amount of time. Of course, offer the winner candy.
Halloween Game: Pumpkin Pick-Up
Dump a bag of candy pumpkins on the table. The challenge is to pick up as many pumpkins with chopsticks as possible, in 60 seconds. You can plan way ahead for this game and pick up candy and Halloween decorations way before the holiday. Find out exactly why stores put out Halloween decorations so early.
Halloween Game: Ghost Potato Sack Race
Take a classic kids' game and make into one of your new favorite Halloween games by simply adding ghost faces to white pillowcases. Let the kids run (or hop) this classic race with their ghostly companion.
Halloween Game: Pumpkin Decorating Contest
Although the pumpkin-carving history began with a spooky tale, the less-messy but equally fun alternative is pumpkin decorating. Set up a table for the kids to paint and decorate their own pumpkins. Have the kids vote on their favorite ones and hand out awards for the best design, the scariest design, and the funniest design.
Halloween Game: Witch Hat Toss
Stagger a few large pumpkins and let kids take turns tossing witch hats on top! Have them play the best two out of three.
Halloween Game: Candy Corn Catch
You'll need candy corn, a few plastic pumpkin buckets, and some string. Pair off the kids! One child will toss the candy corn into the bucket while the other will wear the bucket and try to catch the corn. Candy corn is obviously one of the more popular Halloween candies, but it might not be the most popular one in your state.
Halloween Game: Tag, You're a Zombie
Take tag to a whole new level with zombies. Start with one person as "it" or "the zombie." Every time they tag someone else, that person also becomes a zombie. The last person standing who isn't a zombie wins.
Halloween Game: Tarantula Toss
Looking for Halloween games that only require two purchases? Then the tarantula toss is the game for you. Buy some fake stretchy spiderwebs to spread in between a doorway. Have the kids toss plastic spiders! The first to stick their spider wins their choice of candy. Here are some of the best Halloween candy choices.
Halloween Game: "Monster Mash" Freeze Dance
It's not Halloween if you don't hear the "Monster Mash." Let the kids play freeze dance to this classic song for a no-setup-necessary Halloween game. During your party, don't forget to follow these essential Halloween etiquette rules.