Halloween Party Games

Here are some great Halloween themed party games. As well as the traditional apple bobbing there are lots of Spooktastic ways to get children in the Halloween mood.

Apple Bobbing

You will need: A large bowl or bucket; large towel to protect your carpet; apples and towels for drying off. Remember to supervise the game!

Start by filling your bowl with cold water until it is about 3/4 fill and place your large towel under the bowl. Put about 4-6 apples in the water and let each child have a turn at getting as many apples as possible - hands must remain firmly behind backs!

The easiest way to get the apples involves getting very wet (you need to push the apple all the way to the bottom of the bucket) so have your towels at hand to mop up wet faces!

Halloween Treasure Hunt

You will need: Scary decor (optional) and items to hide (see our Halloween Toys).

Dress the room the treasure hunt will be taking place in with Halloween-style decorations. You could make cardboard stand-up gravestones, paper spider-webs and attach cut-out bats to the ceiling.  Then simply hide various goodies around the room for the kids to find. (If you don’t have any decorations simply hide the goodies behind furniture, the kids will still love it)

Brain digging

You will need: A big bowl of cooked spaghetti; some ping-pong balls or similar; some small bags of sweets.

Get the kids to dig in amongst some bits of 'brain' to find a trick or treat! Cook up a big pan of spaghetti, leave to cool for a moment and then turn into a big bowl. In amongst the pasta hid some ping-pong balls or similar. Three balls have 'treat' written on them, and three have 'trick' written on them. Each child gets a turn to dig inside the 'brains' and pull out a ball. If they choose a trick ball they have to do a forfeit (something silly, like run around the garden twice, or do a silly impression), but if they pick a treat they get a small prize, such as a small bag of sweets.

Sleeping Monsters

This is a great game to end your party on or to calm the kids down if they're getting a little over excited! Everyone - the 'monsters' - lie down on the floor. When somebody moves they're out until only one player remains.

Pass-the-Pumpkin

You will need: music; a hollowed-out pumpkin; goodies to fill the pumpkin.

A Halloween twist on the traditional pass the parcel.  This game is played in the same way as pass the parcel except everyone gets a treat.  Fill your pumpkin with treats so that each time the music stops whoever has the pumpkin at that time can select a goody from inside.

At the very end, when everyone has had a turn, a random lucky winner gets the pumpkin and the remaining goodies left inside.

Dress the Mummy

You will need: a big supply of toilet paper!

Divide the kids into pairs, with one the Mummy and the other the Mummy Wrapper. Give each wrapper a roll of toilet paper or crepe paper streamer. On the word "Go!" the wrappers race to see who can wrap up their mummy first. The game is tricky because the faster they try to wrap, the more the tissue will tear, causing them to keep restarting!

Prizes go to the quickest or the best attempt.  

Halloween Relay Races

You will need: two witches brooms (brush or mop will do)

If weather permits and you can get outside for a while this is a great way to add a seasonal twist to racing while letting the kids let off some steam outdoors.

Divide the party into two equal teams. Each child takes it in turns to run to the end of the garden and back while 'riding' the broomstick. They must then pass the broomstick to the next person in their team. The first team to complete the relay wins.

The Witches Cauldron Game

You will need: a large cooking pot; a damp sponge; a shelled hard-boiled egg; a large piece of orange peel; selection of rubber toys (frog, snake, etc);blindfold.

Fill your cooking pot with items such as the above (and any other suitable things you can think of - you'll need enough bits and bobs to allow each child a turn). Each child has a turn at being blindfolded and plunging their hand into the cauldron to find the imaginary item you name.

So, you would ask them to look for: 'A hairy giant's tongue' (the damp sponge), 'a dragon's eye' (the egg), a goblin's skin (the orange peel), 'a frog/snake' (rubber toys), etc. 

Pumpkin Popping

You will need: a balloon for each child; balloon ribbon

Blow a balloon up for each child and tie a piece of ribbon to each one (around 1ft long).  Ask each child to tie the ribbon with the balloon attached around their ankle.  When the party host shouts Pumpkin, everyone must run around and try to pop each other’s balloon.  The winner is the last one whose balloon as not been pop.

Guess the ghost

You will need: A blindfold

Sit the kids in a big circle. Put some music on and take it in turns for one child to be blindfolded and walk around the circle, touching the other children's heads. When the music stops, the child that the person who is 'it' has their hands on must let out a ghostly wail.

The person who is 'it' must try and guess who it is. If they guess correctly they swap around. If they do not guess correctly they go around the circle again.

Swinging apples

You will need: Apllies and string

A drier variant on apple bobbing! Tie string around each apple stem and hang the apples from a doorway. The children can then take turns biting into the swinging fruit while keeping their hands behind their backs! For a sweeter alternative, hang ring doughnuts from the string instead of apples!

What's the time, Mrs Witch?

You will need: A witch's hat and broom (optional) and a spacious room

This is a simple variation on the 'What's the time, Mr Fox' game. Elect one player to be Mrs Witch. They can put on the witch's hat and hold the broom. Each of the other players stands at one end of the room with the witch at the other, with her back to the other players.

The players ask: 'What's the time, Mrs Witch?' and the Witch shouts out a time, eg. 7 o'clock. The other players take the corresponding number of steps in the direction of the witch. When the players get close to the witch the witch can then should out 'midnight' and chase the other players. Whoever the witch catches is out of the game.

Party ideas supplied by

KidsPartyTime.co.uk