By Brenda Hyde
We once attended a Halloween party where the
doughnuts were strung on lines from which you
had to nibble them. The apples were hung by
their stems and were eaten on the fly...The
coffee was labeled "witches brew" and ladled out
of a big iron kettle. Inexpensive decorations may
be made from cornstalks, pumpkins, old clothes
and false faces. ~Rural Progress-1937
Play these friendly Halloween games
during classroom celebrations, parties
or family get togethers. Involve both the kids
and the adults for a howling good time!
Guess How Many
Fill a jar with candy corn and have guests guess how many
are in the jar. (Don't forget to count as you put them in the
jar!) Place the jar near the door and hand each
guest a 3x5 card to put their name, their guess and their
favorite Halloween candy. Halfway through the party
read them all off and announce the winner.
Halloween Memory Game
Place a few themed items
such as a candy corn, apple, mini pumpkin etc. on a tray.
Show the tray to the guests for a few seconds, then
have them write down (or call out) as many items as they remember.
How Many Words
Hand each person a sheet of paper printed out with a Halloween
word or phrase such as Haunted House, Trick or Treat, or
Scarecrow. Do these on the computer so you can include some
small Halloween Graphics. Ask each person to make as many
words as they can out of the letters in the phrase or word you've
given them!
Mummy May I
One child, or an adult, is "mummy". The other children stand in a
straight line, with the mummy standing in front of them with enough
distance for them to move forward towards him or her. (It's really
neat if you can rip up an old pillow case or sheet and stain them
with leftover coffee or tea to wrap around the "mummy's" head.)
The children move toward mummy by asking permission to
take steps. For example, a child could ask, "Mummy May I take
ten steps forward?" The mummy can be creative as to the type of
steps they ask to take, such as giant monster steps, pixie steps,
as well as ogre, howling dog etc.
Mummy answers, "Yes, you may" or "No, you may not," and
the child must follow her instructions. If the child moves when
he or she has not been given permission, they must go back to
the starting line. The first child to touch mummy becomes mummy
in the next game.
Who's Got the Pumpkin
Place everyone is a circle. Start a song (Halloween themed
songs like Monster Mash are neat to use!) and toss a mini
pumpkin to one person, they throw it to the next, and so
on until the music stops. The person who is caught holding
the pumpkin has to leave the circle. The last one left is
the winner and keeps the pumpkin!
Halloween Hunt
Using the same idea as an Easter Egg Hunt hide little bags
of candy corn, or other fun candy around the back yard.
Set the kids loose and let them find the candy. Be sure
to keep back several extra in case someone does poorly.
You can give them a few more!
More you might like
An Old Fashioned Halloween
A Vintage Halloween Celebration
About The Author
Brenda Hyde is a freelance writer living on ten acres in rural Michigan with her
husband and three kids. She is also editor of
StandBesideHer.com and has a family friendly blog,
On the Front Porch.