Halloween Party Games for Kids

Last year we decided to throw our daughter a Halloween party. Her birthday is in the middle of July and her friends aren't around at that time. Our family really enjoys decorating the house for the holiday. We put up orange lights, grave stones, bloody body parts, ghosts hanging form the tree branches and the whole nine yards. We figured that since the house was already decked out that it wouldn't take much more work to throw a party.

The last thing we wanted was for a bunch of kids to be running around aimlessly with no direction. We made a list of games and activities to keep them occupied. We hung a string with donuts from it for a no-hands donut eating contest. We had bobbing for apples. We awarded prizes for unique costumes and made decorate your own cookie with colored icings , sprinkles, m&m's, marshmallows, etc.. The kids loved them.

We made a ring toss game out of an ordinary orange traffic cone. We painted the cone black. Then we painted on a stripe and buckle at the base of the cone. Next, we wrapped some plastic rings with bright orange ribbon. You can also buy wooden rings at the craft store and paint them. We had a awesome witch's hat ring toss game.

Then we made a couple of bean bag toss games out of some large cardboard boxes. We used rectangular-shaped boxes that were approximately 21/2 to 3 feet wide and 31/2 to4 feet tall. We drew a jack-o-lantern face on one box and a Frankenstein face on the other. We cut out the eyes and mouth of each one large enough to fit a bean bag through with room to spare. Then we painted and decorated them accordingly. When the were dry we sprayed them with some spray adhesive and sprinkled glitter all over them. This way they would sparkle. I made bean bags from felt squares and dry beans. I cut out the size that I wanted . Then I sewed up three of the sides and left one open. I filled them all with beans, and then sew up the fourth side. With little effort we had two very cool looking bean bag toss games.

Then next game took a little bit more thought and work. We wanted to come up with an idea that was a little bit gross and scary. So, we got an empty wine bottle box from the market (the kind that has little cardboard dividers in it). We removed the top and made flaps out of construction paper to cover each compartment. Then we placed a food item in each spot to resemble a body part. We used some cooked spaghetti for the brains. The unpopped popcorn was the teeth. We shaped some Spam into a tongue. Peeled graped made great eyeballs. The baby carrots were bony fingers and toes. Jello was made with cooked ziti in it for the guts. We had the kids gather around in a circle.

We dimmed the lights and told the story of Tragic Sam. I am not quite sure what happened to him, but somehow he ended up in pieces. After the story each child had a chance to put their hand in each of the compartments. Then they could guess what part of Sam they were touching. This was their favorite. Even after the lights were back on, they kept touching the parts and grossing themselves out. When their parents came to get them , they even wanted them to try it out. Tragic Sam was definitely a Halloween party hit.

For the last game, we waited until it was dusk. We passed out some glow sticks, necklaces and flashlights and sent them out on a bone hunt. We bought a bunch of plastic bones, hands and skulls at the dollar store. We numbered them and hid them outside before the kids arrived. We marked some of the bones with special stickers for special prizes. Each child that found at least one bone got to pick out a prize. We numbered them so that we knew when they had all been found. The kids had so much fun finding the bones. It was sort of like a Easter Egg Hunt in the Dark.

Our party was a great success and my daughter was very happy. We all had so much fun that I think we're going to have another one this year. I can't wait!