The Best Halloween Games for Young Children

Whenever you spend time with children, you need ideas and activities that keep the kids occupied. During the Halloween season, try creating a few games. Tailor-make the games to fit the age group you are around. Take the basic idea of the games and expand for older kids. Halloween games for younger kids make use of their talent and skill levels.

Create a basic game from the bits and pieces of old Halloween costumes and dress-up clothes you have on hand. Fill an old cardboard box with old clothes, masks, jewelry, accessories and costume pieces. Ask other party guests to bring leftover pieces of their own. Give the kids 15 minutes to dig through the box and make the best costume they can. Pass out prizes based on funniest costume, most realistic costume, etc.

Nothing beats a classic apple bob and the only thing you need are apples, water and a waterproof bucket. Fill the bucket with water and drop the apples inside. The apples should float to the top of the water. Turn the activity into a game for kids by giving each child 60 seconds to grab as many apples as possible, using only his or her mouth.

Statues is another game for kids that fits with the Halloween theme. Instead of calling the game "statues", call it "cemetery" and decorate the yard with fake tombstones made from cardboard. Let the kids run around for a few minutes and then call out, "stop." The children must freeze in place and stay there as long as possible. The first child that moves is in charge of calling, "stop" in the next round. For a twist on the idea, let the kids keep standing and pick a winner based on the last person standing.

Duck, duck, goose is a classic children's game. Change the title to "ghost, ghost, goblin", but keep everything else the same. Seat the kids in a circle and pick one person to walk around the outside edge. The child taps everyone, saying "ghost". When the child yells out "goblin", the person sitting had to stand up and chase the other person back to the seat.

For your last party game, decorate a piece of posterboard with black lines, creating a large spiderweb. Glue clumps of fake spiderwebs to the posterboard or leave as-is. Put a small piece of poster gum on the back of plastic spiders and give each child a spider. Mark the center of the board and cover the child's face with a blindfold. Each child has the chance to stick the spider on the web, with the winner being the child that comes closest to the center.