Halloween is the perfect time for kids to let their imaginations run wild. What better way to celebrate than with some spooky, fun-filled games? Here are a few ideas to keep your little ghosts and goblins entertained:
Pin the Tail on The Witch Cat
You can never go wrong with a “pin the tail” type party game. Find one on Amazon here. Or make your own Pin the Tail on the Cat Halloween game, as shown in this Harvest and Halloween Entertainment Book.
Pin the Nose on the pumpkin
This pin-the-nose on the pumpkin is similar to other pin-the-tail games. This homemade one made with tissue paper is especially cute. (Here is the link for a similar pin-the-nose on the pumpkin game from Amazon.)
Pin the tie on the Skeleton
Or maybe you would prefer a Pin the Bow on the Skeleton. These “pin the tail” games are fairly easy to make, but you can find them at your local party store and online.
Halloween Bingo (Free Printable)
Halloween Bingo is always a fun idea! I especially love this for classroom Halloween parties or playdates.
Feed the Monster Halloween Game
This fun ball toss game will keep all the kids entertained! (Plus, it is super budget-friendly as it is basically made out of a cardboard box!) Just decorate however you like. It’s a perfect game for all the little monsters, lol.
Jack o Lantern Bag Toss
Make your own out of a box or out of pumpkins.
Candy Corn Guessing Game
And when the night is over, you can send the guest home with little treat bags full of candy corn!
17. Halloween Face Painting
Who doesn’t love getting their faces painted? No Halloween Game lineup is complete without a face-painting station! It is even better if you can find a professional to paint faces according to the costumes. (I’m sure you’ve heard horror stories about unsafe face paint, so be sure to look for a certified organic set.
18. Don’t forget the Halloween Pinata!
Nothing makes a Halloween Party more fun than the chance to break a pinata and be showered with EVEN MORE HALLOWEEN CANDY!!! This Pinata is DIY, but if you don’t want to make one, I also love this DIY version from Martha Stewart.
19. Halloween Charades
Charades is a classic word-guessing game that’s so fun to play. The basic idea is that one person acts out a word or phrase without speaking while the rest of the players try to guess what they’re trying to convey. For the Halloween version, the guests can act out all sorts of Halloween-related words. This is an easy game to DIY (here is a printable version. But for more advanced players (like teenagers and adults), you may want to use a store-bought version.
The game is typically played in teams, with each round consisting of one person from each team acting out a word or phrase. The other team members have limited time to guess what the actor is trying to convey – typically two to three minutes – and if they get it right, they get a point. Then, it’s the other team’s turn to take a crack at it. Grab the free Halloween Charades printable here or another version here.
20. Halloween Candy Dice Game
This would be a very simple interactive game for all the kids! All you need is a big bag of candy, a single die, and the free Halloween candy dice game printable. Just sit the kids in a circle with the pile of candy in the middle and let them play til the candy is gone!
21. DIY Treat Bag Decorating Station
Find tons of paper sacks and Halloween stickers for the kids to make their own treat bags. Having to put together party favor bags after planning a party is the bane of my existence! My solution? A DIY Halloween Treat Bag Station. Make those kids fill their own treat bags, lol!
22. DIY Halloween Cookie Decorating Station
Decorating Cookies or Cupcakes is always fun and perfect for a group of kids! All you need is icing, Halloween sprinkles, and maybe some eyeballs to get the party started!
Pumpkin Mini Golf
This is the cutest Halloween Party Game for kids idea ever! All you need is a huge carvable pumpkin, a piece of cardstock, and these little foam putters. Don’t want to make it? Amazon sells a Pumpkin Put-Put Mini Golf Set that includes clubs, balls holes.
DIY Halloween Version of Twister:
The kids will love this game, even if it is just a Halloween party for two.
Egg and Spoon Race.
We always include an egg race on our list of party games for kids! (this was our last birthday parties). It’s always a hit, especially if you use real eggs and a Halloween version would be so much fun.
28. Halloween Scavenger Hunt
Who doesn’t love a good Scavenger hunt? This Halloween Party game is perfect for kids of all levels and Is easy to arrange! Grab the free printable here. Or another free version here.
Spider Races
This one is a lot of fun for the little ones. It’s as easy as it looks to set up. All you need is a few plastic spiders and large straws. The first spider that “crosses” the finish line is the winner!
Pillowcase Sack races
Like a potato sack race, but with pillowcases!
Toilet Paper Mummy Halloween Game
This toilet paper game is budget-friendly (who doesn’t have toilet paper) and such a fun game, it’s sure to have everyone laughing like crazy! The way the game works is you pit several teams of 3 (one mummy, two wrappers) against each other, and the first team that finishes their roll of toilet paper wins!
Donut Eating Race
You are missing out if you’ve never participated in a donut-eating race! You’ll want to do a little “donut testing” beforehand to ensure you’ve got a sturdy donut, but it is a great game not only for Halloween parties but birthday parties. It’s perfect for the littlest ones and the older kids too.
If you can get the adults to participate, your stomach will hurt from all the laughing, I promise!
Pop Goes the Pumpkin Balloon Halloween Game
This fun game is a great one for the teenager to set up; stuff the balloons with slips of paper with prize names written on them to be claimed later.
Frankenstein Bowling (tin can bowling Halloween game)
This Halloween Game is budget-friendly and can be enjoyed by even the youngest partygoer. Save your cans and either paint them or cover them with Halloween-themed scrapbook paper. I’m not sure which is more fun, the actual bowling or decorating the cans!
Marshmallow Toss Game
Easy and fun- you can use mini marshmallows and paper cups or large marshmallows, and some of those little tin buckets from the dollar store would be great too!
Kids Pumpkin Chuckin’ Halloween Game
Another budget-friendly DIY Halloween Game for your party. This one is especially great for toddlers. It’s easy to put together as the pumpkins are just toilet paper wrapped in felt, and you can get the baskets from your local craft or Dollar Store! Get the details from B-Inspired Mama here.
Spider Bean Bag Tossing Game
This Flying Spider Bean Bag game from Orange Bettie is possibly an even cuter Halloween bean bag-style tossing game. See how to make the Spider Bean Bags here.
Poke a Pumpkin Halloween Game
This looks like fun, similar to the balloon pop game! Possibly even easier to put together since instead of blowing up balloons, you’re just wrapping orange tissue paper around a paper cup and securing it with a rubber band.
Pumpkin Patch Stomp – Kids love this game!
Any Halloween Party can be made so much better by popping a few balloons for prizes! Before blowing up the balloons, stuff them with money, slips of paper, or squish-proof candy.
Another way to play the game is to blow up the same amount of different colored balloons, and the first person who pops all their colored balloons wins!
Three-legged Race
Another fun race-style game. You just need several strips of fabric to tie the racers together.
Musical pass the Pumpkins
This classic game is similar to musical chairs, but no kids fighting over a chair and possibly getting hurt. To play this version of the game, sit the children in a circle, and have them slowly pass a small pumpkin around while music is playing. When the music stops, the child holding the pumpkin is out. Keep going til you have a winner. Here is a youtube link to the Pass the Pumpkin song.
Candy Corn Relay Race
A candy corn relay race is a super fun, classic Halloween party game that entertains everyone! To play, divide the players into two or more teams. The object of the game is for each team member to run from the starting line to the finish line while carrying the candy corn in a spoon, then pass the candy to the next teammate in line, continuing until everyone has had a turn. Have the participants carry the spoon between their teeth to make it even more challenging!
Halloween 5-Second Game
I love this simple, family-friendly Halloween party game. It’s fast-paced and a blast for kids and adults! The idea is to answer a set of Halloween-themed questions in less than 5 seconds. This game would be simple to DIY, but I found a fantastic printable version on Etsy. It comes with 90 questions, formatted on an 8 by 11 sheet for easy printing and trimming. You just need a printer and a timer.
Halloween Trivia
Halloween trivia is always fun! Plus, it’s perfect for teens and adults. (It might be too hard for the little ones.) Grab the free Halloween trivia printable here.
I love printable games! In just a few clicks, you are on your way to fun. I personally self-laminate my printables so they last longer. I have an older version of this laminating machine, and 10 years later, it is still going strong. (it comes with 100 laminating pouches.)
Pumpkin Tic tac Toe
This game is as simple as it sounds! It can be played almost anywhere. Driveways, table tops, you name it. All you have to do is place a few strips of tape where you want the game to be played and provide cute pumpkins for the X’s and O’s. Find orange tape here and orange and white pumpkins here. (These are tiny and adorable!)
Oreo Races
All you need is Oreos! (Halloween Oreos, of course.) Place an Oreo on your forehead. The goal is to move the Oreo to your mouth and eat it. The catch is that you can only use your face muscles, no hands! The first person to eat their Oreo wins!
Pumpkin carving Contest
You can’t go wrong with an old-fashioned pumpkin carving contest. To hold a pumpkin carving contest, You’ll want to provide pumpkins and carving tools or specify what participants should bring. (like maybe their own pumpkins) Choose judges and establish rules for the contest. Provide prizes for the winners, and have fun!
Halloween Paper Bag Puppets
This activity is more of a craft, but it is so much fun! You only need paper sacks, paint, construction paper, glue, markers, and scissors. Perfect to keep the little ones busy
Paper Sack Pinatas
Make Your Own personal pinata using paper bags, Halloween-themed tissue paper, and glue. The kids have a blast making, filling, and hitting their pinatas.
Halloween Guessing Game
This Halloween Party game is a complete DIY! All you need is an old sheet and bowls of random foods. The guests stick their hands in the holes and try to guess the food or item.
Ghost Bowling
This bowling game is perfect for the very little ones. All you need is some empty water bottles stuffed with something white. (Fabric, toilet paper, cotton balls, etc…) and a ball. Have the little ones roll the ball toward the water bottles to see how many they can knock over. The bottles are very lightweight and easy to knock over. (You could always make them heavier with a few rocks or marbles at the bottom.)
Halloween Checkers
This is an easy one to DIY! Use the checkerboard you already have, and then you can use any type of Halloween object for the pieces. (You could also spray paint the red checkers orange.) These tiny white pumpkins would be fun to spray paint in Halloween colors.
If you want a larger playing board, you could stencil a checkerboard on a piece of foam board. (I have even seen this done with a piece of burlap fabric and then modge-podged to the foam board.
Halloween Chess
If your friends or family are into chess, there are tons of fun Halloween Chess boards on Amazon. (I don’t know how to play chess, but It must be a teenage thing because my son and all his friends always play. He even took his board to school for them to play at lunch and during free time.) This Harry Potter board looks like something they would like.
Pumpkin Drop Game
It should be called Don’t Drop the Pumpkin game, lol. Similar to the egg and spoon race or candy corn race, this relay race is played with empty paper towels or toilet paper rolls and orange ball pit balls. So fun! You can even use Sharpie markers to add pumpkin faces to the balls.
Murder Mystery Party
This game is more for adults, but in a murder mystery party, each player plays a specific role and character, including the victim and the killer. The game usually follows a pre-scripted storyline, which includes clues and hints to help players identify the culprit.
If you’re worried about planning a murder mystery party from scratch, a variety of pre-packaged games are available for purchase online. These games provide all the necessary materials and instructions, making it easy for even first-time hosts to execute. This looks like a good one. Here is a YouTube video on how to play the game.
Ping Pong Pumpkin
It is a super easy Halloween Party Game to DIY. All you need is a few plastic cups, battery-operated tea lights, ping pong balls, a table, and prizes!
Halloween Floor Toss Game
Similar to corn hole or other tossing games, but this one comes with everything you need and is a bit easier for the little ones
Spider Yo-Yo Game
The players have to throw him like a yoyo to try and capture the most insects, snagging the tokens laid out on the floor, thanks to a sticking system that uses Velcro
Halloween Cake Walk
Everyone loves a cakewalk! You can play this in several different ways. Ask your guest to bring various goodies as prizes or provide the winning treats yourself. Grab your free cake walk printables here.
Pumpkin Walk
The object of this game is to balance a mini pumpkin on your head and walk quickly to the finish line. Kids love this one, and you can make it harder by tying their hands behind their backs or making the kids walk in pairs of two, holding hands.
Zombie Eyeball Toss
This one is super fun. Attach a small cup to a board and toss eyeball ping pong balls into the cups for prizes.
Halloween Operation
Who doesn’t love the classic game of operation? How much fun would a Halloween version be? Yep, lots of fun!
Halloween Word Scramble
This printable Halloween Word Scramble game is a ton of fun! It’s the perfect Halloween game for kids.
Halloween Egg Hunt
Ok, so technically, egg hunts are for Easter, but considering how much kids love them and how easy it is to spookify colored plastic eggs and fill them with candy, It’s a perfect Halloween party game for kids!
All you need is plastic eggs, a few sharpie markers, candy, and a safe, open place to hide the eggs. You can even have some of the other parents bring a dozen decorated and candy-filled eggs to help out!
Halloween Eyeball Dig
For this game, the players must stick their hands in a huge bowl of cooked spaghetti noodles and find all the eyeballs! Kids love it. See the game here.
Ouija Board Station
An Ouija Board is a classic Halloween game! You can never go wrong with a spooky Ouija Board station. Set it up in a dark, spooky room, or if your party is outside, use a tent to make it super spooky for the older kids.
If you don’t have one or can’t borrow one, Amazon has a great selection of inexpensive boards.
65. Halloween Memory Game
This simple game is perfect for the little ones. You can customize how easy/hard the game will be by increasing/decreasing the number of matches. There are tons of free versions on the web (like this one).
Pumpkin Pie Eating Contest
I promise, if you can get a few partygoers to participate in a pumpkin pie eating contest, it will be the hit of your Halloween party! You don’t even need a massive amount of pies. It is your contest, and you can set the rules wherever you wish. 1st one to eat the entire pie or maybe set a timer and whoever eats the most in two minutes. (You may need a kitchen scale to confirm the winner.) Want to make it more fun to watch? Cover the pie in a huge squirt of whipped cream!
Bobbing for apples
I know, in this day and age, the thought of bobbing for apples probably gives you the heebie-jeebies, but we can still play this classic Halloween party game with a few simple modifications.
You will want to set up near a water source, and instead of several apples in a barrel (or some other type of large bowl or container), you would use a single apple. After every turn, just empty the water and use a fresh apple. To make the game go faster, you can have several barrels going at once. I suggest using apples with stems attached for easier “bobbing.”
Ghost Face Game
This game is a fun twist on bobbing for apples. You spread candy corn on a paper plate and cover the plate with whipped cream. The contestants use their mouths to find the candy corn. Whoever finds the most candy corn in a set amount of time wins. If you have a lot of players, you can set them up in teams of 2 or three and then count all the candy corn found by each team.
Raffle Contests
No Halloween party or carnival is complete without a raffle. This type of game is so easy to set up. You just need some tearable raffle tickets, a large container or bowl, and some prizes. How you run the raffle is up to you. A charity fundraiser, perhaps, or just a simple drawing with a few gift cards as prizes.
Pumpkin Decorating Station
And last but not least, we always have a pumpkin decorating station at our Halloween parties! In the last few years, we have moved away from actual paint (just too messy) and now lean towards stickers like these and these. You can use full-size pumpkins or mini pumpkins.